Bring back Ridley, or draft another RB?

luuked said:

Yep, that's what I also expect and I don't want to use any of our Day 1/2 picks on a RB. I just wonder how much he will drop.

Given the trend of the last few years I am not even sure if he would be a first round selection when completely healthy. With a torn ligament.. there will be no combine or anything.. who knows..

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It didn't stop Willis McGahee, but that was a decade ago. RB value has diminished greatly since then.

Regarding Gurley. I could definitely see him falling to to the end of the 2nd or possibly 3rd. People have to remember not every team has the luxury of just turning in their draft card with a player who will not contribute in 2015. Maybe 4 or 5 teams. Most of these Gms and Coaches are under heavy scrutiny and know their jobs are on the line which each game and season. With all the latitude Coughlin has gotten with that Dufus of a QB do you think he is going to draft Gurley with his 2nd? 3rd? Jacksonville? The list goes on.

49ers drafted Lattimore in the 4th because they could. They selected 11 players and earned draft Capitol Into the next draft. They were also 1 play away. Didn't pay off but you get the jest of it. Btw in no way am I comparing Lattimores injury to Gurleys. Considering the injury I still think ML should of been drafted in the 5th and that was where I was hoping the Patriots would take a chance on him. Hindsight I'm glad the 9ers did, but do admit I was a little envious at the time of the selection and the gamble at greatness.

Buffalo drafted McGahee and I don't think they ever got the return they were hoping. Wasted 1st round pick im-o. But his rehab was an incredible story and a inspiration for doctors and athletes everywhere.

I'm ok with Gray and hoping to see more of him. Watching him run last Sunday really surprised me. Not just by the way he ran through the holes and the blocking by the oline. But by the shiftiness he displayed while sidestepping tacklers. I'dont think I saw that out of him and I'm interested to see more before they use a pick on a rb. Like Manx I think Ingram would be a nice signing in fa.

ATippett56 said:

Reduce Danny Amendola's base salary from $4 million to $1.9 million.

http://overthecap.com/salary-cap/new-england-patriots

Utilize the aforementioned salary cap savings to re-sign Shane Vereen.

New England Patriots - 2015 NFL Season Running Backs

Develin, James (fullback)
Gaffney, Tyler
Gray, Jonas
Vereen, Shane
White, James

http://www.patriots.com/team/roster.html

The earliest I wonder consider selecting a running back in the 2015 NFL Draft would be the third round.

Offensive Guard would be the New England Patriots number one offensive priority.

Note: Collegiate Offensive Tackle to NFL Offensive Guard conversion acceptable

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Tyler Gaffney is an unknown entity right now and James White has not been a contributor this season.

Potential third round candidates:

Jeremy Langford
David Cobb
Cameron Artis-Payne

i'm not sure how he'll fare from a talent perspective, but from an injury perspective gaffney's knee injury was not significant. if he's able to treat it nonoperatively, he should be back to near full speed by December. so by the draft BB will have an excellent opportunity to assess him, absent actual real live football.

With Gray, Blount, Gaffney and White signed through 2015 and Develin and Bolden RFAs, I don't really want to focus on signing/drafting a RB for right now. I hope Vereen will be re-signed. But BB seems to be doing a great job of adding depth so that he doesn't have to draft to fill needs.

We are likely to have 5 picks in the top 110 (including TB's 4th and a likely 3rd round comp), and I'd like to use at least 3 and possibly 4 of them on the lines.

mayoclinic said:

We are likely to have 5 picks in the top 110 (including TB's 4th and a likely 3rd round comp), and I'd like to use at least 3 and possibly 4 of them on the lines.

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Amen brother. I am with you 100%.

OG - Aj cann sc
DT - McCarthy ucla
ILB - depreist Alabama

These Remain three of my favorite patriot type players in the draft. Really struggling to find an ot that fits our zone blocking scheme that might be available when we pick.

With Blount in the fold I really doubt they will draft a Rb. But now BB will go and draft Gordon in the first just because I said that

meatface said:

With Blount in the fold I really doubt they will draft a Rb. But now BB will go and draft Gordon in the first just because I said that

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Very doubtful. I don't think BB values the position that much, and he prefers a RBBC approach.

Lost a bit in this discussion is the importance of keeping the positional cost down. Blount, Gray, Gaffney and White are all dirt cheap. Develin and Bolden are RFAs. That helps increase the chance of paying a bit to keep Shane Vereen, and being able to devote a large % of the cap space to other areas (such as spending $30M+ on DBs).

mayoclinic said:

Very doubtful. I don't think BB values the position that much, and he prefers a RBBC approach.

Lost a bit in this discussion is the importance of keeping the positional cost down. Blount, Gray, Gaffney and White are all dirt cheap. Develin and Bolden are RFAs. That helps increase the chance of paying a bit to keep Shane Vereen, and being able to devote a large % of the cap space to other areas (such as spending $30M+ on DBs).

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I have this feeling though that they will let Vereen walk and use White as their 3rd down RB/ backfield pass catcher. I'm okay with that if it helps them re-sign McCourty and Revis

meatface said:

I have this feeling though that they will let Vereen walk and use White as their 3rd down RB/ backfield pass catcher. I'm okay with that if it helps them re-sign McCourty and Revis

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After last year and how screwed we were when Woodhead left and Vereen got injured in W1 I would be surprised if we only keep a single receiving RB. We were missing him a lot in the first part of the season.

His entire playbook portion was gone with him.

luuked said:

After last year and how screwed we were when Woodhead left and Vereen got injured in W1 I would be surprised if we only keep a single receiving RB. We were missing him a lot in the first part of the season.

His entire playbook portion was gone with him.

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Speaking of Woodhead, I believe he's a FA too, at season's end.

luuked said:

After last year and how screwed we were when Woodhead left and Vereen got injured in W1 I would be surprised if we only keep a single receiving RB. We were missing him a lot in the first part of the season.

His entire playbook portion was gone with him.

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We will have to see how they play together but the team might like the Gray and Blount tandem and elect to bring back Vereen to combine with White. Honestly I like Gaffney but there is probably a good chance he ends up on the practice squad or on another team next team.

meatface said:

We will have to see how they play together but the team might like the Gray and Blount tandem and elect to bring back Vereen to combine with White. Honestly I like Gaffney but there is probably a good chance he ends up on the practice squad or on another team next team.

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I know nothing about Gaffney.. does he have good hands? Or is he more of Blount/Gray?

meatface said:

We will have to see how they play together but the team might like the Gray and Blount tandem and elect to bring back Vereen to combine with White. Honestly I like Gaffney but there is probably a good chance he ends up on the practice squad or on another team next team.

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I know nothing about Gaffney.. does he have good hands? Or is he more of Blount/Gray?

luuked said:

I know nothing about Gaffney.. does he have good hands? Or is he more of Blount/Gray?

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I've heard some people say his hands are decent but he never caught many passes in college

luuked said:

I know nothing about Gaffney.. does he have good hands? Or is he more of Blount/Gray?

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He had an outstanding combine but doesn't play like that on film. Was a bit of a 3 yards and a cloud of dust in the Stanford system.

manxman2601 said:

He had an outstanding combine but doesn't play like that on film. Was a bit of a 3 yards and a cloud of dust in the Stanford system.

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I'd compare him to Law Firm of any of our recent backs. Not a lot of upside. But, steady and reliable.

Blount, Gray, and Gaffney are all powerbacks, Ridley is a balanced creative workhorse rusher, Vereen is a scatback, and White is a dual threat speedy RB

Shoutout to one of Manx's binkies. Tevin Coleman ripped off 281 yards on 27 carries against Ohio St. A week after he ran for 300 yards against Rutgers. I'm mentioning it because I thought he'd really struggle playing with a true freshman qb who isn't ready. PSU held him to 71 yards on 20 carries and I thought his draft stock might slip. He just hit the accelerator and is moving up. Has over 1900 yards with a game left against Purdue. 2K for an Indiana back is impressive.

patsfaninpa said:

Shoutout to one of Manx's binkies. Tevin Coleman ripped off 281 yards on 27 carries against Ohio St. A week after he ran for 300 yards against Rutgers. I'm mentioning it because I thought he'd really struggle playing with a true freshman qb who isn't ready. PSU held him to 71 yards on 20 carries and I thought his draft stock might slip. He just hit the accelerator and is moving up. Has over 1900 yards with a game left against Purdue. 2K for an Indiana back is impressive.

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Did you his speed on the 90 yard TD? Ran away from the secondary.