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Alfred Morris's role diminishing?

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Per RotoWorld:

 

Redskins coach Jay Gruden admitted at the NFL meetings that he does not see Alfred Morris as a player who possesses "natural hands," and envisions only "20-25 catches" for Morris in his offense.

Gruden said he "hopes" Morris can catch 20-25 passes, indicating that's Alf's ceiling. It's a growing concern for Morris' fantasy value as the Redskins transition away from Kyle Shanahan's run-foundation offense into Gruden's pass-happy scheme. We may see more of passing-down back Roy Helu and less of Morris, in a BenJarvus Green-Ellis/Giovani Bernard kind of backfield rotation.

 

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It is not lack of catches that will diminish his role, it's lack of carries. And Kyle Shanahan's offense was in not run oriented. If it was, Morris would have had 3-5 more carries a game.

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well, I'd also wonder if the O Line scheme will change.

 

its well known and documented that Shanahan utilizes a zone blocking scheme which Morris clearly thrived in.

 

New coach is more about the passing in a west coast offense, so it looks like Morris may not be a good fit unless he has pass catching skills we are not aware of. The offense requires the same 'type' of O Linemen, but the blocking scheme itself may still change. Morris numbers may not be as good. Alternatively, Morris may be traded for a Back that is a better fit for the offense in question.

 

I know he played in Florida Atlantic during his college career, but dont know much about the offense they played there. the bottom line, I do not know how suitable he would be for a different blocking scheme other than the zone blocking he has done well in as a pro.

 

only time will tell.

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Being a Roy Helu owner in two dynasty leagues gives me a boner hearing this. Of course i also bought into the cj spiller will get the ball until he pukes.

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he had only 12 targets with 9 rec last season. i mean if he can catch 20 plus passes like the redskins coach said .. then that would be a upgrade in ppr league . and i hope its still ok to say redskins

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realistically I would feature Helu over Alf for RG3's health. At least D's may back off RG a bit in fear of a toss or pass to Helu.

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It is not lack of catches that will diminish his role, it's lack of carries. And Kyle Shanahan's offense was in not run oriented. If it was, Morris would have had 3-5 more carries a game.

 

let's say i disagree with the part of your take i highlighted.

since we're talking alf morris and shanny jr, let's look at his 2yrs in the league, both yrs with shanny jr. as the OC.

2013...the redskins were 5th in the league in total team rushing, while being 13th overall in rushing attempts.

morris was 9th in the league in total carries. of particualr relevance: they played from behind something like 80% of the time in said games. that no doubt impacted the rushing statistics in a negative way.

2012...the redskins were 1st in the league in total team rushing, while being 3rd overall in rushing attempts.

morris was 3rd in the league in carries, behind only foster and peterson. of note, rg3 also ran 120/815 as well that yr.

they won the division here. so when things went well and per plan, the skins were a committed, rushing juggernaut.

looking at both yrs combined, with shanny jr and morris on the same side of the field playing for the skins, they were top half in carries and top 5 in total rushing both yrs. its more than reasonable to state the skins were a run first team schematically w/ those two.

not many teams can say they are more 'run oriented'.

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well, I'd also wonder if the O Line scheme will change.

 

its well known and documented that Shanahan utilizes a zone blocking scheme which Morris clearly thrived in.

 

New coach is more about the passing in a west coast offense, so it looks like Morris may not be a good fit unless he has pass catching skills we are not aware of. The offense requires the same 'type' of O Linemen, but the blocking scheme itself may still change. Morris numbers may not be as good. Alternatively, Morris may be traded for a Back that is a better fit for the offense in question.

 

I know he played in Florida Atlantic during his college career, but dont know much about the offense they played there. the bottom line, I do not know how suitable he would be for a different blocking scheme other than the zone blocking he has done well in as a pro.

 

only time will tell.

 

gruden has gone on record saying the zone blocking scheme will not change much at all. does gruden like to pull the guards more than shanny did? yes. he also will be employing more of a power running gm. the proinciles remain intact though. consequently, he brought in shawn lauvao to play guard and are shuffling the line a little, but it is basically the same guys, minus some shuffling. the center(montgomery) is gone, but his spot is being filled by lichtenstiger, who started at guard the last few yrs. lauvao is likely replacing that guard spto previously held by lichtenstiger. as far as 'type' of lineman, looking at cincy's line, it seems evident that gruden might ideally prefer some more overall 'size' on the line longterm. morrise fits the 'new' run game just fine.

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Being a Roy Helu owner in two dynasty leagues gives me a boner hearing this. Of course i also bought into the cj spiller will get the ball until he pukes.

 

the guy to watch is chris thompson, imo. if he can stay healthy, he'll beat out helu. more shake, more wiggle, perfect compliment and 3rd down back.

im not saying helu cant have a role, just that thompson fits the bill. the new regime has no committment to either though.

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sounds like the dreaded RBBC and Helu being the 1st out of the 2 off the board in ppr

 

whoever shares carries will have value no doubt, but dont think helu is a lock to be that guy.

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he had only 12 targets with 9 rec last season. i mean if he can catch 20 plus passes like the redskins coach said .. then that would be a upgrade in ppr league . and i hope its still ok to say redskins

 

redskins

redskins

redskins

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the guy to watch is chris thompson, imo. if he can stay healthy, he'll beat out helu. more shake, more wiggle, perfect compliment and 3rd down back.

im not saying helu cant have a role, just that thompson fits the bill. the new regime has no committment to either though.

No way. Helu is bigger and has great hands. Thompson may be a solid compliment, but Helu has the skill set and size to be a feature rb. Thompson also broke 2 vertibre in his back.

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No way. Helu is bigger and has great hands. Thompson may be a solid compliment, but Helu has the skill set and size to be a feature rb. Thompson also broke 2 vertibre in his back.

 

i know, he also had a diffrent injury end his yr last yr, i forgot what it was...

you could be right about helu though. at the least, id watch how this develops. i think there is ppr value there either way. im pretty sure i read gruden talkn thompson up a little, too.

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gruden has gone on record saying the zone blocking scheme will not change much at all. does gruden like to pull the guards more than shanny did? yes. he also will be employing more of a power running gm. the proinciles remain intact though. consequently, he brought in shawn lauvao to play guard and are shuffling the line a little, but it is basically the same guys, minus some shuffling. the center(montgomery) is gone, but his spot is being filled by lichtenstiger, who started at guard the last few yrs. lauvao is likely replacing that guard spto previously held by lichtenstiger. as far as 'type' of lineman, looking at cincy's line, it seems evident that gruden might ideally prefer some more overall 'size' on the line longterm. morrise fits the 'new' run game just fine.

I appreciate your comments. good info here.

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Redskins defense is the thing holding Morris back the most IMO.

 

precisely. skins were league high, i think, in playing from behind last yr. despite that, they still finished 5th in rushing.

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