***THE OFFICIAL 2014 New England Patriots training camp thread***

strngplyr said:

The fact that Ridley's longest run of 29 yards while maintaining a 4.3 average on his number of carries is what I love about him. It speaks to his consistency.

You can take away his big runs and have a 4 ypc guy.

You take away Blount's and you have about a 2ypc guy. Same goes for Vereen and Bolden. Inflated by 2 or 3 big runs. Ridley's average is what you get every time he touches the ball. He's a chain mover. The others are "big play" or bust, no consistency in their running.

There is a reason that despite his fumbles Ridley still carries the load week in and week out.

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Except he didn't carry the load week in and week out last year.

From Kontradiction's link.

– In a safety drill where defenders were tracking a ball thrown over their heads, Patrick Chung got conked in the head, Jose Canseco-style, when he couldn’t find the ball in the air.

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Well that looks promising....lol

AndyJohnson said:

Actually its really not a very big deal.

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I would agree if we were talking about the #4 RB in the depth chart, not the main back.

A RB that can never hit a home run and has fumble issues, it's good that he has some consistency, at least that.

strngplyr said:

The fact that Ridley's longest run of 29 yards while maintaining a 4.3 average on his number of carries is what I love about him. It speaks to his consistency.

You can take away his big runs and have a 4 ypc guy.

You take away Blount's and you have about a 2ypc guy. Same goes for Vereen and Bolden. Inflated by 2 or 3 big runs. Ridley's average is what you get every time he touches the ball. He's a chain mover. The others are "big play" or bust, no consistency in their running.

There is a reason that despite his fumbles Ridley still carries the load week in and week out.

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Blount and Ridley were about equally likely to gain 4 or more yards on a given carry. Blount was better than the average running back at achieving big gains (but not as good as, say, Andre Ellington or Chris Ivory), while Ridley was worse than average (but not as bad as, say, Ray Rice or Eddie Lacy). In 2012, Ridley was very close to the average though.

BenJarvus was the least likely running back in 2013 to gain 20+ yards on a given carry, by the way (5.32 times less likely than the average NFL RB from 2000 to 2013).

Wheelman said:

From Kontradiction's link.



Well that looks promising....lol

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Par for the course with "Too Late".

KontradictioN said:

Par for the course with "Too Late".

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No, He was looking for the pass... and he found it. He must have spent too much time watching the World Cup and just executed a good "Header".

varjao said:

I would agree if we were talking about the #4 RB in the depth chart, not the main back.

A RB that can never hit a home run and has fumble issues, it's good that he has some consistency, at least that.

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Long runs are overrated.

AndyJohnson said:

Long runs are overrated.

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Touchdowns must be overrated too

KontradictioN said:

Also of note: Boyce is continuing to get a lot of looks in the kick return game and Garoppolo threw another INT. Sounds like he still has a long way to go.

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To be fair, the Ds he was facing at EIU <<<<<<<<<<< Revis, McCourty, et al.

Nunchucks said:

Touchdowns must be overrated too

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Depends. Touchdowns scored by the offense can never be overrated, but which player carries in over the goal line can be.

patsinthesnow said:

Besides one great catch between two defenders, Lafell struggled today.

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???

http://www.providencejournal.com/sp...0140729-brandon-lafell-says-hes-starting-to-f

I've read a couple/few reports from today, that said that LaFell is starting to look much better.

There's also this: "There was some great theater in a series of one-on-one drills between wide receivers and defensive backs. Brandon Browner and Brandon LaFell engaged in a nice one-on-one matchup in a goal-line passing drill that was won by LaFell."

Although somewhat obvious, Brady & Edelman's strong chemistry at camp is noteworthy. The two are seemless. Also, it's amazing watching Edelman's route running as a WR considering not too long ago he was a MAC QB. I wouldn't be surprised if Edelman improved from last year, maybe not #s wise, but beating #1/#2 CBs more often.

supafly said:

???

http://www.providencejournal.com/sp...0140729-brandon-lafell-says-hes-starting-to-f

I've read a couple/few reports from today, that said that LaFell is starting to look much better.

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I just said what I saw with my eyes. Twice during a drill where a WR had to locate the ball in mid-air, Lafell couldn't locate the 1st attempt as the ball fell to the ground and dropped the 2nd. Later on in the WR-CB drills I wasn't too impressed. IMO, the media thought he had a good day because of his one incredible catch in between Butler/Ebner. While that play was great, it was between two longshots to ever see the field.

Just my opinion, and I realize I seem outnumbered on this one.


Doug Kyed‏@DougKyedNESN9h
Brandon LaFell had a really nice practice. Caught a deep ball from Brady over Malcolm Butler and Nate Ebner.

Mark Daniels‏@MarkDanielsPJ7 hrs
I thought Brandon LaFell had a solid day today. He's still getting use to this system (it's different than Carolina's), but is getting there

I'll check if SBBrady or patsfanken posted their thoughts on Lafell today
EDIT: Looks like Patsfanken focused on the OL/DL and SBBrady didn't attend.

patsinthesnow said:

I just said what I saw with my eyes. Twice during a drill where a WR had to locate the ball in mid-air, Lafell couldn't locate the 1st attempt as the ball fell to the ground and dropped the 2nd. Later on in the WR-CB drills I wasn't too impressed. IMO, the media thought he had a good day because of his one incredible catch in between Butler/Ebner. While that play was great, it was between two longshots to ever see the field.

Just my opinion, and I realize I seem outnumbered on this one.


Doug Kyed‏@DougKyedNESN9h
Brandon LaFell had a really nice practice. Caught a deep ball from Brady over Malcolm Butler and Nate Ebner.

Mark Daniels‏@MarkDanielsPJ7 hrs
I thought Brandon LaFell had a solid day today. He's still getting use to this system (it's different than Carolina's), but is getting there

I'll check if SBBrady or patsfanken posted their thoughts on Lafell today
EDIT: Looks like Patsfanken focused on the OL/DL and SBBrady didn't attend.

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Fair enough. I certainly respect your opinion and appreciate your taking the time to post what you saw. I was just a bit confused since the obvious consensus seems to be that he did have a good practice, and seems to be improving.

It's going to be interesting to see how it all ends up a month from now, but I think some are jumping the gun on certain issues, which is what usually happens so early in the process.

patsinthesnow said:

I just said what I saw with my eyes. Twice during a drill where a WR had to locate the ball in mid-air, Lafell couldn't locate the 1st attempt as the ball fell to the ground and dropped the 2nd. Later on in the WR-CB drills I wasn't too impressed. IMO, the media thought he had a good day because of his one incredible catch in between Butler/Ebner. While that play was great, it was between two longshots to ever see the field.

Just my opinion, and I realize I seem outnumbered on this one.


Doug Kyed‏@DougKyedNESN9h
Brandon LaFell had a really nice practice. Caught a deep ball from Brady over Malcolm Butler and Nate Ebner.

Mark Daniels‏@MarkDanielsPJ7 hrs
I thought Brandon LaFell had a solid day today. He's still getting use to this system (it's different than Carolina's), but is getting there

I'll check if SBBrady or patsfanken posted their thoughts on Lafell today
EDIT: Looks like Patsfanken focused on the OL/DL and SBBrady didn't attend.

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The fact it was over Butler and Ebner was my 1st reaction as well. But it will be interesting to hear what the rest of the patsfans have to say who were actually at the stadium.

There has been no real news on Collins or Mayo or Hightower which is interesting to me. especially with 3 pads practices.

With the news of Dobson's surgery being more serious than we had hoped the LaFell signing has become even more important. Even if it's just as another NFL calibre WR to put out there until Dobson is healthy.

How do people think Browner is going? From reports no one is really taking this away but whenever there seems to be a play made Browner seems to be generally the guy it's made on. I hevan't heard a lot of "browner broke up this pass" or "browner intercepts xyz". Just an observation.

Why are we talking about Blount? Isn't he a Steeler now?

jsull87 said:

The fact it was over Butler and Ebner was my 1st reaction as well. But it will be interesting to hear what the rest of the patsfans have to say who were actually at the stadium.

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It wasn't just "one play." There have been multiple examples from multiple sources, including the stories on the front page, the posts that I provided, and the twitter updates from the beat writers that patsinthesnow referenced which stated that "he had a good practice."

Whether or not that continues or he is actually improving/showing progress like some believe is up in the air, but there doesn't seem to be be doubt that he had a good practice today.

jsull87 said:

There has been no real news on Collins or Mayo or Hightower which is interesting to me. especially with 3 pads practices.

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Collins shined in the "Oklahoma Drill" today where the defender is lying on his back, and has to make the tackle. It was the first time in awhile that Belichick ran it. There was also reference to Collins' excellent pass defense in a couple of the practices thus far, including today as well.

He's also bulked up, which suggests that he's done so to be a 3 down player.

jsull87 said:

With the news of Dobson's surgery being more serious than we had hoped the LaFell signing has become even more important. Even if it's just as another NFL calibre WR to put out there until Dobson is healthy.

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Dobson's replacement is actually Kenbrell Thompkins. I think it's obvious that he'd be the guy to see the reps, as he's seen the #1 team reps due to Dobson's absence. Brandon LaFell is still getting acclimated to the system here, so it may take awhile for him to fit in. He is certainly capable of being a decent WR4, however, and will be in the mix for some regular season activity. He's a much better choice depth-wise than the usual group of JAGs that we bring in every summer, and has improved in certain aspects throughout his first 3-4 yrs in the NFL.

The fact that he is still learning the system may set him behind, but I also believe that some of the analysis about him dropping a pass or two during practice has been completely overblown. Both Thompkins (2) and Amendola (2) dropped passes on Sat or Sun, and we didn't hear a word about it. It's going to happen, just like it does during every practice.

jsull87 said:

How do people think Browner is going? From reports no one is really taking this away but whenever there seems to be a play made Browner seems to be generally the guy it's made on. I hevan't heard a lot of "browner broke up this pass" or "browner intercepts xyz". Just an observation.

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I am one who is a bit apprehensive of the insane amount of hype made of Brandon Browner, and still am not even convinced that he'll be starting opposite Darrelle Revis this year. He's physical and big at the LOS, but his skill set has been overrated by many on this forum (in my opinion). We will have to see. I'm sure he'll show both pluses and minuses throughout the season, but Dennard and Ryan should be in contention for the CB2 at some point during the season as well.

varjao said:

I would agree if we were talking about the #4 RB in the depth chart, not the main back.

A RB that can never hit a home run and has fumble issues, it's good that he has some consistency, at least that.

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The running game isn't about big plays. It is about consistently getting decent yardage and setting up second/third and short, and also getting the first on third and short. A high YPC with few long runs is far superior than a mediocre YPC with lots of big runs.

Galeb said:

The running game isn't about big plays. It is about consistently getting decent yardage and setting up second/third and short, and also getting the first on third and short. A high YPC with few long runs is far superior than a mediocre YPC with lots of big runs.

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Yeah, Barry Sanders sucked.

I guess 5 yard completions are better than 60 yard TDs too. We wouldn't want to score, now, would we ? Grinding out the tough yards is nice but I can't believe people here think big plays from the running game are over rated.