Bad Shanahan Moves: #4

Running Backs: I was awesome at Fantasy Football in 2006 too!

Back in 2006, I was untouchable at Fantasy Football.  Not so much because I was so awesome, but mainly because most of the folks I played with still didn't know what they were doing.  The only relevance this has to my argument is that back then, the entire Redskins RB corps (at the start of the season) was amazing also.

I'm sorry, but this felt just like "Fortune .500" Redskins. For a team that should be rebuilding (no one told Shanahan), keeping Larry Johnson and signing Willie Parker made NO SENSE AT ALL. LJ was done and everyone knew it (hence his release from KC), and Fast Willie has just been Normal Willie for years now, which is why Pittsburgh dumped him. I know that people say that we didn't pay them much, so why not take a chance on these guys, and here's the reason: We could have paid the same money to an undrafted rookie (or some first or second year player in free agency) and actually developed him into, at very least, a serviceable backup to Clinton Portis. Hell, maybe we would have gotten lucky and he could become a feature back. But the book had already been written on Johnson and Parker and summarized for us by other teams. Why did we need to reread the book?

It should be noted, however, that Shanny did ultimately cut his losses with these bums and release them.  Still though...seemed like a waste of an off-season that that position.