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ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Among the sea of Porsches and jacked-up trucks and Land Rovers in the players lot at Redskins Park is a humble, oh-so-ordinary 1991 Mazda 626.

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Thats Alfred Morris ride. No chrome wheels. No bumping bass. No deeply tinted windows. No custom work. Walk past and the car is difficult to miss among its highbrow neighbors because of its jaw-dropping normalcy.

If nothing else, the car is dependable.

Thats much like Morris. Theres little flashy about the former sixth-round pick, on or off the field. Results are what matters, yard after record-breaking yard.

Morris, of course, rolled up a franchise-best 1,613 yards on the ground in his rookie season. The temptation is to imagine what Mike Shanahans most recent late-round discovery can do for an encore.

But the limited shelf life of top-flight running backs, even unexpected ones such as Morris, was worth remembering as minicamp wrapped up Wednesday afternoon. This job wears out bodies. At 24 years old, Morris is rapidly approaching middle age for an NFL running back. Yes, middle age at a position where players are discarded from the league by 28 or 29.

The average life of a running back is, what, two or three years? Morris said. Theres no longevity in that. We have a pretty physical position. Every down youre running, pass-blocking even faking, sometimes youre taking hits.

Originally posted here:
FENNO: Longevity on Alfred Morris' mind as Redskins bruiser prepares for second season