The Washington Redskins Week 1 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles is fast approaching. With the game on Sunday, it's time to start wondering who exactly will be active come kickoff.
For the Redskins, that answer seemed pretty obvious at running back not that long ago. They had a solid group of Derrius Guice, Chris Thompson and Adrian Peterson. You know, Adrian Peterson, the future Hall of Famer who ran for over 1,000 yards last year.
Things change though. Washington added Wendell Smallwood after he was cut by the Eagles.
Now the rumors are that Adrian Peterson could be inactive on Sunday, according to Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com.
We have to look at this in layers. The Redskins announced that the team would be rolling with Derrius Guice as the starter. Not only as the starter, but as someone they believe can be effective on any and every down.
Then they signed Wendell Smallwood.
Finally, Jay Gruden made the comments that they want to have one of their running backs help on special teams.
Of the four running backs on the team, only one is a special teams hand. Guice isn't and Peterson never has been and never will be. Chris Thompson is a great receiving back but isn't going to be help on special teams unless he's returning.
That leaves Smallwood. So Guice is the starter and Smallwood is the special teams guy. Then they need to backup. As mentioned before, Thompson is a great receiving back. He's been Washington's third-down back for a few years now. It's unlikely they'd swap him out with Peterson (who is far from a great pass catcher).
Yes, Guice might take most of the third down spots anyways, but Thompson makes more sense in-game.
With that in mind, not having Adrian Peterson seems crazy because he's, well Adrian Peterson. However, in a vacuum it sort of makes sense. Either way, it seems like the Redskins actually have a very strong and deep backfield. That's something that could come in handy for them this year.
Let's be honest, whenever you're considering making a Hall of Famer inactive, things are going right at a position.
We won't know if the Washington Redskins are actually making the move until they finalize their depth chart/roster for Sunday's game though.
For now, these are just rumors.
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