Reports: Fred Taylor signed

[MassPats38]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

Great pickup. Certainly adds a different element to the RB corps.

And I would agree his addition does not carry the potential Dillon's did. Dillon did it all in 2004 and had just turned 30 at the start of the season. Taylor may be more capable of playing at 33 than Dillon, but he will be a part of the RB picture, not the whole picture, with a role determined based on how the rest pan out.

I do not read this as having any effect on Morris. I would not be surprised if this does have an effect on a decision to keep Maroney if he does not show up healthy and ready to go full tilt. Great potential, but Patriots do not keep the walking wounded forever based on potential.

 

[Blizzzard]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

Agreed, as long as it isn't too expensive, this is a great signing. LoMo, Faulk, Morris, and Taylor. Wow.

You are assuming that they are keeping all of those guys, and not just looking for an upgrade over one of them.

 

[jays52]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

Says who?

Ugh. Stats. The mortal enemy of people who know anything about football.

All you just did was give me a list of old feature backs who had north of 30 carries a game for many years in the league. No one under that kind of punishment can last long. Now, show me a guy that does 15 carries a game, misses some time, has time to get healthy and is able to keep playing? That's a guy who can ball. Each player is unique, each player ages differently, each player goes about treatment differently. Taylor is a special player in that there has been no significant decline in his PLAYING ABILITY as he moves north of 30. Sure, he's not a 30 carry guy, but frankly, anyone who is running a feature back offense is a bit of a troglodyte.

Dig deeper, Watson.

 

[abejarano12]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

I like Fred Taylor. I think that this is a good pick up.

 

[Mogamedogz]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

Great pickup. Certainly adds a different element to the RB corps.

And I would agree his addition does not carry the potential Dillon's did. Dillon did it all in 2004 and had just turned 30 at the start of the season. Taylor may be more capable of playing at 33 than Dillon, but he will be a part of the RB picture, not the whole picture, with a role determined based on how the rest pan out.

I do not read this as having any effect on Morris. I would not be surprised if this does have an effect on a decision to keep Maroney if he does not show up healthy and ready to go full tilt. Great potential, but Patriots do not keep the walking wounded forever based on potential.

Morris is just about as injury prone as Maroney, and he is going to be 32 when the season starts.

 

[mayoclinic]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

I'm guessing that the Patriots are going to be run-heavy this year so Brady doesn't have the carry the load too much. Adding Taylor makes perfect sense if that's the case.

Not quite. However, I think that the Pats realize that amazing as 2007 was, they got somewhat out of balance with an overwhelming passing attack, and it may have cost them in the end. I think the 2004 offense, with its balance between Brady and a brutal rushing attack with Dillon, was superior overall even if less spectacular and putting up less points. Last year seemed to trend back towards a bit more balance - whether because of the loss of Brady or intentionally, I'm not sure. I think that the Pats will always have a dominant passing game, but they need to keep teams off balance with the run and be able to have some long clock-killing drives to keep the defense fresh. RB by committee seems the best way to do this right now in the NFL. With Maroney, Taylor, Morris and Faulk the Pats will really be able to throw a lot of looks at opposing D's, and have tremendous depth.

 

[zoostation]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

He was almost a Patriot out of college. That Pats had just lost Curtis Martin and needed an RB in the first round. Fred Taylor, Curtis Enos (bust) and Robert Edwards were the top three in the draft. Chicago took Enos, the jags took Taylor and the Pats took Edwards. Both Edwards and Taylor were rated the same so it could have gone either way.

If I remember correctly Edwards outplayed them all in his rookie year before shattering his knee. So this pickup seems like full circle to me.

 

[102 Pat]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

I wonder if this will affect Evans coming back now, still a good signing. No surprise he would choose the Pats over the Bills. Maybe he thought the Pats were a better chance for a ring?

 

[Patjew]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

Just watch some of Taylor's runs. I remember watching a few JAX games and repeatedly saying "There it is, hash, numbers, sideline...6". He gets a seam, he's ghost like swazey.

I love that! Awesome Narnia reference.

 

[Scouse Patriot]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

I like Taylor, real shame he's the wrong side of 30 but I'm happy we've picked him up. He keeps himself in great shape so I think he can be more than productive next season with the carries he gets.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

Just heard on the WFAN patriots sign Fred Taylor. Looks like a good signing

Why did it take so long? I'm not sure I like that sort of indecision. It really makes me question his commitment to the team.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

Not quite. However, I think that the Pats realize that amazing as 2007 was, they got somewhat out of balance with an overwhelming passing attack, and it may have cost them in the end.

Thank you for stating the obvious truth. It's sure to generate a lot of anger around here as any questioning of the playcalling - especially in a season that can be statistically proven to be 18-1 - is usually attacked around here.

 

[tombonneau]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

Sort of a "meh" signing to me. Not sure how much more he is going to bring to the table than Jordan and/or Morris. We're assuming he's replacing Jordan giving the Pats a Maroney/Taylor/Morris/Faulk combo?

 

[TimU]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

All you just did was give me a list of old feature backs who had north of 30 carries a game for many years in the league. No one under that kind of punishment can last long. Now, show me a guy that does 15 carries a game, misses some time, has time to get healthy and is able to keep playing? That's a guy who can ball. Each player is unique, each player ages differently, each player goes about treatment differently. Taylor is a special player in that there has been no significant decline in his PLAYING ABILITY as he moves north of 30.

Fred Taylor ranks 20th in NFL history in Rushing Attempts, so the notion that he has less wear annd tear than some other back based on having had fewer carries is absurd - there are only 19 people in the 80 year history of Pro Football that have carried the ball more!

Of course everyone is unique and anything could happen, but there is not a lot of precedent for a back like Fred Taylor to have a good year at his age and with his history.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

Boy, 33 years old is ancient for an NFL tailback, and his numbers have been in decline. I have to think that it is more likely than not that he will not help us. Sorry to sound negative, but really how many RBs have a good year at this age?

Are you insane? I'm almost certain he won't be used as the feature back (or at the very least will have shared carries. He is an IMMEDIATE help and our offense is already better and he hasn't carried the ball once.

You gotta consider more then just the man, look at the offense he's going into. Think Faulk + the ability to power run. He immediately causes teams to honor the LOS (whether he carries the ball or not). He catches and runs out of the backfield VERY well and can still bang out yards (4.6 YPCarry lifetime). With LoMo/Morris/lawfirm back there you know what you are getting. Even with Faulk you pretty much know what you are getting (you can't stop it, but at least you know). You have no idea what you are getting with FT back there. Particularly when you consider the other weapons we have that you HAVE TO HONOR as well.

So long as he is healthy (and can stay that way), this upgrades an already VERY GOOD offense, by adding much needed balance. Even a FT that has lost a little bit of a step upgrades the offense for the simple fact that he has bring a bigger toolbox (skillset) then anyone else we have.

My only knock on Fred, he does occasionally put one on the turf (and his FumL is less then 65% - about average, to a little less).

 

[NE39]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

Pete Prisco has Taylor saying he hasn't signed yet:

LINK

Granted, Prisco is a moron.

 

[MetalBleachers]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

Are you insane? I'm almost certain he won't be used as the feature back (or at the very least will have shared carries. He is an IMMEDIATE help and our offense is already better and he hasn't carried the ball once.

You gotta consider more then just the man, look at the offense he's going into. Think Faulk + the ability to power run. He immediately causes teams to honor the LOS (whether he carries the ball or not). He catches and runs out of the backfield VERY well and can still bang out yards (4.6 YPCarry lifetime). With LoMo/Morris/lawfirm back there you know what you are getting. Even with Faulk you pretty much know what you are getting (you can't stop it, but at least you know). You have no idea what you are getting with FT back there. Particularly when you consider the other weapons we have that you HAVE TO HONOR as well.

So long as he is healthy (and can stay that way), this upgrades an already VERY GOOD offense.

My only knock on Fred, he does occasionally put one on the turf (and his FumL is less then 65% - about average, to a little less).

:agree: 4.7 yards per carry last year. 'Nuff said.

 

[TimU]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

:agree: 4.7 yards per carry last year. 'Nuff said.

3.9 actually

 

[Synovia]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

Sweet. He immediately becomes our best RB since the 2004 Dillon. Although his YPC were down last year, in addition to their OL being a mess they really screwed with him by giving him 10 carries or less in half the games. Although Jones-Drew's average was 0.3 higher, his average went down quite a bit last year too (4.6 to 4.2) so last year's stats are tough to gauge reality.

I dunno. Running backs tend to drop off a cliff some time right after 30, and Taylor went from 5.4 ypc to 3.9 in one season, while MJD only had a small dropoff. Yeah, the line was worse, but Taylor was definitely worse too.


I'm hopeful, but don't think he ends up being too useful.

 

[Synovia]

Re: Fred Taylor Signed

I do not read this as having any effect on Morris. I would not be surprised if this does have an effect on a decision to keep Maroney if he does not show up healthy and ready to go full tilt. Great potential, but Patriots do not keep the walking wounded forever based on potential.

There is no reason to cut Maroney. He costs more to cut next year than to keep.