bigger role for Betts this year?

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by warriorzpath

First off, I think Portis is not going to be a major distraction. Zorn will play him because he knows, whether or not they get along, that Portis will give him the best chance to win and is what's best for their offense.

Second, I think Betts would be the starter and/or major contributor for any other team in the nfl. He's no hall-of-famer, but he's good. So yeah, playing him more would benefit the team in two ways - you would get another guy out there with fresh legs that would be able to exploit the defense in a different way (in part because of his perspective on the sidelines) and it would keep Portis healthier and less worn out.

And lastly, from what I've seen of Mason - he has great talent. He has great vision and makes great decisions on the field. To hell, with all of the naysayers that say that he was playing against inferior talent - a great move is a great move and great instincts are great instincts no matter who you're playing against.

To the first point in bold, I don't think that's accurate if the stories we're reading are true. If he's calling out the coach in front of others players, then it's already a major distraction. I see this issue being nipped in the bud sooner rather than later, but the way Portis is allegedly behaving is unacceptable.

I also disagree with the second point in bold. There a few teams he may start for, but not many. Off the top of my head, for sure in Seattle, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland, and maybe in Green Bay, Cincinnati, and Detroit. He'd get carries for the Pats as well, but they use so many RBs, no one is really the starter. Every other team in the league has at least one RB on their roster better than Betts, IMO.

Denver is one exception here, although given the success of rookie RBs lately, I think that job is already Moreno's to lose.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by GMScud

To the first point in bold, I don't think that's accurate if the stories we're reading are true. If he's calling out the coach in front of others players, then it's already a major distraction. I see this issue being nipped in the bud sooner rather than later, but the way Portis is allegedly behaving is unacceptable.

I also disagree with the second point in bold. There a few teams he may start for, but not many. Off the top of my head, for sure in Seattle, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland, and maybe in Green Bay, Cincinnati, and Detroit. He'd get carries for the Pats as well, but they use so many RBs, no one is really the starter. Every other team in the league has at least one RB on their roster better than Betts, IMO.

Denver is one exception here, although given the success of rookie RBs lately, I think that job is already Moreno's to lose.

I don't know if Betts would be a featured runner anywhere. I think he'd be the lead dog in Seattle, but they have the worst RB situation in the NFL. Arizona could use him as well. But that's about it. He'd be in a time share in Cleveland/Green Bay.

As for Moreno, I'm not sold on him as an NFL-quality runner coming out of college. Of course, I also decided--back in 2007--that Adrian Peterson would take two or three years to learn how to hit NFL-type holes. So given that assessment, he'll start looking like an NFL RB within a year or two

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

I don't know if Betts would be a featured runner anywhere. I think he'd be the lead dog in Seattle, but they have the worst RB situation in the NFL. Arizona could use him as well. But that's about it. He'd be in a time share in Cleveland/Green Bay.

As for Moreno, I'm not sold on him as an NFL-quality runner coming out of college. Of course, I also decided--back in 2007--that Adrian Peterson would take two or three years to learn how to hit NFL-type holes. So given that assessment, he'll start looking like an NFL RB within a year or two

Really? I think Tim Hightower is a very solid young back, plus they've got Beanie Wells now.

[warriorzpath]

Originally Posted by GMScud

To the first point in bold, I don't think that's accurate if the stories we're reading are true. If he's calling out the coach in front of others players, then it's already a major distraction. I see this issue being nipped in the bud sooner rather than later, but the way Portis is allegedly behaving is unacceptable.

I also disagree with the second point in bold. There a few teams he may start for, but not many. Off the top of my head, for sure in Seattle, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland, and maybe in Green Bay, Cincinnati, and Detroit. He'd get carries for the Pats as well, but they use so many RBs, no one is really the starter. Every other team in the league has at least one RB on their roster better than Betts, IMO.

Denver is one exception here, although given the success of rookie RBs lately, I think that job is already Moreno's to lose.

Whether Portis's behavior is unacceptable is really not the issue; it's a question of how it's affecting the team. Timing is everything and it's very early in the season to make a judgment of what kind of distraction this is - if at all. For anyone knows, the report can be exagerated and be made more out of it than what actually happened. My opinion simply is - it's going to be resolved one way or another because Zorn knows the team is better with Portis than without him.

As for Betts, there's not what if's or any of that - he has already proven when he was given the chance that he could be as productive as any starter in the league.