glm

What about Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, and possibly BenJarvus Green - Ellis?

feldspar

What about them? First of all, forget about BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Secondly, nobody can effectively utilize FIVE running backs in a single season. Usually you have a featured back that shares the load with a second guy...maybe a third guy will make some kind of impact, but four is stretching it hugely. Running back by committee only goes so far. It usually won't last either because, if you have two guys that should be the featured back, one of them is bound to go to a different team very soon.

The first thing you have to ask yourself is who your featured back?

So, I ask the question: who is New England's featured back? The only running back on your team that has ever even broken 1,000 yards in his career hasn't even played a down for you yet...of course, that's Fred Taylor, and he's 33 years old and going into his 12th season. Obviously, you picked up Taylor for a reason...maybe not to be the featured back, but then again, you haven't had one of those in a while. On the other hand, New England has got it done without great WRs either.

Also, the running backs in New England look better than they really are because the rest of the offense is so good IMO. You can't tell me they don't benefit from that. Granted, Faulk can catch the ball, and Morris is underrated, especially considering that not everybody knows who he even is, but they have been on a good team.

Imagine how the RBs from the other teams in the division would do on the Patriots team. All the other teams have a decent 1,2 punch in worse offenses.

Wildo7

This is why I ranked them last, and it comes down to the same issue of semantics as the "rank the Pats most talented teams" thread. I think the Pats will be top 10 in rushing, but not because they have the best RBs.

feldspar

Thank you.

Again, the line plays a big part, probably the most important one... and the passing game opens things up for the running game. The RBs are just another spoke on the wheel, part of a system. Also, the Patriots are great at setting up blocks for the screen pass to the RBs. I remember them absolutely killing teams with the screen pass even when everyone knew it was coming.

Although, I don't think the Patriots will be a top-ten rushing team this year. They'll be in the top half, but not the top ten. They weren't even in the top ten in 2007. I'm interested to see how much they use Taylor, if last year was an anomaly for him, or whether he's going downhill.

AndyJohnson

Sammy Morris has done more than Washington, Jackson, and Williams--at least since a few of his suspensions.

Maroney broke a bone in his shoulder. How does that illicit such a comment. Are you saying he is the only player that could happen to? Other than that his health has been about normal for an NFL RB of his age/experience.

AndyJohnson

So we had the best running game last year because of Matt Cassel? Imagine what it will be this year.
Does it really matter whether it is the line or the ball carrier? Isn't the success what matters? Trying to argue who the success gets attributed to introduces subjectivity and bias into the argument.

feldspar

You didn't have the best running game in the division last year. The Jets did. Without Favre and a half-way decent passing attack, that will change IMO. Cassel benefited from the rest of the team last year as well, defense included. The easier schedule didn't hurt, either. In 2007, when the Patriots had perhaps the most prolific offense in NFL history, their running game was still ranked only 13th (if you want to go by that), and they pretty much had the same RBs playing as they did last year.

This year, like I said, the running attack will post better stats than the actual talent suggests. Whether or not Fred Taylor has it is the only new variable.

Of course it matters whether it's the line, the ball carrier, or the benefit of an effective passing game when you are talking about which team has the best running backs. But, in the end, it's the success that matters...after all, football is the ultimate team sport.

You could say that Randy Moss was washed up and sucked if you look how he did in Oakland. If you compared him with other WRs during his time in Oakland, you wouldn't even put him in the top ten.

Gunnails

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Pats had the best running game last year compared to whom?

AndyJohnson

So running for the most yards means what?
Let me get this straight? You think the Patriots run worse with Brady than with Cassel the Jets run better with Favre but worse without him, you denegrate the talent of the running game in 2007 when we set a record for scoring and oyu are saying we pretty much had the same RBs from 07 to 08 when the amount of carries was tremendously different?

So it doesnt matter if you run the ball well or not, it only matter if guys like you think the player is good????????

I have no clue what the Moss comment is about.
You are giving me a headache.

glm