When the subject of rookies comes up with the Washington Redskins, the conversation is almost always about Robert Griffin III.
That makes sense. It’s a quarterback league, Griffin was the second overall pick and the Redskins have needed a long-term solution at the position for ages. The fact that Griffin has been playing well only makes it harder to interject any other names into the discussion.
If Alfred Morris keeps producing the way he’s produced in his first five weeks, that could change. The sixth-round pick out of Florida Atlantic was seen as the latest stop on the Mike Shanahan running back carousel when he grabbed a featured role in training camp, but he’s spent the first five weeks of the regular season looking like much more than that.
Morris has topped 100 rushing yards in each of the last two weeks and is averaging 4.9 yards per carry on the year, giving the Redskins a strong running game to go with their upgraded play at quarterback. It’s not just strong relative to what we’ve seen from the Redskins in the recent past either. Mike Jones of the Washington Post points out that Morris has joined Eric Dickerson as the only two rookies in NFL history to run for 75 yards or more in each of his first five games.
That’s pretty heady company for Morris, as is the guy who comes to mind when thinking of a past Shanahan success story with a running back taken in the sixth round. That would be Terrell Davis, of course, and there are worse role models to shoot for as a running back. It’s way too early to draw such comparisons, but the fact that it is even on the radar says a lot about how much Morris has done in his first five weeks in the NFL.