The big story Tuesday was that offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan was light $25,000 after the league fined him for criticizing the officials, but the Redskins also made a roster move: The team signed former Packers running back Ryan Grant to a one-year contract worth approximately $1.2 million, according to the Washington Post.
On the surface it may not seem like much, another body in the backfield because injuries to Evan Royster (knee) and Roy Helu Jr. (foot) left Washington with one healthy player: Rookie Alfred Morris. And maybe Grant will be the next Shaun Alexander, Larry Johnson or Willie Parker. But he could also be a cheap solution to a potentially big problem. The six-year vet has 4,016 career rushing yards (4.3 YPC) and 25 touchdowns. His best efforts came in 2008 and 2009 when the former undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame averaged more than 1,200 yards per season. He was sidelined by a knee injury in 2010 (he played in just one game) and wasn't the same player in 2011 when he had 134 carries for 559 yards (though his 4.2 YPC wasn't much different than his career average).
But here's the thing about running backs and Mike Shanahan: His zone-blocking, one-cut scheme fits a lot of styles and skill levels. Terrell Davis is the most obvious example. The former sixth-round pick came into the league with no fanfare and seven years later when he retired Davis had 7,607 rushing yards, 60 TDs and averaged 4.6 YPC. His best season was in 1998 when he ran for 2,008 yards.
But Davis isn't the only one. There's Olandis Gary (1,159 yards in '99), Mike Anderson (1,487 in '00), Reuben Droughns (1,240 in '04; 1,232 in '05) and Tatum Bell (1,025 in '06).
According to Football Outsiders, before his knee injury, Grant was the NFL's fourth-best back in terms of their total value metric, behind Chris Johnson (remember when he was good?), Jamaal Charles and Ray Rice. Plus, he has had some success with the Packers' version of the West Coast Offense so the system isn't completely foreign to him.
Clearly, Grant isn't that same player today but he can add value to a Redskins offense that needs to do a better job of keeping Robert Griffin III upright.
