Chris Rodriguez should be Washington’s RB1

It’s time

I’ve thought it for awhile now, but others finally seem to be coming along: It’s time for a change up at Washington’s starting running back position. Chris Rodriguez is a better fit for Kliff Kingsbury’s running scheme and is an upgrade over Brian Robinson when he comes in the game. He should be garnering the lion’s share of the carries at this point.

Last week, against the Eagles, Robinson had arguably the worst game of his career, with two fumbles and only 24 yards on the ground. He had a bit more success against the Falcons, but was fairly ineffective for most of the game, including on several short yardage plays. A terrible pass block – allegedly one of Robinson’s strengths – in the first quarter, nearly got Jayden Daniels split in half. Thankfully, he was unscathed.

After a first half of ineffective running, Rodriguez got his shot in the third quarter. He didn’t put up a ton of yards, but the gains he made were hard fought and critical to the team’s eventual win, capped off with a punishing 2-yard scamper into the endzone.

To top it all off, Rodriguez had several nice pass blocks, buying Jayden additional time in the pocket.

Over the course of his pro career, Rodriguez has gained nearly a full yard per carry (4.9) more than Robinson (4.1), which mirrors their college gap in production (6.2 ypc v. 5 ypc). Rodriguez seems to have better vision at the line of scrimmage and – albeit in a small sample – has one of the best rush success percentages in the league.

That’s not to say I think that Robinson doesn’t have a place in the offense. I do think he should continue to be utilized, but primarily as a receiving back, where he can get the ball in space and take advantage of his skillset.

In fact, he’s been an excellent receiving back in the past.

As a rule, this front office and coaching staff have been clear-eyed and dispassionate in making personnel decisions, showing a willingness to elevate hard working free agents over those with better draft pedigrees. The time has now come to apply that perspective to the running back room, as Washington prepares for the playoffs and needs to optimize its ability to succeed across the board.

Here’s hoping we see a lot more of CRod going forward.