Reiss doesn't consider Ridley a roster lock

Nunchucks said:

So, you just used top-end speed and Blount in the same sentence. That is hysterical. Blount is not fast, in fact I believe lots of people complained quite a bit about his plodding slowness, especially on kickoff returns. What Blount does have is an innate sense of angles and how to turn defenders around.

I agree, Ridley has more explosion and is very elusive in a short area, but Ridley doesn't have the same innate ability to get defenders all twisted up in the open field like Blount does. I don't understand it myself, but the proof is in the pudding. Blount would shift his angle when a defender almost had him and would end up running by the defender as he tried to compensate.

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Blount runs a 4.59 40-yard dash which for a 250lb RB is fast.

Brady6 said:

You clearly did not watch those games or at least not the fourth quarter. The Patriots led 20-3 against the Bucs and Blount gained 56 of his 65 yards on the final drive of the game that took place with 5:35 remaining

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So, they were not desperate to stop him?

Brady6 said:

Blount runs a 4.59 40-yard dash which for a 250lb RB is fast.

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Is that faster than the DBs chasing him?

Nunchucks said:

So, they were not desperate to stop him?

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The outcome of the game was basically determined. Blount entered and gained 56 yards in garbage time against a defeated Bucs defensive line. If you have any questions about this I would watch the final 5:35 of the game and you will be enlightened.

Nunchucks said:

Is that faster than the DBs chasing him?

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Depends on who the DB is and the angle they are chasing him from.

primetime said:

Sample size.

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55 carries and 0 fumbles will only earn you more playing time.

KontradictioN said:

You're either the worst evaluator of talent I've literally ever come across in my life or you're a troll who is a master at his craft. I can't decide yet...

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You must be another one who believes that Mcourty is the Revis of NFL Safeties.

Doobie Boy.

Then there's this tidbit from a good read by Chad Finn this morning:

Hard to believe considering he's played just three seasons and has found himself in the doghouse at least that number of times, but Stevan Ridley is on the verge of cracking the Patriots' top 10 all-time leading rushers. With 2,477 yards, he's just 304 yards behind Antowain Smith in the No. 10 spot. More notably, Ridley has a higher per-carry rushing average (4.5) than anyone in the top 10, among them Sam Cunningham, Jim Nance, and Curtis Martin. As intriguing as fourth-rounder James White of Wisconsin might be, I wouldn't bury Ridley just yet.

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http://www.boston.com/sports/touchi...he_ne.html?p1=Topopage:Carousel_lead_headline

These are the only RBs in the NFL that I can say are better than Stevan Ridley is –

1. Adrian Peterson
2. LeSean McCoy
3. Jamaal Charles
4. Marshawn Lynch
5. Frank Gore
6. Arian Foster
7. Matt Forte
8. Alfred Morris

Outside of that, he falls into the next tier of RBs like Lacy, Murray, Matthews, Spiller, and others who could rank in different orders depending on the season. I do not think it makes sense to consider cutting a player that could have a case easily made for him being top 10 at his position in the NFL.

Brady6 said:

Blount runs a 4.59 40-yard dash which for a 250lb RB is fast.

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Blounts a Steeler now, so I hate him. We broke up and I've moved on.

RayClay said:

Ridley doesn't have exceptional speed or power in the open field, but he has great burst from a standing start and elusiveness.

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I usually get mocked when I say that. Ridley doesn't have that 6th gear, but he gets to 5th as fast or faster than just about any running back in the NFL.

Not many people hit the hole as fast as he's capable. His balance is also pretty insane.

Ridley is one of the most consistent runners, his biggest and main issue is the fumbling, if he gets that fixed he can be a consistent top 5-7 in yardage back (if we'd give him the ball that much).

Unfortunately, despite his talent, it's all worthless if he's that big of a liability, a fumble every ~45 or so touches is a little too much for my liking if we want him to be a 20 touch per game kinda guy. Hopefully he gets it together, his personality and skill set are both things I want on the team long term.

Brady6 said:

These are the only RBs in the NFL that I can say are better than Stevan Ridley is –

1. Adrian Peterson
2. LeSean McCoy
3. Jamaal Charles
4. Marshawn Lynch
5. Frank Gore
6. Arian Foster
7. Matt Forte
8. Alfred Morris

Outside of that, he falls into the next tier of RBs like Lacy, Murray, Matthews, Spiller, and others who could rank in different orders depending on the season. I do not think it makes sense to consider cutting a player that could have a case easily made for him being top 10 at his position in the NFL.

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I don't even know where to begin with this one.

Deus Irae said:

I don't even know where to begin with this one.

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You could begin with naming any other RB that you would consider without a doubt better than Stevan Ridley. Outside of maybe Doug Martin who I overlooked I do not think you will have many.

Reiss thinks that there is a small chance that Houston or Gray will surprise and take Ridley's roster spot. I think that this is poor analysis. If Houston or Gray (or even Finch) surprises, it will be Bolden that goes, not Ridley.

Barring injuries, Vereen, Ridley and White are locks. I don't expect any of the three UDFA's to surprise and replace Bolden, but it could happen.

In essence, Reiss is saying that Gray or Houston could surprise so much that Belichick would dump Ridley and keep Bolden, the more flexible backup. I just don't see it.

Armchair Quarterback said:

This isn't that difficult:

Vereen, is according to Reiss a sure fire lock to make the team meaning there is no chance of him not making it.

Ridley though, according to Reiss, may not make it because Gray or Houston might surprise.

If he can count Houston or Jonas Gray as a potential threat to Ridley's roster spot then he should also take into account Finch when discussing Vereen's spot. Vereen's inabilty to stay healthy should leave him just as vulnerable as Ridley.

You got a problem with surefire/near lock distinctions, take it up with Reiss.

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Brady6 said:

You could begin with naming any other RB that you would consider without a doubt better than Stevan Ridley. Outside of maybe Doug Martin who I overlooked I do not think you will have many.

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You're calling a guy who lost his starting job to Blount a top 10 RB. If we only add your overlooked Martin, and the guy who beat Ridley out last year, that already puts Ridley outside the top 10.

That doesn't even get into Spiller/Jackson, or Bernard, or Lacy, or Ivory, or Ellington, or Ball (Or Moreno, for that matter), and so on.

mgteich said:

Reiss thinks that there is a small chance that Houston or Gray will surprise and take Ridley's roster spot. I think that this is poor analysis. If Houston or Gray (or even Finch) surprises, it will be Bolden that goes, not Ridley.

Barring injuries, Vereen, Ridley and White are locks. I don't expect any of the three UDFA's to surprise and replace Bolden, but it could happen.

In essence, Reiss is saying that Gray or Houston could surprise so much that Belichick would dump Ridley and keep Bolden, the more flexible backup. I just don't see it.

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He's got both Bolden and Ridley as near locks. People are reading far too much into "longshot" as "pretty good chance" rather than "This is almost certainly not going to happen, but I could at least see a scenario", which is clearly where he was going in the article.

And, for those who think these sorts of cuts just don't happen, I give you Lawyer Milloy and Brandon Meriweather.

If you are saying that Belichick makes mistakes/surprises in his cuts, I agree.

Deus Irae said:

And, for those who think these sorts of cuts just don't happen, I give you Lawyer Milloy and Brandon Meriweather.

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mgteich said:

If you are saying that Belichick makes mistakes/surprises in his cuts, I agree.

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I'm saying that he's cut "lock" guys in the past, so worrying about lock/near lock, especially when we haven't even seen the rookies in a game situation yet, is begging for one of Bill's "out thinking the room" moves.

I should have tossed in the Gutierrez/O'Connell v. Cassel year, too.

Deus Irae said:

I'm saying that he's cut "lock" guys in the past, so worrying about lock/near lock, especially when we haven't even seen the rookies in a game situation yet, is begging for one of Bill's "out thinking the room" moves.

I should have tossed in the Gutierrez/O'Connell v. Cassel year, too.

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I agree that there are sometimes cuts of players we think of as locks or near locks. Milloy was the result of our cap situation (probably not relevant this year). Cutting both Meriweather and Sanders was a flat out mistake in judgement. But, yes, there were others.

I tend not to sorry about such situations since there are so many players that are far from locks who are quite replaceable on the roster. There are a dozen who wouldn't be missed much by other than family and agents.

mgteich said:

I agree that there are sometimes cuts of players we think of as locks or near locks. Milloy was the result of our cap situation (probably not relevant this year). Cutting both Meriweather and Sanders was a flat out mistake in judgement. But, yes, there were others.

I tend not to sorry about such situations since there are so many players that are far from locks who are quite replaceable on the roster. There are a dozen who wouldn't be missed much by other than family and agents.

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I hear you. I expect Ridley will make the team. I expect that he'll start the season as the team's #1 traditional RB, and Vereen will start the season as the team's #1 3rd down back. I'm also someone who thinks that Reiss is a far better reporter than he is an analyst. I just don't get the shots at Reiss, in this particular case, for seeing some small percentage chance of a potential shocker when we're talking about a guy who's been in the doghouse in multiple seasons, and who lost his RB1 role at the end of last season.

Brady cut = shocker
Mayo cut = shocker
Ridley cut = surprising, but not shocking the world