Redskins running back Alfred Morris was one of the more surprising rookie success stories in 2012 as he went from a sixth-round pick to the second-most rushing yards in the league while helping his team to the playoffs.
A debut like that would leave many people feeling like they had established themselves, but Morris says he doesn’t have the sense that he made it based on his first season. Morris instead feels like he has to improve on his rookie performance instead of just maintaining it, an effort that could be made easier by Morris’ growing confidence now that he’s had some experience at the professional level.
“Last year, I was going in there like a lost little puppy,” Morris said, via the Pensacola News. “This year, having had that experience and gaining that knowledge of last year, I’m a lot more confident and more comfortable. The more comfortable you get with it, the better you can go out there and do it. It eliminates the thinking process. You can go out there and have some fun.”
The rest of the league has gained some knowledge of Morris that it didn’t have at the start of last season, but, as his monster game in the regular season finale against the Cowboys attests, there was plenty of film on him by the second half last year and defenses weren’t any more successful in stopping him. If Robert Griffin III returns to full speed after knee surgery, we wouldn’t expect things to be much different now that the puppy has found his way.
