Redskins will miss Mack Brown more than ever with Chris Thompson hurt

The Redskins made the decision to cut Mack Brown a couple of weeks ago. That is proving to be a rough choice given the injuries the team has suffered at the position.

When the Washington Redskins made the decision to cut Mack Brown in late October, it was out of necessity. At the time, their offensive line was so banged up that the team had to add extra players to the roster to replace three missing starters. In all, during that stretch, the team carried 12 offensive line and just three running backs.

It’s probable that when the Redskins waived Brown, they were hoping to get him back. Their plan was likely to stash the talented back on the practice squad for a week before bringing him back to the active roster. However, the Minnesota Vikings ended up claiming Brown off waivers and have kept him since that time.

That wasn’t a big deal for the Redskins when that happened. Sure, Brown had talent, but they had three fairly young backs on the roster and they were forming a strong committee. But over the course of the past week, things have not gone well for the team’s running back group.

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It started when Rob Kelley went down with ankle and knee injuries in the team’s loss to the Vikings. Kelley went on IR and will not return this season. That prompted the Redskins to sign Byron Marshall from the Eagles practice squad to provide extra depth. Marshall is an athletic back, but he hasn’t done much at all at the NFL level and isn’t as good between the tackles as Brown. He has upside, but he’s nowhere close to Brown.

So, the Redskins went into the game against the Saints with three running backs. They were Marshall, new lead back Samaje Perine, and pass catcher extraordinaire Chris Thompson. Unfortunately, Thompson went down with a brutal injury that saw a Saints lineman roll up on him a his leg bent back awkwardly. Thompson was confirmed to have broken his fibula and will miss the rest of the season.

So after that, the Redskins had just two backs on their roster. The inexperienced Marshall and the rookie Perine. While Perine looked like a solid starter in the game against the Saints, he is far from a sure thing. He also had a brutal drop in overtime, so his pass catching ability is questionable at best. They needed to add another body, so they signed undrafted free agent LeShun Daniels from the practice squad. Daniels is as unproven as they come and likely won’t provide much more than depth for the team. Thus, Perine is the only quality option as the team was unable to acquire Andre Ellington on the waiver wire. He went to the Texans.

Next: Previewing Redskins vs. Giants in NFL Week 12

It would be really nice for the team if they had Mack Brown in the mix. Brown knows the offense, has lead back upside, and would be a perfect No. 2 option behind Perine. The two could even have split carries. But alas, the Redskins made a mistake by waiving him and now they will have to suffer the consequences.

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