Royster to Start for ‘Skins On Thursday
While I mentioned that Evan Royster had been practicing with the Washington Redskins first team in the most recent Week in Review, news emerged today that he is officially the #1 RB in D.C. — as it stands now.
As per The Washington Times, Mike Shanahan announced in a press conference after practice that the 2nd-year running back will start in Washington’s first preseason game in Buffalo on Thursday night.
The Redskins’s expected-starting-running-back, Tim Hightower, remains sidelined as he recovers from a torn ACL. After both having impressive rookie seasons, the battle for his job came down to Roy Helu and Royster. As of now, it’s safe to say Royster has won the early battle, but will still have to prove himself throughout the preseason.
Hightower has not gotten any reps in practice, so it appears highly doubtful that he’ll be back and in playing form by the team regular season begins, so this battle could have much greater implications than who will be the better young running back on the team.
At this point, the job is Penn State’s all-time leading rusher’s to lose. If he can maintain his performance from the end of his rookie season, we may have a new 1,000 yard-rusher on our hands.
