Forgotten man: loving Ridley's attitude so far

shmessy · Mar 15, 2014

Brady6 said:
He fumbled in the first half twice in week one against the Bills, if he was fatigued in week one we need to hit up Costco and by the guy a case of red bull.

Wrong. He had one that afternoon.

Stevan Ridley Game By Game Stats and Performance - New England Patriots - ESPN

shmessy · Mar 15, 2014

makoute said:
He always had the right attitude, the problem is he won't stop fumbling.

Sounds catchy, but he DID stop fumbling.

No fumbles the last 6 games of the season (including the 2 playoff games) with a 4.3 ypc average:

Stevan Ridley Game By Game Stats and Performance - New England Patriots - ESPN

Ivan · Mar 15, 2014

I have never understood the hate on Ridley, the kid is a tough talented back who can be a true number one. Many RB's have some fumbling issues in the early stages of their careers and the question is whether they get it and do the work to eradicate it. I believe in him and I'm looking forward to a big season for both he and Vereen.

sevengables_2207 · Mar 15, 2014

I think fumbles are a part of the game.

All running backs, great or no, fumble. Be that as it may, Ridley seemingly has a knack for fumbling at inopportune times (e.g. the Carolina MNF game) and/or responsible for fumbles that went the other way for six (e.g. Buffalo opener, Denver SNF).

Does he deserve the label/hate? Or is it that his fumbles were just very conspicuous? And thus, this blurs the lenses, so to speak.

I have watched a lot of random football games (college and pro) where running backs fumble and the other team goes 3 and out on the following series.

Ridley's fumbles last year were just so damaging. I think this factors into the perception of him and thus what gets lost in the shuffle or buried is that he is a talented running back who is productive in this offense.

Krugman · Mar 15, 2014

mayoclinic said:
I have to say, I was very impressed with how Stevan Ridley handled himself on NFL Network this week. He came across as a consummate professional, team-first player, and Patriot. He took complete responsibility for his fumbling issues, and when queried about a possible Pats-Broncos AFCCG rematch next year he politely refused to take the bait, noting that that was too far ahead to look.

The kid has obvious talent. Lets hope he's put his fumbling issues behind him and learned to protect the ball properly. And while he'll never be Shane Vereen, if he could get more involved in the passing attack, he'd be even more effective.[/QUO

Could not agree with you more,MayoC,he carried himself with great poise,was very articulate....you might think the man had a post-secondary school degree or something..because you dont see it from a lot of athletes...

.

Galeb · Mar 15, 2014

chicowalker said:
What I'm thinking is that he does that out of habit -- a habit he reverts to when he's not focused, as you tend to do when you're trying to get out of a bad habit. And that focus is lost when he's tired or he's been in the game several plays in a row.

I agree that it is likely due to a lack of focus, but fatigue is not a major factor. He does it at the beginning of the season and the beginning of games. He tends to do it the most when he's changing directing or making cuts.

Canuck · Mar 15, 2014

chicowalker said:
What I'm thinking is that he does that out of habit -- a habit he reverts to when he's not focused, as you tend to do when you're trying to get out of a bad habit. And that focus is lost when he's tired or he's been in the game several plays in a row.

One thing I noticed is when he slips or stumbles, his arm holding the football moves away from the body exposing the football. I know that is an instinctive thing to do for any ordinary person who loses his balance but a running back should know better then that.

chicowalker · Mar 15, 2014

Galeb said:
I agree that it is likely due to a lack of focus, but fatigue is not a major factor. He does it at the beginning of the season and the beginning of games. He tends to do it the most when he's changing directing or making cuts.

Certainly might not be -- but, again, I wasn't just talking about the fatigue from end of season or even just end of game. Maybe I'll take a look later today to see if they tended to come after multiple carries, etc.

primetime · Mar 15, 2014

For all the talk about Blount, he was actually slightly more likely to fumble on a given running play than Ridley. Ridley just lost more fumbles (which is almost entirely based on luck) and they came at inopportune times. I suspect him being relegated to second fiddle had to do with a combination of riding the hot hand of Blount and Belichick's frustration with Ridley's showboating, which is frankly kind of dumb.

chicowalker · Mar 15, 2014

took a look at Ridley's fumbles last year -- 3 of the 4 were on carries, the other was on a reception -- I think it was the play where Polamalu popped him when he was turning upfield?

On the 3 rushes, all were after consecutive carries.

Also, on each of them, he was being used fairly heavily at the time, relative to where we were in the game -- when he fumbled in the opening series against Denver, it was his fourth carry of the series; on the 2 where he fumbled early in the 2nd, he had 9 and 10 carries at that point; on the 1 that was early in the 3rd, it was his 14th carry. So in all 4 cases, he was on pace for 25+ carries.

This is a tiny sample, obviously. Maybe I'll look at 2012 later.

I don't draw any significant conclusion from this except that it confirms my general thought on what I was seeing during the games, and that partly contributes to me wanting Blount back. With 3 effective backs, keep all of them -- Ridley included -- from carrying too much, be it over the course of the season, in any one game, or in one series. keep them all fresh as the defenses they're facing tire.

(and maybe -- maybe -- that would help with Ridley's fumbling issues in the process)

Galeb · Mar 15, 2014

chicowalker said:
took a look at Ridley's fumbles last year -- 3 of the 4 were on carries, the other was on a reception -- I think it was the play where Polamalu popped him when he was turning upfield?

On the 3 rushes, all were after consecutive carries.

Also, on each of them, he was being used fairly heavily at the time, relative to where we were in the game -- when he fumbled in the opening series against Denver, it was his fourth carry of the series; on the 2 where he fumbled early in the 2nd, he had 9 and 10 carries at that point; on the 1 that was early in the 3rd, it was his 14th carry. So in all 4 cases, he was on pace for 25+ carries.

This is a tiny sample, obviously. Maybe I'll look at 2012 later.

I don't draw any significant conclusion from this except that it confirms my general thought on what I was seeing during the games, and that partly contributes to me wanting Blount back. With 3 effective backs, keep all of them -- Ridley included -- from carrying too much, be it over the course of the season, in any one game, or in one series. keep them all fresh as the defenses they're facing tire.

(and maybe -- maybe -- that would help with Ridley's fumbling issues in the process)

You don't have to just watch when he fumbles. Watch all of his carries. Bad form carry the football is easy to see when the runner is not obscured from vision.

shmessy · Mar 15, 2014

chicowalker said:
took a look at Ridley's fumbles last year -- 3 of the 4 were on carries, the other was on a reception -- I think it was the play where Polamalu popped him when he was turning upfield?

On the 3 rushes, all were after consecutive carries.

Also, on each of them, he was being used fairly heavily at the time, relative to where we were in the game -- when he fumbled in the opening series against Denver, it was his fourth carry of the series; on the 2 where he fumbled early in the 2nd, he had 9 and 10 carries at that point; on the 1 that was early in the 3rd, it was his 14th carry. So in all 4 cases, he was on pace for 25+ carries.

This is a tiny sample, obviously. Maybe I'll look at 2012 later.

I don't draw any significant conclusion from this except that it confirms my general thought on what I was seeing during the games, and that partly contributes to me wanting Blount back. With 3 effective backs, keep all of them -- Ridley included -- from carrying too much, be it over the course of the season, in any one game, or in one series. keep them all fresh as the defenses they're facing tire.

(and maybe -- maybe -- that would help with Ridley's fumbling issues in the process)

Good analysis. Thanks.

VJCPatriot · Mar 15, 2014

Nikolai said:
Ridley is definitely a team-first player, but he needs to review film of Tiki Barber's turnaround. He stubbornly held that ball up high and close to his body.

The RB market is such that Blount isn't going to command a ton of cash. The days...they are a changin'.

I see no reason not to revisit the Ridely-Blount-Vereen stable from last year.

Agreed if we have money left over, I'd certainly like to lock up Blount as injury insurance. He was definitely a productive guy for us and I never heard a negative thing about him from teammates.

AzorianPats · Mar 15, 2014

Brady6 said:
He fumbled in the first half twice in week one against the Bills, if he was fatigued in week one we need to hit up Costco and by the guy a case of red bull.

Can't speak for everyone else.....but I'm more of a BJ's guy ..

BJ>>>Costco

SeanBruschi54 · Mar 15, 2014

Brady6 said:
I think Blount was great for $680K last season but I'm not sure how much he would impress me for $2M a season.

Who is giving him that?

Ozymandias · Mar 15, 2014

I'm really fascinated to see how Ridley performs this season in the final year of his rookie contract. He has a great opportunity in front of him to hit on a fairly decent payday.

He's the best pure rusher on the team, currently, but as a two-down back without any versatility in the passing game it's fair to wonder if the team views him as a commodity or replaceable.

I wouldn't be shocked to see the team draft a running back in the later rounds since both Vereen & Ridley's contracts are up after this season.

mgteich · Mar 15, 2014

All our current running backs are free agents after the season. We need to sign a running back, hopefully to a contract more than one year. My choice would be Blount.

We did fine with the duo of Ridley and Blount, with Vereen as the 3rd down and change of pace back (with Bolden as Vereen's backup).

Christian · Mar 15, 2014

I'm happy somebody posted this. I think Ridley and Vereen are both VERY good players who people may take for granted.

Sure Ridley has had fumbling issues. But he has been a team player...and is hard on himself. He is a winner. Vereen has had injury problems but he is an all around back when healthy and an incredible weapon out of the backfield.

If Ridley can resolve his fumbling issues, which I think he will, then he is a very good back. Maybe not Adrian Peterson elite, but he is more than capable of carrying the load. Seems like every time he touches the ball he breaks for 5-6 yards. I'm happy we have him and I hope both he and Vereen are extended. Both are still very young (24-25).

convertedpatsfan · Mar 15, 2014

I think the fumbling issue has been significantly overblown.

He had 4 fumbles in only 178 carries last season vs. 4 fumbles in 290 carries in 2012. While I'm sure 0 fumbles are the number we all want to see, realistically, top backs fumble. Jamaal Charles had 4 fumbles in 259 carries, Alfred Morris had 5 in 276, Adrian Peterson had 3 in 279, Reggie Bush had 5 in 223, C.J. Spiller 4 in 202 (Bush, Charles, Spiller had lots more touches as receivers in all fairness).

So really, top backs fumble throughout the season. The league average for fumbles in 2013 was 1 every 66 carries. Ridley's previous season was above league average, and obviously 2013 was below, although if he had one less fumble, he'd be around league average. Small sample sizes.

So Ridley fumbled in week 1, then carried the ball 96 times (plus 7 receptions) without a fumble.

Against Pittsburgh, Polamalu made one hell of a play, and that started an incredibly poor stretch where he would lose 3 fumbles in 34 plays (31 rushes, 3 passes).

But he took the benching seriously, spoke with lots of people, worked hard to hold onto the ball, and would not cough up the ball again in 62 carries (43 regular season, 19 play-offs).

We're really talking about a small sample size of 34 plays where he literally dropped the ball. It was a bad stretch of play, but consider that last season, Tom Brady had a 4-game period where he didn't break 60%, throw for more than 270 yards, or throw more TDs than INTs. Slumps happen to all players, even HOFers.

Ridley was above-average in 2012, and apart from a few games in a row where he couldn't hold onto the ball, has been pretty solid overall. Obviously it happened, and could happen again. But I think he's learned his lesson and will hold onto the ball more. I'm also sure the next time he fumbles, everyone is going to assume he's got the biggest fumbling problem in the league.

BradyFTW! · Mar 15, 2014

Froob said:
Blount isn't going to command much. Interested to see what Moreno does. Probably can't offer enough that it won't be worth it for him to not return to Denver though.

Agreed, it all depends on what Blount commands. If he's getting Ben Tate money, no thanks. But RBs rarely break the bank anymore, so he might be easy to resign.

Forgotten man: loving Ridley's attitude so far

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