What happened to Woodhead? - New England Patriots Forums

Ice Cold Bruschi · 10-31-2011, 10:55 AM

The guy produced over 900 yards of offense last year for us, now he barely gets on the field. Seems like we've gotten away from designed screens but I think we really need to get the ball to him in open field again.

in 12 we trust · 10-31-2011, 11:06 AM

I love Kevin Faulk...but Woodhead is a playmaker !

RobAllan · 10-31-2011, 11:58 AM

I'm not going to jump on the BB needs to stop being GM ship, however this bothers me:

We had 3 awesome RBs to utilize- Law Firm, Woodhead, Riddley. We actually cut a productive DB to make room for a 4th- Kevin Faulk.

Now maybe it's because I'm just a casual observer but it seems like
1. We don't run enough to justify 4 backs anyway and
2. It seems like it'd be hard to get rhythm when you're rotating 4 backs.

I think any of our backs would look better if they got left in more. I think a Law Firm as a featured back, with some 3rd down reps from either Woodhead or Faulk is all you need.

Just my 2cents. Obviously wortheless to the team...

RodThePat · 10-31-2011, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobAllan

I'm not going to jump on the BB needs to stop being GM ship, however this bothers me:

We had 3 awesome RBs to utilize- Law Firm, Woodhead, Riddley. We actually cut a productive DB to make room for a 4th- Kevin Faulk.

Now maybe it's because I'm just a casual observer but it seems like
1. We don't run enough to justify 4 backs anyway and
2. It seems like it'd be hard to get rhythm when you're rotating 4 backs.

I think any of our backs would look better if they got left in more. I think a Law Firm as a featured back, with some 3rd down reps from either Woodhead or Faulk is all you need.

Just my 2cents. Obviously wortheless to the team...

To be fair, the Bodden cut was probably Belichick getting rid of a guy he thought wasn't buying into the team's philosophy. I don't really think it had a lot to do with the position he played, or even the quality of his recent performance.

RobAllan · 10-31-2011, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RodThePat

To be fair, the Bodden cut was probably Belichick getting rid of a guy he thought wasn't buying into the team's philosophy. I don't really think it had a lot to do with the position he played, or even the quality of his recent performance.

That could be the reason for the cut, but I still can't make sense of filling the spot with another RB. I just can't buy into the fact we need 4 of 'em. I love Faulk, but 4 RBs is just too much, IMHO.

makoute · 10-31-2011, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobAllan

That could be the reason for the cut, but I still can't make sense of filling the spot with another RB. I just can't buy into the fact we need 4 of 'em. I love Faulk, but 4 RBs is just too much, IMHO.

Especially when running the ball is not something the Pats want to do consistently.

borg · 10-31-2011, 12:08 PM

Woodheaf whiffed on some blocking assignments early on this season....and that was that.

BB/Brady have trust issues with Woodhead, Ocho, and apparently Ridley. The roster seems to be filling up with players the team doesn't trust. And when Brady's health is in jeopardy, the leash gets very short

Triumph · 10-31-2011, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by makoute

Especially when running the ball is not something the Pats want to do consistently.

NE ran the ball 12 times and Hernandez had one of the carries.

That play was a real head scratcher.

**Ian** · 10-31-2011, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ice Cold Bruschi

The guy produced over 900 yards of offense last year for us, now he barely gets on the field. Seems like we've gotten away from designed screens but I think we really need to get the ball to him in open field again.

He hasn't been the same since he suffered an injury earlier in the season. I think he rushed himself back after seeing the impact Ridley was making thanks to his absence, and I think he forced himself back onto the field before he was really ready. He clearly isn't quite as quick as he was before he got hurt, and I think they used him on kickoffs primarily to limit his play until he's fully healthy, much like they did with BJGE and the same reason they held out Ridley.

But I agree with the playcalling regarding the lack of screens. That's an area that the line has been great at, blocking downfield, etc., and I'm surprised with the amount of bliztzing they did (Brady said after the game the Steelers blitzed on more than 50% of the plays) we haven't seen more of that.

Palm Beach Pats Fan · 10-31-2011, 12:27 PM

Blitz pickup is an important job for a RB and Faulk is the best on the roster at doing that. So just counting up the number of rushes in no way reflects the number of important plays by a running back. The TD to Branch was made possible by a Faulk blitz pickup.

I would have liked to have seen more screens to RBs and TEs, since it plays off the up-field agressiveness of the D, but it was what it was.

It's hard to run up the middle on this Steeler D, even with replacements at LB, but last year we ran outside on them a lot and delays from a spread shotgun set.