Those impressed by Ryan Torain’s effort in the Redskins’ 17-12 win over the Eagles last week are about to get themselves a helping hand of it again.

Mike Shanahan told the media on Wednesday that running back Clinton Portis will miss the next 4-6 weeks because of a groin injury. Portis said that he heard his groin “pop” in the third quarter on Sunday and although he was able to return to the game in the fourth, he immediately aggravated the injury and had to return to the locker room.

Torain now becomes the featured back in Washington, while Keiland Williams and Chad Simpson will battle for carries as well. Keep in mind that Skeletor likes to rotate his running backs, so there’s no guarantee that Torain will receive a full workload every week. Shanahan will continue to play the hot hand from game to game, just as he’s always done.

For now, Torain becomes a great story. He sifted through the muck that was the Redskins’ depth chart (i.e. Portis, Larry Johnson and Willie Parker) to reach this point and remained patient throughout. He goes from the practice squad to the starting lineup in one, quick jump.

Don’t be surprised if the Skins placed Portis on IR, which would end his season. There’s a ton of wear and tear on those tires and he can’t stay healthy. If Torain runs well over the next couple of weeks, there’s no reason for Shanahan to turn back to Portis.

After spending the offseason keeping a relatively low profile, Clinton Portis decided to chime in on the situation in New York, where Jets players are under scrutiny after a few players allegedly made catcalls at sideline reporter Ines Sainz.

Here’s what Portis said on his weekly radio appearance on 106.7 The Fan (via ESPN.com):

“I think you put women reporters in the locker room in position to see guys walking around naked, and you sit in the locker room with 53 guys, and all of the sudden you see a nice woman in the locker room, I think men are going to tend to turn and look and want to say something to that woman,” Portis said in his weekly appearance on 106.7 The Fan.

“You put a woman and you give her a choice of 53 athletes, somebody got to be appealing to her,” Portis said. “You know, somebody got to spark her interest, or she’s going to want somebody. I don’t know what kind of woman won’t, if you get to go and look at 53 men’s [bodies]. … I know you’re doing a job, but at the same time, the same way I’m going to cut my eye if I see somebody worth talking to, I’m sure they do the same thing.”

Quite frankly, I don’t disagree with anything Portis (who seemed to be talking more in generalities) said. I’m sure there is bound to be someone that a female reporter is going to be attracted to in a locker room. And after spending the majority of their time around male teammates, obviously some players are going to be attracted to her as well.

But that’s not really the point here. I get that boys will be boys, but you have to be careful. Even though football is a game, the NFL is still a business and when players are at practice, they’re at work. They should think of it as an office setting and therefore, should respect female reporters just as they would anyone else. It should be a business like atmosphere at all times.

Now, is that realistic? No, and I’m not naïve to think that players are going to be on their best behavior when a hot female reporter is around them. And throwing a couple of passes in her direction (which apparently is one of the things that the Jets players did) is one thing – that’s harmless. But it’s quite another if she was made to feel uncomfortable while she was on the job. That’s not right.

Merry preseason, everyone. It’s been a long offseason, but football is finally gearing up again and to celebrate I’m rolling out a new series on TSR entitled “2010 NFL Question Marks,” where I discuss one or two of the biggest concerns that teams have heading into the new season. Granted, some teams have more issues than others, but I’ll primarily be focusing on the biggest problem areas. Today I’ll be discussing the trio of issues the Redskins could face this season.

I always thought Jason Campbell got kind of a bad rap, although there’s no question that Donovan McNabb has better physical tools – even at this point in his career. Thanks to first round pick Trent Williams and former Saint Jammal Brown, the tackle positions got a much needed makeover in our nation’s capital as well.

So generally speaking, the Washington Redskins are an improved football team.

But it seems as though some pundits are going a tad overboard when predicting this team’s success this year. While they have made several upgrades on that side of the ball, the offense still has plenty of question marks as well.

Let’s start with the offensive line. Williams is a tremendous prospect, but he’s still a rookie and far from a guarantee. He also doesn’t have a ton of experience on the left side, which is where he’s expected to anchor this Washington O-line.

Brown is a massive upgrade over Stephon Heyer, but that’s like saying an authentic slice of New York pizza is an upgrade over Dominos. Heyer was one of the worst offensive linemen in all of football last year, so a broomstick cemented in a bucket would have been an upgrade.

Read the rest of this entry »

All 2010 Fantasy Football Articles | 2010 Position Rankings

There are twenty running backs currently going in the first four rounds and 19 of them — Matt Forte excluded — are playing in what I refer to as ‘settled’ running back situations. We can move forward feeling pretty certain that these 19 RBs, barring injury, will get enough touches to be productive starting-caliber fantasy running backs.

But this piece isn’t about those guys. It’s about the rest of this year’s RB crop, or specifically RBs going in the 7th round or later: The Sleepers.

Below is a list of a few guys that I’m targeting later in drafts. They enter the 2010 season unproven, or unsettled in their respective situations, or even over the hill. I’ll list them in order of their current ADP at Antsports:

Brandon Jacobs (7.01)
In his worst season in three years, Jacobs finished as 2009’s RB31 on balky knees. He had them scoped in the offseason and says he feels better than ever. He’s just 28 years old and only has 779 career carries, so his mileage is pretty low given his age. Moreover, the Giants have a great offensive line and a solid passing attack to keep defenders out of the box. I’m expecting a bounce-back year from Jacobs, making him a nice RB2 for owners loading up on WRs early or a great RB3 on any roster.

Justin Forsett (7.05)
Pete Carroll has a history of using RBBC, so if he’s in a major timeshare I’m not sure Forsett is even worth his current draft position. But looking solely at his resume, there’s a lot to be excited about. He averaged 5.4 ypc last season, and had a couple of impressive performances against Arizona (22 touches, 149 yards, TD) and St. Louis (22 carries, 130 yards, 2 TD). He was also #6 in Yards After Contact Per Attempt (YCo/Att) which put him in some good company. Forsett’s prospects for 2010 depend less on his ability to beat out Julius Jones or Leon Washington and more on Carroll’s willingness to let him loose.

Read the rest of this entry »