PonyExpress

We Pat fans have been incredibly lucky to see some of the greatest players, if not the greatest players at their positions in NFL history: Hannah, Brady, Haynes, Vinatieri, not to mention Tippett. But one position where we have never seen a homegrown talent reach leaguewide dominance here for the long term is RB. Jim Nance, great, but brief; Sam Bam, a bulldozer but not superstar; Craig James, great but too short a career, and brief flashes of excellence from Stephens and Edwards. Curtis gone after 3 years. In fact, Sam Bam still occupies the #1 position in the Pat record books with a paltry 5400 yards rushing, probably the lowest leading career total for any franchise in the NFL other than Houston and Carolina. When is it our time to see a great runner for 10 years, the kind that electrifies a fan base the way only a great power hitter in baseball can? A Marcus Allen, a Tomlinson, an Emmitt... Could it finally be that time? After 45 years, the law of probability is on our side...

flutie2phelan

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patsox23

Dude. Heath Evans's ascension started LAST year. Little slow on the uptake, huh?

Tunescribe

We had one and let him go -- Curtis Martin.

dryheat44

I don't think we'll see one while Belichick is running the show. Running backs tend to be fungible in the NFL. If you have a good offensive line and a strong passing game, an NFL-calibre RB will look great. A lot of a RBs success depends on luck. Emmitt Smith and Shaun Alexander come immediately to mind as very good RBs, but other RBs, say Stephen Davis and Thomas Jones, for the hell of it, would have had Hall of Fame careers also behind those O-lines.

I can't see the day where BB rewards a RB with a huge contract that will keep him in New England when his rookie/bargain contract expires. Too many teams will offer huge dollars, and BB will allow said RB to walk, and find an undervalued RB in free agency or the draft. It's going to take a great RB to really want to finish his career in New England.

Now, If Maroney is the next coming of Jim Brown, then we'll make an exception.

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When it's third and 10, you can have the milk drinkers and I'll take the whiskey drinkers every time. -- R.I.P. Max McGee

mgteich

I like the team approach to the running game: a primary back, a short-yardage and backup back, and a third down back. We also have an H-back/FB who does not carry to the ball (in the tradition of probowl FB Sam Gash). As we develop a more balanced attack, I would even carry a 4th back who can carry the ball in case of injuries. Pass filled that role last year.

We are not know nor will be primarily a running team under the regime of Belichick/Brady. And we shouldn't be.

We don't seek a running back to build the team around. We don't want to be as dependent as SD and Indy on the performance of their backs. Sure, I'd like our running game to run up bigger number and be more of a threat (not really a difficult task). But I like the approach of focusing on the OL, focusing on other blockers like TE's and a FB. And even developing a better more organized short yardage offense.

ilduce06410

i can think of these players who went to at least 4 pro bowls ;

ben coates, russ francis --- coates was a great TE, and francis was "all-world ''
stanley morgan--bethel johnson who had it together, really fast
raymond clayborn--a fast version of ty law
steve nelson--one of the top 4 ILBs of his era

dryheat44

That's a random thought to post in a Running Back thread.

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When it's third and 10, you can have the milk drinkers and I'll take the whiskey drinkers every time. -- R.I.P. Max McGee

ilduce06410

cut me a little slack, 44.
you're right, i thought that soon as i sent it, but i figured nobody's keeping score.

PonyExpress

I would have agreed with your premise that BB is happy with a cookie cutter Rb approach, before he traded a #2 for Dillon in '04 and then drafted Maroney at #21. This tells me that Brady and BB are trying to find that great Rb who is the lynchpin of every prolific championship caliber offense. One major reason for this could be concern for Brady's longterm health, another recognition that Charlie isn't around anymore to shine ******. Whatever the motivation, BB looked positively giddy to my eyes when he met the press after the Maroney pick, and word has since leaked out about Maroney from several places: (1) That if Maroney had fallen to the late first, Parcells would have traded Julius Jones to the Jets and moved up and drafted Maroney, (2)Shanahan's apparent interest in him, and (3) Polian's. Combining these 4 personnel minds: BB/Pioli, Polian, Parcells, Shanahan we are talking about 4 of the best talent evaluators in league history. I have also diminished Emmitt's production in the past, but often a RB makes an O-line and not vice versa. He and Shaun Alexander, as much as I dislike his running style are tremendously durable and that is 3/4 of the battle.