Lets call a spade a spade Riddley's Fumble

Luxusdk said:

But we won't be a run blocking team, as you talking about, aslong Brady is here. So they should "shop" him or atleast not resign him and draft a new one.

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This is my point. He's a guy who gets positive yards with our style of play. You can bring Blount in when you've loosened up a defense later in the game, and he will get you 4.5 yards per clip. But when Carolind was stacking the box early in the game, Ridley was getting them 3.5-4 yards per clip.

That is really tough to do.

Can New England find a guy who can do that? We've been through several players who couldn't.

This is like getting rid of Talib and upgrading him with a top draft pick, or getting rid of Welker and upgrading him with Amendola (sorry).

It's not so easy to replace productive NFL players, and Belichick realizes that, as he showed by putting Ridley in the game.

if we can have upgrades over Ridley and Talib, do you think there is a single Patriots fan here who doesn't want that?

Dagg said:

Blount ran hard yesterday even looked a bit faster getting to the line.

Blount 10-49
Ridley 13-48

Im good with more Blount/Vereen and less Ridley. He cost us the game.

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You have to look at time of game and the defense. Running late in the game when you've loosened them up is different from running against 8 men in the box.

juny said:

quick someone find the guy who taught tiki barber not to fumble so much

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This was my first thought too.

While quality RBs are not as rare as quality QBs let's not be so quick to broom SR out of town. The Pats stuck with the dancing train wreck Maroney and SR is 10x better than he was. It may be blind faith but I believe that the Pats position coaching can pull a Tiki with Ridley relative to ball security...

Bombdog said:

The biggest problem with Ridley is not only that he fumbles, but he tends to do it in big games. He cannot be counted on in a pressure situation. At the end of the end year let him walk. If he hasn't learned to hang onto the ball by now he never will.

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Some of his fumbles are bad ones. He often uses poor technique.

i dont see him getting a new contract, hes not a top tier running back.

Ridley is a very talented runner, he had some awesome runs last night, I wouldn't call him a JAG RB.

He has a fumbling problem, but I think calling his running ability JAG is pretty weak.

upstater1 said:

You have to look at time of game and the defense. Running late in the game when you've loosened them up is different from running against 8 men in the box.

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It was not late in the game its was 2nd/3rd quarter and I didn't see any 8 man box all night really outside of short yardage goal line. Good points just not applicable to the game last night.

Luxusdk said:

But we won't be a run blocking team, as you talking about, aslong Brady is here. So they should "shop" him or atleast not resign him and draft a new one.

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And, if they were a run blocking team, then I'd much rather have Blount who would thrive in such a scheme.

Dagg said:

It was not late in the game its was 2nd/3rd quarter and I didn't see any 8 man box all night really outside of short yardage goal line. Good points just not applicable to the game last night.

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The announcers pointed out 8 men in the box multiple times. Including on Ridley's first run on the first series.

The Patriots went with 1 receiver early a couple times.

He has a major problem with fumbling. Watching the replay he had the ball ridiculously loose. Its no wonder why people can simply bat the out of his hands. I know he had a TD but the fumble cost this team at least 3 points. Pats get 3 points that last drive of the game the pats are down 1 point not 4 and Ghost kicks a FG and the past win that game.

I don't think BB is going to resign him back. It was shocking BB actually put him back in the game.

PatsFan2 said:

Everytime Ridley takes a step forward he takes two step backwards with a careless fumble that cost us atleast 3. Some bad calls went against us but add that 3 points early on and all we would need is just a FG to win instead of a TD. you Cannot turn the football over and take take points away from the Offense in a close game and come out on the positive end. I think this is his last chance because if he loses another fumlbe like that again, I think BB will shut him down. No question about his talents but talent that turns the ball over is a detriment to their team. You gotta hold on to the football Riddler!

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It's getting really bad. I don't know what's going on in Ridley's head but he is NOT protecting the football in a crowd, and that is the time you MUST have two hands on the football!!

We'll probably bench him for a game, then give him another shot once his head clears. We still need Ridley. He needs to BURN into his BRAIN to protect the football! Those mistakes can cost you football games.

It is a problem but it is one that can be fixed. ridley is really talented and a hard worker. Kevin Faulk had the same problem and fixed it and they should stick with Ridley the same way they did Faulk.

oldskool138 said:

DA's not here anymore. You don't have to call him the Riddler.

But seriously, the Pats are going to be in the market for a RB come the draft. His fumbling has reached epic proportions and the entire league knows to do everything in their power to slap at the ball when they tackle him.

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What the hell does that even mean? And why keep repeating it? If someone wants to call him the Riddler let em'. But I do agree, He's a crash test dummy for fumbles. Sign on his back " I fumble often"

It sucks that he has had these fumble issues, but it's not like the ball is just popping out of his hands, other than the one in the Bills game.

Adrian Peterson, Marshawn Lynch, Reggie Bush, CJ Spiller and Jamaal Charles have all fumbled more than Ridley this year. Maybe we just need to give Vereen a start and let it soak into Ridley that he may have to give up some of his dynamic style of running to cover the ball with both hands.

BadMoFo said:

It sucks that he has had these fumble issues, but it's not like the ball is just popping out of his hands, other than the one in the Bills game.

Adrian Peterson, Marshawn Lynch, Reggie Bush, CJ Spiller and Jamaal Charles have all fumbled more than Ridley this year. Maybe we just need to give Vereen a start and let it soak into Ridley that he may have to give up some of his dynamic style of running to cover the ball with both hands.

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Ridley has lost 3 fumbles this season. Peterson has lost 2 and Lynch 1. So Ridley has lost as many fumbles as Peterson and Lynch combined

Worse, Ridley has lost his 3 fumbles on 140 touches. Peterson/Lynch have lost their 3 fumbles on a total of 450 touches !

Ridley loses a fumble every 46 touches.
Peterson/Lynch lose a fumble every 150 touches.

Remember when the great Tiki Barber had fumbling issues...and the next year he changed his grip and really never fumbled again? I think ridley will look at his grip in the offseason. Really hard to change in season

Bobs My Uncle said:

If Ridley was a superior runner a case could possibly be made that his value to the team is greater than the harm his putting the ball on the ground does.

But he's nothing more than a JAG runner so his fumbling becomes a serious issue. Unfortunately (for the Pats), Ridley is the best they have at the RB spot so they almost have to play him.

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Ridley is a lot better than a JAG. He is a pretty damn good runner. If you think that he is a JAG then you just proved to everyone that you don't know football.

Marinlik said:

Ridley is a lot better than a JAG. He is a pretty damn good runner. If you think that he is a JAG then you just proved to everyone that you don't know football.

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I disagree with Bob but he definitely knows football and has been a good poster for a long time.

crowell33 said:

Ridley has lost 3 fumbles this season. Peterson has lost 2 and Lynch 1. So Ridley has lost as many fumbles as Peterson and Lynch combined

Worse, Ridley has lost his 3 fumbles on 140 touches. Peterson/Lynch have lost their 3 fumbles on a total of 450 touches !

Ridley loses a fumble every 46 touches.
Peterson/Lynch lose a fumble every 150 touches.

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You can't just pick the fumbles lost; fumbles are what counts here. If a NE offensive lineman fell on Ridley's fumble last night, does that make it any better?

Lynch fumbles once every 77.33 touches; Peterson once every 72.67 and Ridley once every 46.67 this year. Clearly there's a big difference between the first two and Ridley. If only Ridley could run as well as those two.

MY main point is we have other options that perform similarly to Ridley the guy is not AP, he is replaceable.

NAME ATT YDS AVG LONG 20+ TD YDS/G FUM FUML 1DN
Stevan Ridley 131 562 4.3 23 2 7 62.4 3 3 29
LeGar Blount 80 361 4.5 47 3 2 36.1 1 1 14
Bran Bolden 38 205 5.4 46 1 2 29.3 0 0 11
ShaneVereen 15 108 7.2 21 2 0 54.0 0 0 5


Since Dillion has been gone its more the system then the back IMO. BJGE now he is the definition of JAG. I view Ridley as slightly more skilled but certainly not near your top end guys.

I think he is our best back but I don't think the margin is greater than the risk he present to us.