Why Alfred Morris Is Washington Redskins' Most Overlooked 2015 Starter

What Robert Griffin III does or doesn't do may garner the most attention—he's a quarterback after all—but the real barometer of success for the Washington Redskins is one Alfred Morris. And he has been for three seasons now.

The lone playoff run Washington's had in the past seven seasons, Morris was the catalyst for.

He headlined the NFL's top rushing attack in 2012 with 1,613 yards and 13 touchdowns. In the seven contests in which he eclipsed the 100-yard marker, the team was 5-2.

Most of all, though, Morris' carry tally measured the team's success.

The Redskins were 9-1 when he toted the rock at least 18 times his rookie year. In the two seasons that followed, Washington was just 6-7 when Morris reached this benchmark.

During this timespan, Morris saw his yards per carry steadily decline from 4.8 in 2012 to 4.1 last season.

Still, while recent results have proved it's no certainty the team will win with Morris carrying this type of load, with 15 of the team's 17 wins the past three years coming under this pretense, the team has little to no chance of winning without his services.

And the same could be said about Griffin turning back the clock. 

The 2012 RG3, a distant memory at this point, thrived off of the play-action pass. According to Pro Football Focus, 37 percent of his passes were of this variety. He led the league in yards per attempt on play-action fakes and, ironically, was dead-last on classic dropbacks.

There are other aspects of Griffin's game that explain his struggles since his rookie year, but the drop in production from Morris and Company is chief among them. Last season, for instance, the 'Skins ran the ball 401 times, 27 carries short of the league average.

It has to be said, though, for Morris to become more of a fixture in Jay Gruden's offense going forward, he'll have to adjust his game. Gruden has a preference for calling power-run plays, and as ESPN.com's John Keim recounted, Morris had only moderate success in the new scheme:

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They did use power runs last year, to moderate success. Alfred Morris knows how to lower his shoulder, run with power and gain extra yards after contact so it's not as if he can't handle such a run game. I know last year they felt he left yards on the field with some of his runs. So I don't think they necessarily love his game.

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Now that Gruden has brought Bill Callahan into the fold to coach the offensive line and coordinate the running game, a greater emphasis will be placed on Morris to improve in this regard.

Never one to mince words, in talking to Keim, Gruden felt confident Morris could do just that. 

“Alfred will be happy," Gruden said. "There will be some different styles of runs for him, so for the most part, Alfred’s got great vision and did a great job protecting the football last year, so I think Alfred will be happy with some of the changes."

On the other side of the coin is CSN Washington's Rich Tandler. He openly questions if Morris is a fit in this scheme:

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And I’m not as fully confident that Morris will be able to adjust to running behind power blocking. I think the Redskins would be well advised to draft a back who can hit a hole quickly to get some carries this year and possibly replace Morris, who is in the last year of his contract, in 2016.

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All told, Morris' storyline in 2015 is one you can't overlook. Not only will his play in this scheme affect the long-term future of himself and Griffin—both potential free agents—but the Redskins' fortunes as a whole.

Unless stated otherwise, all stats are courtesy of ESPN.com.