Do You think Betts is Expendable?

[30gut]

Originally Posted by gw0103

I'm just wondering what the Redskins Fans think about Ladell Betts. The guy is a great character piece in the locker room, He does virtually anything the coaches ask, and is pretty versatile, but my thought is that He and Portis are the same mould of RB essentially.. He doesn't have the breakout speed or the line jarring bulk that We need at a #2 back.... We are going to need a RB that can shoulder some of the load so Portis can get some sort of break and have enough steam in the late to post season, and unless the guy has a serious blossoming/break-out, I don't see it.

The guy has proven that he can be a 1,000 yard rusher in this league.
Its up to the coaches to play him.
Imo Betts lack of production its a coaching/playing time issue rather then an ability issue.

[Nflnick11]

Originally Posted by 30gut

The guy has proven that he can be a 1,000 yard rusher in this league.
Its up to the coaches to play him.
Imo Betts lack of production its a coaching/playing time issue rather then an ability issue.

He also fumbles during key times of the game....Seattle this year...st. Louis the year we lost portis for the year

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by Nflnick11

He also fumbles during key times of the game....Seattle this year...st. Louis the year we lost portis for the year

The fumble against St Louis was effing ridiculous...can't remember what I threw at the wall but it broke. Held a grudge against Betts for quite a while. But when he catches a pass out of the backfield and barrels over a defender or two I warm up to him again...Zorn needs to use him smarter and we'll have a more dynamic offense.

[30gut]

Originally Posted by Nflnick11

He also fumbles during key times of the game....Seattle this year...st. Louis the year we lost portis for the year

Dude.
Every RB/FB fumbles.
From Afrian Peterson to Portis.
Portis fumbled in the Browns game.
Portis fumbled in the Ravens game.
Does Portis have a fumbling issue?

[Paintrain]

Originally Posted by 30gut

Dude.
Every RB/FB fumbles.
From Afrian Peterson to Portis.
Portis fumbled in the Browns game.
Portis fumbled in the Ravens game.
Does Portis have a fumbling issue?

The fumble:carry ratio for Betts is way higher than you'd want from a back you'd count on for any length of time. Portis is nowhere close in that ratio.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

The fumble:carry ratio for Betts is way higher than you'd want from a back you'd count on for any length of time. Portis is nowhere close in that ratio.

It's not as bad as you may think.

Betts fumbles once every 73 touches.

Portis fumbles once every 91 touches.

Some other notables:

Adrian Peterson fumbles once every 49 touches. (now this is a fumbling problem)

Edgerrin James fumbles once every 79 touches.

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

It's not as bad as you may think.

Betts fumbles once every 73 touches.

Portis fumbles once every 91 touches.

Some other notables:

Adrian Peterson fumbles once every 49 touches. (now this is a fumbling problem)

Edgerrin James fumbles once every 79 touches.

Good stuff Matty...muchas gracias.

[Paintrain]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

It's not as bad as you may think.

Betts fumbles once every 73 touches.

Portis fumbles once every 91 touches.

Some other notables:

Adrian Peterson fumbles once every 49 touches. (now this is a fumbling problem)

Edgerrin James fumbles once every 79 touches.

You and your damn stats and math. Nobody likes a smarty pants.

[GoSkins!]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

It's not as bad as you may think.

Betts fumbles once every 73 touches.

Portis fumbles once every 91 touches.

Some other notables:

Adrian Peterson fumbles once every 49 touches. (now this is a fumbling problem)

Edgerrin James fumbles once every 79 touches.

So Betts fumbles at a rate 20% higher than Portis. I may be in the minority, but to me that looks like you just made the point that Betts is a significant downgrade to Portis in that respect. And, the NFL average for 2007 is about 1 per 91 carries (just like CP!)

To put it another way, we can expect Betts to fumble once every 3 games and expect Portis to fumble once ever 4 games (if they have equal carries). If they were equal runners, and I don't think Betts is as good as Portis, Betts statistically could costs us 1 more loss a year than Portis because of fumbles.

I like Betts, but it seems clear that he needs to tighten up the fumble issue. But, that's just me.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by GoSkins!

So Betts fumbles at a rate 20% higher than Portis. I may be in the minority, but to me that looks like you just made the point that Betts is a significant downgrade to Portis in that respect. And, the NFL average for 2007 is about 1 per 91 carries (just like CP!)

To put it another way, we can expect Betts to fumble once every 3 games and expect Portis to fumble once ever 4 games (if they have equal carries). If they were equal runners, and I don't think Betts is as good as Portis, Betts statistically could costs us 1 more loss a year than Portis because of fumbles.

I like Betts, but it seems clear that he needs to tighten up the fumble issue. But, that's just me.

He's had 2 fumbles the last 2 seasons after those 6 in 2006. Seems like he tightened it up to me.

[Gmanc711]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

It's not as bad as you may think.

Betts fumbles once every 73 touches.

Portis fumbles once every 91 touches.

Some other notables:

Adrian Peterson fumbles once every 49 touches. (now this is a fumbling problem)

Edgerrin James fumbles once every 79 touches.

The thing with Betts is... he just seems to fumble at the worst god damn times in games. I can think of 3 times right off the top of my head where it cost us or could have cost us a game. This year vs Seattle, we were running out the clock, two mintues to go... fumble...

2007 vs Philadelphia, we had all the momentum in the world... Betts fumbled.

2006 vs St. Louis ... Granted, this game meant sh*t at the time cause we were way out of it, but right at the end of the game he fubmled, they came down scored, won in OT.

2006, it was at the begining of the game, again another meaningless one, agsint the Giatns to end the season, we were rolling down the field to start the game... Fumble, Giants return it almost the distance.

Thats right off the top of my head too... I mean I like Betts, I dont want to see him go... but the fumbling kills me, because it just happens at the worst times... in addition, I think him and Portis are far to similar. I want to see a change of pace back, which I dont think Betts provides.

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by 30gut

The guy has proven that he can be a 1,000 yard rusher in this league.
Its up to the coaches to play him.
Imo Betts lack of production its a coaching/playing time issue rather then an ability issue.

I agree with 30gut. If the coaches used Betts more to "spell" Portis, I think he would do a fine job. There doesn't seem to be a "change up" plan. It's more or less, run Portis until he needs a blow or gets hurt, then put Betts in. I don't know if it would be any different with any other back we'd get. I can understand wanting a speedy back or even a bruiser to put into the mix, but would he even be used? They don't seem very interested in that or they would have addressed it. Maybe that will change w/Aldridge or the other guy but using Betts more would at least save Portis from being so beat up at the end of the season. Is it because of the coaching or Portis? He doesn't seem to like being taken out unless it's his own decision.