Patriots need a big season out of Vereen

[Ivan]

In light of the release of Hernandez the Patriots are really going to need Shane Vereen to step up and have a big season. He may not have the size Hernandez possessed but he is a player who can line up for them in the backfield, in the slot, and out wide if they need him to, and McDaniels is going to have to use him as the player to run the plays he would have run for Hernandez other than the TE specific plays.

 

[Nunchucks]

Vereen has a very high ceiling, IMO. If he can prove his pass blocking skills, he could be better than K. Faulk.

 

[signbabybrady]

Not seeing the correlation between Hernandez and Vareen.

Also The idea of needing to replace someones production yard for yard by another player also is a fallacy.

First we had the best offense in the league last year and that is not a requirement to winning football games. Coming from where we were we should be able to withstand losing some production and still be a winning team.

Also when one player leaves especially when they are as good as Welker or Ahern were you do not neccessarily replace their production with one guy. In Welkers case I hope both Amendola and Jules (and others) can make up the bulk of the production. In Aherns case most of it will fall to Ballard but in some cases we might just run with 1 TE.

Lastly some of the production lost in Wes, Ahern, and Woody (catching 40 passes) will likely get made up on the ground. I expect Ridley to rush for about the same maybe more but I really expect that Vareen will have much rushing yardage than Woody did.

 

[resdubwhite]

bad news folks. He's just been arrested for Jay walking.

 

[Modest]

I'm surprised that there isn't more excitement surrounding the fact we have found a (possibly more talented) replacement for one of my favorite and most underrated Pats, Kevin Faulk. You think Welker was a security blanket? Look what Faulk did for us.

 

[NEPettyOfficer72]

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPp03MRAhso

I think he will break out this season as I see him as one of the most talented ALL-AROUND weapons in the NFL. As good as Danny Woodhead was, Shane is a better receiver and runner, with more upside, a fresher body and everything is.

 

[Brady6]

Not seeing the correlation between Hernandez and Vareen.

The correlation between them on the field is that what we did with Hernandez was match him up for advantages. He would split out to use his size against a smaller nickel CB, or let him work against a LB or safety and use his speed. Vereen doesn't really offer as significant of an advantage in terms of size and strength but he does have the ability to be moved around to create mismatches against LB and safeties. And against a CB he may not be a 6'2 260 pound TE like Hernandez but he did lead all RB in his draft class on the bench.

 

[Brady6]

In light of the release of Hernandez the Patriots are really going to need Shane Vereen to step up and have a big season. He may not have the size Hernandez possessed but he is a player who can line up for them in the backfield, in the slot, and out wide if they need him to, and McDaniels is going to have to use him as the player to run the plays he would have run for Hernandez other than the TE specific plays.

I think Vereen is going to have an all pro campaign in 2013. Other than Chandler Jones there is no other player I'm higher on.

If he did what he did in the Texans playoff game he'd over a 16 game season he'd have;

112 carries
653 rushing yards
80 catches
1328 receiving yards
16 rushing touchdowns
32 receiving touchdowns

Obviously these stats aren't realistic or going to happen but it is exciting to think of the potential impact he could bring to the team.

 

[Sicilian]

I think Vereen is going to have an all pro campaign in 2013. Other than Chandler Jones there is no other player I'm higher on.

If he did what he did in the Texans playoff game he'd over a 16 game season he'd have;

112 carries
653 rushing yards
80 catches
1328 receiving yards
16 rushing touchdowns
32 receiving touchdowns

Obviously these stats aren't realistic or going to happen but it is exciting to think of the potential impact he could bring to the team.

And if Brady did what he did against Miami on 10/21/07 every game over 16, he'd have:

Comp%: 84%
Yards: 5664
TD: 96
Int: 0

But those kind of projections are kind of irrelevant.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

Well with his limitless upside, anything less than Pro Bowl, All-Pro and both offensive and defensive MVP while leading the league in receiving, rushing and scoring should be expected. He is a faster, stronger, happier, smarter, classier version of Adrian Peterson mixed with Calvin Johnson. He's basically at the Ditka level where a 14 inch version of himself could single handily beat the leagues best team. He's that good.


Anyway, I could see him getting anywhere from 50-100 catches this year.

 

[patsfan-1982]

if he can replace what woodhead give them as a 3rd down back it would be amazing I think anyone looking for more then that out of him will be let down

 

[tonyto3690]

if he can replace what woodhead give them as a 3rd down back it would be amazing I think anyone looking for more then that out of him will be let down

I think people are getting carried away (particularly in another thread people were saying he could be a WR/Percy Harvin). But he's already a better runner than Woodhead. Pass catching is a slight edge to Vereen and pass blocking is a wash, simply because Woodhead was more reliable but Vereen has all the tools to surpass Woodhead in every way.

I think 150 attempts, 650 yards, 40 REC, 400 yards are very reasonable. Would not be surprised to see him surpass that. But it's hard to tell given Ridley's upside and potential.

 

[Oswlek]

I think people are getting carried away (particularly in another thread people were saying he could be a WR/Percy Harvin). But he's already a better runner than Woodhead. Pass catching is a slight edge to Vereen and pass blocking is a wash, simply because Woodhead was more reliable but Vereen has all the tools to surpass Woodhead in every way.

I think 150 attempts, 650 yards, 40 REC, 400 yards are very reasonable. Would not be surprised to see him surpass that. But it's hard to tell given Ridley's upside and potential.

I'd give Vereen the bigger edge as a receiver, personally. I haven't seen enough in the NFL to say whether he is an improvement over Woody as a runner, but his college tape made me think he had the potential to be a top line starter.

In any event, I would be ecstatic with a 2010 Woody type season and I don't think NE even needs that much production from Vereen to be an elite offense. Your projection seems both reasonable and achievable.

 

[signbabybrady]

I think people are getting carried away (particularly in another thread people were saying he could be a WR/Percy Harvin). But he's already a better runner than Woodhead. Pass catching is a slight edge to Vereen and pass blocking is a wash, simply because Woodhead was more reliable but Vereen has all the tools to surpass Woodhead in every way.

I think 150 attempts, 650 yards, 40 REC, 400 yards are very reasonable. Would not be surprised to see him surpass that. But it's hard to tell given Ridley's upside and potential.

IMO Vareen is exactly the kind of kid you should get carried away with he has been in the system for a few years now, he had some real potential coming out of college, and he stepped up big in the playoffs.

Also there are plenty of unclaimed reps to be had he already has a base number from last year and can take on anything that Woody leaves behind. He will have to beat out Washington and Bolden to get the reps but it would not be to crazy to think that if healthy and if they earn the reps that Ridley and Vareen could see %90+ of RB reps this year. Best guess would be that Vareen and Washington fill the reps left by Woody but depending on if Vareens builds off the playoff sucess and how much will determine the snap percentage.

 

[Brady6]

And if Brady did what he did against Miami on 10/21/07 every game over 16, he'd have:

Comp%: 84%
Yards: 5664
TD: 96
Int: 0

But those kind of projections are kind of irrelevant.

I did say that the stats were unrealistic and only pointed out to speak to the potential impact of Vereen.

But are you saying Vereen will only have 1653 total yards and 26 total touchdowns? Because Brady did 85% of the yards and 56% of the touchdowns you projected above.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

I did say that the stats were unrealistic and only pointed out to speak to the potential impact of Vereen.

But are you saying Vereen will only have 1653 total yards and 26 total touchdowns? Because Brady did 85% of the yards and 56% of the touchdowns you projected above.

Those projected stats are unrealistically low, I expect those numbers by the 2nd or 3rd game of the season, mainly because of the fact he is a bigger, faster, stronger, funnier, more polite version of every Hall of Fame player that has ever played. Even those in other sports.