Vereen to be #1 RB...?

[Fencer]

Remember how the word on Reiss used to be that he was a good reporter, because he had solid sources with the team, but wasn't much of an analyst?

Well -- did that ever change?

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I hope he isnt our #1..we still have no idea what he will turn out to be. I hope he does good. But i would rather have a veteran and him taking carries rather than all him

 

[pork3]

Hope you are right. That kind of back would do wonders for the offense. Last year when Ridley came in and looked like a threat to break off 20 at any time it was encouraging. If Vereen is a homerun threat, that would really stress a D.

The days of yore with Corey Dillon, how I miss thee...

-Jamman

 

[JerseyDevil26]

Good to see I'm not the only one who wonders if Vereen is capable carrying the load full time. With Ridley and Woodhead back there I can't imagine him getting much more than 8-10 carries a game.

 

[patchick]

While Vereen's speed and receiving skills may suggest "change of pace back," he's actually a bigger and more complete RB than that label indicates. He's 5'10 1/4, 210 lbs and extremely strong -- his 31 bench press reps at the Combine is the highest total for any RB in at least the past 5 years. He was also a classic workhorse in college, where he never missed a game due to injury.

Obviously, he's done nothing in the NFL so far. But his upside is the kind of versatile, 3-down RB who can make the offense even more unpredictable.

 

[Arrington Planet]

Well, although Ridley probably has an advantage given last year's appearances, I don't think BB has him in such high esteem and, with a good job this offseason, he'll have a good shot of taking a more important role.

Although I'm not too sold on him, and I don't think some snaps against the Chiefs and Eagles with the game won and most of our starters pulled out are a good enough sample.

 

[Ring 6]

While Vereen's speed and receiving skills may suggest "change of pace back," he's actually a bigger and more complete RB than that label indicates. He's 5'10 1/4, 210 lbs and extremely strong -- his 31 bench press reps at the Combine is the highest total for any RB in at least the past 5 years. He was also a classic workhorse in college, where he never missed a game due to injury.

Obviously, he's done nothing in the NFL so far. But his upside is the kind of versatile, 3-down RB who can make the offense even more unpredictable.

We haven't had a 3down back in a very long time. I would imagine BB would love the idea of being able to have one. Pretty sure that was the thinking with the 2nd round pick.

 

[Salva135]

I hope he isnt our #1..we still have no idea what he will turn out to be. I hope he does good. But i would rather have a veteran and him taking carries rather than all him

I think many of us expect a veteran to be brought in to round things out, but I suspect that a full training camp and preseason will give the CS a pretty good idea of what they have in all of their RBs. I could see Ridley, Vereen, and a vet all getting their share of touches early in the season and the distribution of carries evolving over the course of the season depending on how they look. We'll know who's the favorite and who's in BB's doghouse after a few games.

 

[stcjones]

Charles Davis at NFLN now has the Pats taking an RB at 31, citing the loss of BJGE. I really don't see that happening; they should be in good shape with Ridley, Vereen and Woodhead leading the way.

This guy must be smoking crack.....NO WAY BB takes a RB at 31 this year.....We have vereen and Ridley to go with Woody.....much bigger priorities to address this year than RB.

 

[Christopher Patriot]

This guy must be smoking crack.....NO WAY BB takes a RB at 31 this year.....We have vereen and Ridley to go with Woody.....much bigger priorities to address this year than RB.

If it's not Richardson with a sudden drop and a modest trade up then I would be upset with any running back taken before the third day.

 

[Bonzo]

Remember how the word on Reiss used to be that he was a good reporter, because he had solid sources with the team, but wasn't much of an analyst?

Well -- did that ever change?

Indeed, his choice of language is poor. Vereen may very well leapfrog the RB depth chart, but I can't imagine the Patriots are hoping he performs better than another guy. Like every other team, I'm sure, they probably "hope" that every single member of their TC roster has a brilliant, injury-free camp and that they have excruciating (but objective) decisions to make on cut day, when establishing their depth chart, and when assembling a gameday roster.

I'm personally rooting for a reemergence of Danny Woodhead. His explosiveness seemed to have vanished into thin air.

 

[MP-Logick]

Vereen is the most talented back on the roster. He's faster then Ridley and based on his college days I would say better at catching passes.

There just weren't that many reps to go around last year, and the available ones went to RB's whose pass blocking the team felt comfortable with. I expect Vereen, barring injury, to contribute quite a bit next season.

 

[Deus Irae]

Patriots may look to Shane Vereen as No. 1 running back | ProFootballTalk

Basically Reiss claims the Pats staff still see Vereen as a #1 RB, after all he was a 2nd round pick and had a hamstring injury that hampered his efforts last season.

Does anyone agree this should be the case? All the talk around has been about Ridley being #1

Ridley ran better than BJGE in terms of YPC. That wasn't much of a contest, since BJGE struggled for much of the season. Woodhead started off poorly, especially post-concussion, and still ended up at 4.6 ypc. So it's tough to evaluate Ridley as the RB1 without really pouring over the tape because, at a relatively cursory glance, we don't know if Ridley looked good because he was good, or if he looked good because his competition was a banged up BJGE. What was there was a pretty mixed bag of runs if you just look at the surface, IMO.

As an aside, BJGE is getting $3 million per year coming off of a 3.7 ypc season. That's nice work by his agent, particularly in what's been a soft market for running backs.

 

[Mark12]

You guys are forgetting Woody

I think that Woodhead, Vereen, and Ridley are three good assets assuming Ridley improves and Vereen isn't made of glass.

 

[Joey007]

This could happen since his only competition for #1 back (for now, anyways) is Ridley. If they stick with their current running backs Verren and Ridley will probably take lead role, one probbaly getting more carries then the other, and Woodhead as the 3rd down back. BTW, is Faulk a FA or just pretty much retired?

 

[IllegalContact]

I'd like to see him play for a few consecutive games first.

 

[Lansdowne]

I see Vereen's ceiling as Ray Rice and floor as Mewelde Moore. I hope having a year in the system will help, since he got hurt in training camp and went into the season with virtually little chance of contributing.

 

[Joey007]

If we stick with a Rid/Vereen/Woody trio best case scenario- Both second year backs break out and give us a good rushing attack. The worst case scenario- They both bum out, and we have virtually no ground game.

 

[jefmblrd]

I would imagine that when the FA market gets quiet there'll be a big, veteran back available at minimum salary and BB will pick him up.

 

[rookBoston]

If Vereen hadn't impressed the staff last year, they wouldn't have let BJGE sign with Cinci for 3 yrs/$9MM, which is pretty reasonable cash for a starting RB. Ray Rice is probably going to run $7 or 8MM/year, more than twice as much.

Pretty clear that BB let Lawfim walk. For a GM/coach that likes roster competition and cap-friendly veteran contracts, the fact that he didn't bring BJGE back is a vote of confidence in what he has on the rest of the roster.

Not only do I think Shane will step out of the shadows this year, I think he'll be an UPGRADE: more explosive hitting the gaps than Bennie, more versatile especially in the passing game. Ridley was impressive (other than fumbling), but BB drafted Vereen a round earlier and saw something in him that made him worth a 2nd round pick. The short TC and the injury put Vereen behind the 8-ball right out of the gate, but I think we'll see Shane make a name for himself this year.