Alfred Morris Reportedly Will Start for Washington Redskins vs. Saints in Week 1

Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan has finally settled on a running back.

According to Dan Hellie of NBC4 in D.C., Alfred Morris—a rookie sixth-round pick—will open the season as the starting RB:

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#Redskins will start rookie 6th round pick Alfred Morris atRB vs. Saints on Sunday. #fantasyfootball

— Dan Hellie (@DanHellie) September 9, 2012"

For fantasy football players, this news should come as little to no surprise; Shanahan has been rotating starting backs and issuing snaps to his rushers with what seems like reckless abandon for his entire career.

Morris beat out depth-chart starter Evan Royster and second-year stud Roy Helu for the job following training camp, while being a significant reason as to why the franchise cut ties with former starter Tim Hightower at the end of August.

There have been many reports filed at Redskins camp and during preseason games about how special this young man out of Florida Atlantic University is, but it was an extreme long shot for him to even make the roster at the beginning of the offseason.

Morris has a style that takes pieces from elusive scat backs and applies them to the power rushing game the NFL has been lacking in recent years. He’s got the ability to touch the ball 20-plus times per contest and get better with each carry.

Shanahan hasn’t had a downhill rusher of that nature during his time in Washington but may have finally found one in Morris.

The 23-year-old rookie is getting a major chance to shine on Sunday, going up against the New Orleans Saints—a team that gave up over 108 yards per game on the ground in 2011 and saw opposing rushers average 5.0 YPC.

Even if Robert Griffin III and the inexperienced offense of the ‘Skins aren’t able to hang with the Saints on Sunday, Morris should have a solid performance and get another nod to start in Week 2.