The crowd gets excited as the Redskins only speedster-running back returns to the game field for the first time since the 2011 regular season. He lines up behind rookie preseason star Kirk Cousins, eager for his first snap. Kyle Shanahan calls a pitch to outside, hoping to utilize Helu Jr's speed and break a big one; break one he did, a good run of over 5 or 6 yards...in the wrong direction. His first snap in 2012 was a fumble that he ended up knocking out of bounds for a loss. Commentator Joe Theismann ignored the mishap by saying Helu Jr was simply shaking off the rust from not practicing a lot.
He was right.
After that Helu Jr. took off, rushing for 90 yards on 15 carries. For you math impaired people that's an even 6 yards a carry. Stellar for a guy playing his first game of the season. This presents quite the conundrum as at this point the Redskins have all three running backs from last year healthy, along with 6th round gem Alfred Morris. That makes 4 healthy, starter quality running backs, Hightower and Morris didn't play in the finale as is custom for the opening day starters...or Shanahan just wanted to play his injured running backs a bit more after their injury. Either way I really don't want to see either one of them go but its going to interesting to see how the coaches handle cut day.
Kirk Cousins continued to increase his stock by having another game worthy of an NFL starter. His stat sheet wasn't impressive. A dismal 60 something quarterback rating but he lead the team to scoring drive after scoring drive, he just didn't happen to throw any of the touchdowns on the drives. They were run in by Evan Royster and Roy Helu Jr., last years rookie wonders. He had great short, intermediate and deep throw accuracy, hitting Brandon Banks and Anthony Armstrong on deep routes for over 40 yards each. He won't start in front of RG3 barring an injury but keeping that in mind he is a mere two plays away from strutting his stuff in the regular season doesn't bother me at all.
Brandon Banks showed why the Redskins simply can't cut him. He is an electric playmaker, a DeSean Jackson-esque player without the DeSean Jackson attitude. Against the Bills, Banks got open on a couple of deep routes but never got the ball delivered properly. He didn't get a shot at receiver against the Bears but ran a punt for a touchdown in that game and had a bunch of good returns in the Colts game. He has the potential to break it on any play. Sure he fumbled but that doesn't really hurt his stock. Banks isn't a running back, he can catch tosses but hand-offs take some practice and reps to get a handle on. That was his first time and I can't fault him to not doing something perfectly he's never done before. Banks should make this team, we can't cut play-makers.
Richard Crawford seems to be a lock as well, especially as the Kevin Barnes trade frees up a spot on the defensive back roster. Billy Cundiff is our new kicker and so long as he doesn't pull a Billy Cundiff in the NFC Championship game I'm fine with that. Next week we'll get to see how all this plays out in the first regular season game against the Saints. The first game everything counts. The first game we see our starters play 4 quarters. The first game Robert Griffin III gets an actual gameplan. It should be a fun NFL season for Redskins, better than any in recent memory.
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