CP not a power back?

[cmorina69]

I have been reading some threds and some of you think CP is not a power back. I think he is, runs up the gut,drops his shoulders for that extra yard, tell's gibbs he wants to run up the gut MORE, and i herd on one of the redskins tv things that CP told gibbs that if they want to win the need to run up the gut and play smash mouth football. Sounds like a power back talking.

thoughts?

[Sinclair]

cp is used as a power back...but he really isnt a power back, not a finesse back either. Really he is just a solid back.

[skinfan2k]

i dont care what kind of back he is. he is a joe gibbs running back. .he can block, run and catch and gives 100% on each paly. Hes a team player.

[hueman]

yeah, he's not big enough to be a "power" back, but he's just very well rounded

[Sinclair]

i dont care what kind of back he is. he is a joe gibbs running back. .he can block, run and catch and gives 100% on each paly. Hes a team player.

agreed, as long as hes a good back and a good team player it doesnt matter much.

[Warhead36]

He is a BEAST.

that is all

[Enter Apotheosis]

cp is used as a power back...but he really isnt a power back, not a finesse back either. Really he is just a solid back.

He isn't physically built to be a power back but he certainly plays like it at times. Obviously he is best suited to following his blockers up to the point where he can break away from all the traffic and can utilize his tremendous speed... but if he can't do that, he won't hesitate to try and run a guy over.

I remember having heard Brian Urlacher say that he has never been hit harder by anyone than Portis back in his Denver days (in said helmet-to-helmet collision, he was briefly knocked out while CP got right up if memory serves correctly). So clearly he's always been like that, but he has been forced to do it a bit more outside of Denver's blocking scheme.

Fortunately, the way Saunders uses his RBs will probably result in us getting a lot more mileage out of CP and will allow him to use his blocking better for more big runs.

[RIDETHEWALRUS]

He isn't a power back. He weighs a meager 215 lbs. While he runs very strong for his size, I would rather see 250 lbs of Bettis running head first into a pile than CP.

Also as for CP getting the extra yard on runs...it is because of his ellusiveness. Often times he gets low and dives for the extra yard underneath the tacklers.

All this being said CP is an absolute beast and I am glad he is a skin!

[SackMachine]

Portis isn't a power back. He's a touchdown back.

[Oldskool]

He's well rounded.

He can power back if needed, but he does not have the mass for it.

He can be a finesse back as well.

Basically he's what you want in your #1 offensive weapon.

[TheNewU]

isnt his favorite play guts and power, or something along those lines

[Fifty Gut]

CP is definately a power back, he makes most of his yards between the tackles

go watch film from last year's games, this kid is 220 something, but runs like he's 240

you don't see a non-power back stoning LBs cold to the ground on pass protection

to think you gotta be 240 something to be a power back is a myth

[AllAboutSkins08]

i don't think he's a "traditional" power RB. everyone has said the obvious, that he isn't big enough. but we've all seen him truck people game after game. but i still wouldn't categorize him as a power back only because he's a lot more than that. he has the power, speed, agility, and hands to just be a threat in every aspect.

another 1,000 yard season? of course.

[Darth Tater]

Byner with speed.

[Snagletooth]

I would like to see him add a stiff arm to his game. He runs hard with good forward lean and has a real tough game. Doesn't really push the pile. I wouldn't call him a power back.

[RedskinsSuperBowl21]

Portis is extremely strong and powerful and he pushes for that extra yard...has anyone noticed the size of his neck...its wider than his head!

he is a power back and blocker..."power team player"

[jtyler42]

Byner with speed.

Exactly what I was going to post...He is Ernest Byner w/More speed, and home-run ability...

[DiscoBob]

yes he's a beast
yes he can run between the tackles, but no, he's not a power back. he can dish it out with the best of them, but it takes a major toll on his body.

I say you give him the chance to run it up the gut multiple times in a game, but don't make him do it series after series or we are going to be looking for a new featured back way too soon....

[twenty-eight]

He's well rounded.

He can power back if needed, but he does not have the mass for it.

He can be a finesse back as well.

Basically he's what you want in your #1 offensive weapon.


Yep! And you know Saunders will use him in the pass game

[TheREALJBird]

He's a shifty back with power

[bbuzz1962]

He's just a fine running sob. He has it all. There's nothing else to say. He even has a decent arm.

[Califan007]

He did a nice imitation of a power back against the Cardinals late in the game when the Skins needed a 1st down to seal the win...he pushed the pile like 6 extra yards to get the first down. At first I thought it was simply the o-line pushing the pile from behind, but it was mostly Portis and his legs doing the work...

He's not a traditional power back, but he can make like a damn good one when needed.

[ncr2h]

He can definitely push the pile. One of my favorite plays from last year...I forget which team we were playing, but it was during our streak of losing games in the 4th quarter.

Anyways, as usual, we're trying to run the clock out with Portis. Anyways, there's like 2 minutes left, and if the team stops us they'll get a chance to get the ball back. We hand it to Portis. He runs up the middle, but gets hit by a LB like 2 yds before the 1st down marker. The LB can't bring him down, but he holds on, trying to pull Portis down. 2 or 3 of his teammates come over and try to bring Portis down, but that mofo CARRIES THE ENTIRE DEFENSE for like 3 or 4 yards to get the 1st and seal the game.

That was a great moment right there.

[TheTotalPackage]

Portis is not a true power back. I think the best way to categorize him is as a combo back. He's got the characteristics of both a scatback (speed, elusiveness) and power back (gains yards through the tackles), but to call him a power back would be incorrect.

Power backs inflict more damage on the defense and consistently moves the piles and exhausts the defense late in the game. Portis, while he has good blocking technique and lays defenders out while in pass protection...tends to inflict more damage on himself than on the defense when he repeatedly runs up the gut.

[Extreme]

Portis can run tougher and harder, with more ability than almost any guy in the past decade. size has absolutely nothing to do with being a power back. he delivers as many crushing hits as he receives, and still drags the guys for that extra inch, even if he's already got the first down and more. he is most certainly a power back, he can hang with the greats.

[TheTotalPackage]

Portis can run tougher and harder, with more ability than almost any guy in the past decade. size has absolutely nothing to do with being a power back. he delivers as many crushing hits as he receives, and still drags the guys for that extra inch, even if he's already got the first down and more. he is most certainly a power back, he can hang with the greats.

i disagree. while i acknowledge that he does have some of those attributes, those same crushing hits and dragging the guys for the extra inch take more of a toll and fatigue him than the defense. portis was extremely banged up at the end of the season.

another point that i have to make is that clinton portis has sacrificed a lot of his leverage to gain those extra yards. c.p. adapted his style to better suit the offense by leaning farther forward than he did in Denver. the result is that he gains some yards after contact, but a lot of times he could've just shifted or juked and blown past the guy. to fit in a power offense, he had to sacrifice a lot of his shiftiness, and power backs don't necessarily have to do that IMO

[RIDETHEWALRUS]

It seems a lot of people are missing the point here. A power back is a player that almost exclusively runs down hill, requires several guys to touch him to go down, and is a viable goal-line threat.

Portis, while he does have good strength, does not fit this mold. He needs to find seams when runnning between the tackles. While on occassion he will drag players with him, he is often taken down on the first hit. While CP had excellent TD totals in Denver and picked it up here last year, he hasn't been an efficient goal-line threat. The reason Mike Sellars has caught so many TDs is because Gibbs has not been comfortable letting Portis run into the pile when on the goal-line. CP needs space to exhibit his power.

This is very different from power backs such as Alstott and Bettis who run straight at the pile and somehow push a 300lb DT back a foot or so to get a TD.

To those of you who say that size does not matter when determining who is and isn't a power back, YOU ARE WRONG. It is significantly more difficult for CP (at 215 lbs) to run into and knock back a 300 lb DT than it is for Bettis (255 lbs) because of simple physics.

CP may have heart when running the ball, and often times he doesn't show quit, but dragging a 200 lb safety and a 230 lb LB a few yards doesn't make him a power back. It makes him an excellent all around back with good power for his size.

[HoyaSkins28]

hes a power/speed/elusive/gibbs/amazing running back.

[RedskinsSuperBowl21]

He's just a fine running sob. He has it all. There's nothing else to say. He even has a decent arm.

His cousin is Josh Portis a promising young QB who joined the terps workouts this offseason

[Sinclair]

hes a power/speed/elusive/gibbs/amazing running back.

very well put!

[Thinking Skins]

In Denver he wasn't a power back. He had more of a Tatum Bell type style. But he came here and Gibbs said I need a guy who can run up the middle, so Portis said "I'll run up the middle".

I think he's learned pretty well.

[Enter Apotheosis]

In Denver he wasn't a power back. He had more of a Tatum Bell type style. But he came here and Gibbs said I need a guy who can run up the middle, so Portis said "I'll run up the middle".

I think he's learned pretty well.

The "Tatum Bell Style" you speak of is what all Denver backs with a lot of speed do. All Broncos backs are simply instructed to make one cut and GO. What go means depends entirely, of course. For Tatum and Portis it meant to speed off into the sunset, for Anderson and Dayne it means to run over a couple of guys.

Portis' game in Denver had a lot more balance than Bell's has right now. CP has always been capable of running through a tackle and was more consistent from run to run. The reason Shanahan doesn't trust Bell to run every down like he did CP was because Bell is not an every-down kinda guy... he averaged almost 6 ypc most of the season but only because Mike Anderson wore down the defense enough for his speed to be deadly.

Clinton Portis could do it all himself.