What do you guys think of Maroney?

patsox23 said:

Oh please, you're being too kind/extremely naive. Being a Yankee/Colt fan is ridiculously obvious. FRONT. RUNNER. But even worse than that. Front-runner of teams that "should" be winning, but aren't.

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Exactly, they're both teams that are perenially picked to win it all and choke out in the post-season.

As for Maroney and Addai, it's hard to compare. It's easy for you to say Addai and us to say Maroney, but there's no denying the different circumstances; Addai doesn't have a Dillon (for better or worse), Maroney doesn't have a Manning. He has a Brady (who I will go to my grave arguing is better), but the passing offence doesn't have the reputation or stats that Indy does, it's silly to deny that. Name me a team that prepares to play Indy without predominately looking at pass defence, I dare you.

All I know is Maroney, in the games where he has produced a great deal, has almost singlehandedly won us those games.

patsox23 said:

Your front-runner bandwagon name is perfect, just as your post is perfectly ridiculous. Addai is fine. So-so. Decent. Maroney is a monster.

Give my best to recess.

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"Monster" would not be the word I would use to describe Maroney...

FinNasty23 said:

How would you guys rank the big 3 young RBs in our division? With Ronnie, Willis, and Maroney?

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I'd say that right now it's 1 Willis, 2 Ronnie, 3 Corey, 4 Laurence. But you'd never know it about Ronnie because of that OL in Miami. Willis is an amazing talent.

All that said, I think that Laurence has far more potential as a rookie than either of those guys (McGahee, Brown) as rookies.

patsfan13 said:

I don't remmeber hearing his name around here. BB always blindsides us, Watson was a total surprise.

Most here were hoping for a OLB. Williams and White were mentioned IIRC, White more as a 2nd round guy.

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The Patriots.com site was chatting him up for a while, and I dragged his name out a couple of times pre-draft (along with about 20 others... I was sold on Ty Hill.) He wasn't an "unknown," but certainly wasn't what everybody was talking about (myself included.)

I think if you want to make Willis/Ronnie comparisons, you have to wait a couple years until Corey's done. Right now you're talking about a guy getting half the touches. But preliminarily:

- REAL big for a guy with that kind of burst. Has been learning the Dillon stiffarm, but still (as mentioned) hesitating behind the line at times.

- Great production for a time-splitting back.

- Always a threat on special teams, though that is controversial with some here.

- Not a disaster on blitz pickup but needs to come along some.

- Not bad receiving out of the backfield, but he's not going to turn into Westbrook or anything. Mainly he'll be making his yards on handoffs and pitches.

I am still waiting for Ronnie Brown to be a good investment over teammate Cadillac Williams. But then it depends what you want. The Fins obviously wanted their Main Man to be the unquestioned goal line guy, whereas the Bucs wanted to get from their 20 to someone else's with their running back, and Cadillac can do that on one play on a good day. What hasn't been his forte has been the goal line carry.

Agree about McGahee re: attitude. He's always going to be a good back, but won't push into the Tiki/Ladanian/LJ stratosphere. I wonder if he could on a better team, and especially with a better attitude.

PFnV

Brownfan80 said:

I'd say that right now it's 1 Willis, 2 Ronnie, 3 Corey, 4 Laurence. But you'd never know it about Ronnie because of that OL in Miami. Willis is an amazing talent.

All that said, I think that Laurence has far more potential as a rookie than either of those guys (McGahee, Brown) as rookies.

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More potential than Ronnie? I have to disagree. Ronnie's potenial is higher due to his versitality. He is on pace for 57 receptions and we dont even feature him in the passing game much (because MM is worthless). He isnt quite as fast as Maroney, but fast as well, and is very hard to bring down. Maroney isnt a big tacklebreaker.

Maroney is fast and explosive... and probably is a little better of a pure runner than Ronnie too. But in terms of upside, Ronnie has more... because he brings more to the table. He has more than Willis though...

Yankees/Colts said:

Homerism :rocker:

It's a beautiful thing. :rocker:

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It's not Homerism to say that Addai is playing with a functioning passing game (one of the best passing games in the league). Manning - Harrison - Wayne - Stokely. Manning and his WRs should be creating holes for a rookie RB, just as they created situations for Edge to succeed.

Maroney is coming into a situation where only ONE widout is on the team from last season and the passing game is in a period of transition, yet he's still kept pace yardwise with Addai and scored more.

Also, whatever poster said that Addai is more versatile is not paying attention. Trade Addai and Maroney and Maroney has a field day on the Colts in that situation. I think in time he'll have that kind of success here, but first the passing game has to back off the D out of the box.

FinNasty23 said:

More potential than Ronnie? I have to disagree. Ronnie's potenial is higher due to his versitality. He is on pace for 57 receptions and we dont even feature him in the passing game much (because MM is worthless). He isnt quite as fast as Maroney, but fast as well, and is very hard to bring down. Maroney isnt a big tacklebreaker.

Maroney is fast and explosive... and probably is a little better of a pure runner than Ronnie too. But in terms of upside, Ronnie has more... because he brings more to the table. He has more than Willis though...

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What in the heck is your definition of versatile? You keep throwing that word around like it takes into account only catching stats!

Maroney breaks plenty of tackles in open space. Ronnie isn't NEARLY as fast or explosive as Maroney. Maroney's hands are just fine. Just because he hasn't been used heavily there as a ROOKIE means nothing of his upside in that department. And in case you missed it he's done extremely well on kickoff returns too.

I don't expect a Dolphin fan to give credit where it's due, but this unrealistic view of Maroney and his 'versatility' is simply silly.

Willis McGahee is a better back than Ronnie Brown, so how does Maroney have more upside than Willis, but not than Brown? Ah right, Dolphin homer syndrome.

Brownfan80 said:

What in the heck is your definition of versatile? You keep throwing that word around like it takes into account only catching stats!

Maroney breaks plenty of tackles in open space. Ronnie isn't NEARLY as fast or explosive as Maroney. Maroney's hands are just fine. Just because he hasn't been used heavily there as a ROOKIE means nothing of his upside in that department. And in case you missed it he's done extremely well on kickoff returns too.

I don't expect a Dolphin fan to give credit where it's due, but this unrealistic view of Maroney and his 'versatility' is simply silly.

Willis McGahee is a better back than Ronnie Brown, so how does Maroney have more upside than Willis, but not than Brown? Ah right, Dolphin homer syndrome.

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Well, I havent really seen Maroney used in the passing game. I didnt follow him a ton or anything in college, but I had seen him play a few times. I didnt remember him being used much in the passing game, in Minn. or NE (so far). I never said his hands were bad.

Maroney is good on special teams as well. You are right, I wasnt taking into account special teams in terms of versatility... mainly because I was talking about how he could be used as a RB. Maybe I should have... but even then, he doesnt have hands like Ronnie, who has one of the better sets of hands in the NFL for a RB... or have the blocking skills Ronnie has either.

Willis is a better than Ronnie right now, but Ronnie has more potential than him too. Maroney is a very good RB... no where have I said he isnt. All I am saying is that Ronnie brings more to the table in terms of potential.

Maroney has, in limited touches, proved himself great at pass-as-a-different-place-to-start-the-run-from kinds of plays, because of how great he is once he's running out in space.

But hasn't yet shown anything like the receiving skills of either Faulk cousin.

you cant compare Addai and Maroney. Teams dont play the run against the colts.

Unlike most around here I'm cautiously optimistic about Maroney. Then again I didn't see the Cinci game and I am more a fan of big backs like Dillon than fast guys like Maroney.

Hopefully he develops where he can minimize the runs for no gain.

Right now I'd have to rank the young AFC East runners: McGahee, Brown, Maroney. I really like Ronnie Brown and I'm probably being rougher on Maroney because I see him more. It would not surprise me if in a few years Maroney leads the pack, but it wouldn't really surprise me if he doesn't.

Oh yeah, and Addai is an afterthought as far as defenses are concerned. Maroney would be averaging 8 yards a carry against a D designed to stop the Colts passing attack. Then again Dungy would never use him.

FinNasty23 said:

Well, I havent really seen Maroney used in the passing game. I didnt follow him a ton or anything in college, but I had seen him play a few times. I didnt remember him being used much in the passing game, in Minn. or NE (so far). I never said his hands were bad.

Maroney is good on special teams as well. You are right, I wasnt taking into account special teams in terms of versatility... mainly because I was talking about how he could be used as a RB. Maybe I should have... but even then, he doesnt have hands like Ronnie, who has one of the better sets of hands in the NFL for a RB... or have the blocking skills Ronnie has either.

Willis is a better than Ronnie right now, but Ronnie has more potential than him too. Maroney is a very good RB... no where have I said he isnt. All I am saying is that Ronnie brings more to the table in terms of potential.

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I guess it's all how you look at the idea of potential.

I feel that things like pass blocking and pass routes (I don't question Maroney's hands, I question his ability to run the routes) can be taught. Thinks like rare speed, change of direction, and explosiveness cannot.

Ronnie might be more polished at this point in his career, but never will he have the raw talent that Maroney has. Maroney's rough edges, however, can be smoothed out.

I have no doubt that he'll start taking 3 yards when that's all he's going to get as opposed to taking no gain waiting for a hole.

I have no doubt that he'll learn to pass block better (he already does an outstanding job 90% of the time, and that's amazing for a rookie).

I have no doubt that if the club chose to incorporate him more in the passing game that he'd have success.

I have absolutely no doubt that once defenses start respecting the pass more that Maroney's already impressive showing will become an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses.

I'm not saying Ronnie isn't a good running back. I just don't think he's a great running back. I think Maroney can and will become one of the best Patriot RBs of all time (and one of the best in the current NFL by then as well).

I'm still skeptical about Maroney...he's had trouble handling the running duties on his own. Until I see him put up a few 100 yards games without Dillon around, I'll always be skeptical.

So far, though, as a tandem...I've been pretty impressed...but thats a product of both players working together. When we lost Dillon for the second half of whichever game that was, Maroney didn't fare so well...

Brownfan80 said:

I guess it's all how you look at the idea of potential.

I feel that things like pass blocking and pass routes (I don't question Maroney's hands, I question his ability to run the routes) can be taught. Thinks like rare speed, change of direction, and explosiveness cannot.

Ronnie might be more polished at this point in his career, but never will he have the raw talent that Maroney has. Maroney's rough edges, however, can be smoothed out.

I have no doubt that he'll start taking 3 yards when that's all he's going to get as opposed to taking no gain waiting for a hole.

I have no doubt that he'll learn to pass block better (he already does an outstanding job 90% of the time, and that's amazing for a rookie).

I have no doubt that if the club chose to incorporate him more in the passing game that he'd have success.

I have absolutely no doubt that once defenses start respecting the pass more that Maroney's already impressive showing will become an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses.

I'm not saying Ronnie isn't a good running back. I just don't think he's a great running back. I think Maroney can and will become one of the best Patriot RBs of all time (and one of the best in the current NFL by then as well).

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I agree Maroney has skills that cant be taught like explosiveness, but Ronnie has skills that cant be taught either... like sheer power and ability to drag defenders... plus receiving skills. His hands are some of the best in the NFL for a RB, making one handed catches never dropping passes...

patsfaninpa said:

Can there be anything more phony than a Yankee/Colt fan?
How does that happen? If you're a Colt fan from Baltimore you
should hate the Yankees. If you're in the midwest root for one
of your teams. If you're from Ny, why a Colts fan when you
have the Jets/Giants?

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Huh, it always seemed obvious to me...you can instantly become a Colts/Yankees fan just by being a kid in Massachusetts, looking around at who your classmates root for then rooting for their rivals to piss them off. There's always a kid like that.

FinNasty23 said:

I agree Maroney has skills that cant be taught like explosiveness, but Ronnie has skills that cant be taught either... like sheer power and ability to drag defenders... plus receiving skills. His hands are some of the best in the NFL for a RB, making one handed catches never dropping passes...

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I suppose you're right about the power angle. Time will tell in the long run.

Brownfan80 said:

I suppose you're right about the power angle. Time will tell in the long run.

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Ya, they have different running styles. We will see who has the best back in a few years.

Both will be better than Willis though...

To me the offensive lines have a lot to do with how the running backs do. Miami's line right now is pure horse crap while the Patriots made it an offseason move to bulk up our line and keep a core of guys who have had time playing together.

Maroney is benefitting from our line now as a rookie.

While Brown is sucking behind the turnstyle in Miami.

SeanBruschi54 said:

To me the offensive lines have a lot to do with how the running backs do. Miami's line right now is pure horse crap while the Patriots made it an offseason move to bulk up our line and keep a core of guys who have had time playing together.

Maroney is benefitting from our line now as a rookie.

While Brown is sucking behind the turnstyle in Miami.

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Calling our oline "Turnstyles" is waaay to generous. Atleast turnstyles kinda get in the way a little. They are more like the gates they use for horse races...

desi-patsfan said:

you cant compare Addai and Maroney. Teams dont play the run against the colts.

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actually, you'd be shocked to see how much they actually do play the run. the colts have rarely (compared to the last 2 years) used the 3 WR formation. even when they do, it's ususally a TE out in the slot.