Ryan Torain’s first big chance this season resulted in a 135-yard game. But since that win over St. Louis in October, Torain struggled. His future in Washington looked grim.
And it ended on Tuesday. The Redskins released Torain to make room for rookie receiver Aldrick Robinson, a sixth-round pick in April, according to a league source. He was the last of the Redskins 11 eligible draft choices to be signed to the active roster. Their 12th, end Jarvis Jenkins, opened the season on injured reserve.
Torain managed just 65 yards on his last 40 carries and was inactive in the previous two games before Saturday as he played behind Roy Helu and Evan Royster. Torain finished the season with 59 carries for 200 yards.
Monday, Shanahan was at a loss to explain why Torain has struggled since the Rams game.
“What you look for is consistency at every position,” Shanahan said. “The people that are consistent get more opportunities. If you’re not consistent, you don’t get as many opportunities to show us what you can do. But you mentioned Ryan had a big game – that was one of the reasons why he’s had a chance to get some reps. I think Helu has taken advantage of those opportunities more than Ryan has. Evan obviously this week against a pretty good defensive front – took advantage of an opportunity.”
But at this time last year Torain appeared to have a big role in the Redskins future, provided he could stay healthy. They cut him at the end of camp in 2010, but he wound up starting eight games and rushing for 742 yards and averaging 4.5 yards per carry. Several times last season coach Mike Shanahan said Torain’s talent wasn’t in question, but his ability to stay healthy was.
Sure enough, Torain injured his wrist this past training camp and missed most of training camp.
Robinson is one of nine receivers on the roster, including return specialist Brandon Banks. Robinson’s speed attracted attention from NFL scouts before the draft. He said recently that he’s spent a lot of time working on punt returns as well. He struggled in that area during the preseason.
