NFL
By: Joe Cardoso
Not too many people blinked an eye when the Washington Redskins signed Robert Kelley out of Tulane. Fans saw Matt Jones as the featured back for the season and Chris Thompson as his backup and on third downs. But as he has proven a lot since becoming the general manager of the team Scott McCloughan knows what he is doing. He saw something that we all see now and that is that Robert Kelley is talented and an NFL caliber running back. Since being named the starter here are some things I have seen improve right away.
He stopped the silly fumble turnovers, less negative running plays, and the play action must be respected now. Kirk Cousins is having a career year and the passing attack, in my opinion, is borderline elite status. When the team gets into trouble is when it doesn’t feed Kelley the ball. He is a real throwback to the type of Stephen Davis, Clinton Portis backs that played in the past. He punishes defenders and never stops moving his feet, any real fan worth his salt loves a back that cuts and runs through the hole. Not a lot if any dancing behind the line from Kelley. We have gotten a good sample size of what he can do and I for one am impressed. With a shot at the wild card still open the offense needs to run the ball to set up the pass and wear down opponents something Kelley excels at. 587 yards and 5 touchdowns he’s not a burner but a solid back and this is only the start.
Now in the home stretch with games against Panthers, Bears and Giants they all are very winnable and no more losses can happen or it’s no playoffs. Only one of those games is on the road and the Bears have been really bad this year. Looks and sounds like the perfect setup for a healthy dose of old school running in the cold by a hungry young back. Now it is early and we all know how Redskins fans jumping the gun on players is the thing of legend. But maybe just maybe Robert Kelley is the second coming of a guy who ran hard and loved a certain type of candy.
