Was Duckett the chief need?

Clinton Portis set the Redskins’ season rushing record last year. Ladell Betts has earned raves from new associate head coach-offense Al Saunders. So why would Washington trade for Atlanta running back T.J. Duckett?

The first-blush answer is that Portis’ partially dislocated left shoulder might be worse than the Redskins have revealed. However, Portis already is participating in some walk-through drills and was durable enough in his first four seasons to have missed just four games while handling the ball 1,403 times. And the opener against Minnesota is still 18 days away.

The next thought is that the Redskins don’t think Betts can stay healthy. He missed four games in 2005 and seven in 2003 with injuries and was scratched from the Aug. 13 preseason opener at Cincinnati with an ailing hamstring.

Or perhaps Saunders was trying to raise Betts’ trade value. However, with the New York Jets having just acquired Kevan Barlow, few teams are shopping for a starting quality back, especially one whose contract expires after this season, as do those of Betts and Duckett.

More likely is that with a 65-year-old coach, a quarterback who turns 36 next month and a notoriously impatient owner, the Redskins are going for all the proverbial marbles this season.

Late Redskins coach George Allen was famous for proclaiming “The Future Is Now.” And fellow Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs also subscribes to that go-for-it now philosophy.

Draft choices, Washington’s price to acquire Duckett, have never meant much to Gibbs. The Redskins have traded their top pick in nine of Gibbs’ 14 drafts. In the three drafts since his return in 2004, Washington has chosen just six players in the first four rounds.

Duckett’s arrival just about seals the departure of backs Manuel White and Nehemiah Broughton. If linebacker Robert McCune also fails to survive the cuts, the 2005 draft class would be first-rounders Carlos Rogers and Jason Campbell. The 2004 draft class is first-rounder Sean Taylor, third-rounder Chris Cooley and sixth-round offensive tackle Jim Molinaro, who’s no lock to remain on the roster.

The addition of Duckett is further proof Gibbs didn’t see the team that reported to training camp July 30 as the polished serious Super Bowl contender that so many believed.

In the past 10 days, the Redskins have acquired six players — cornerbacks Mike Rumph and Julian Battle, safety Antuan Edwards, offensive tackle Spencer Folau, linebacker Jeff Posey and Duckett — with NFL starting experience. Finished products don’t add six veterans — four of whom were on the street and a fifth who well could have been cut by lowly San Francisco — to the mix in August.

Veteran Redskins watchers know Gibbs has been down this road before, acquiring punter Ralf Mojsiejenko in August 1989 and defensive tackles Tim Johnson and Eric Williams two summers later.

The acquisition of Duckett hearkens back to that same 1991 season when the Redskins started reliable veteran runner Earnest Byner (1,048 yards on 274 carries), used the younger Ricky Ervins (4.7 yards a carry) as a change of pace back and brought in the bruising Gerald Riggs (11 touchdowns on 78 carries) in short yardage and at the goal line. That trio helped produce the Redskins’ last Super Bowl champions. Does Gibbs envision a repeat with Portis, Betts and Duckett?

The Redskins have bigger needs, such as a backup offensive tackle, a position that could get ugly if either Chris Samuels or Jon Jansen is sidelined; a third cornerback because former Minnesota and Jacksonville starter Kenny Wright has yet to show himself worthy of regular duty; a kicker because John Hall’s health and leg strength remain in question; and a punter because Derrick Frost is unreliable.

But at the cost of a potential 2007 rookie on a team that values draft picks mostly for their trade value, adding the 254-pound Duckett is worth the price even as a one-year rental.