Running Backs For 2015

AzPatsFan · Dec 25, 2014

Clark Ryan said:
Ridley is a below average back and with the upcoming draft offering a pretty good spectrum of RB talent the pats could pick up Jay Ajayi, Jeremy Langford, Duke Johnson and Cameron Artis-Payne to name a few and the one's listed as well as the majority of backs in the 2015 draft have the receiver dynamic also. Pats would get a upgrade on the cheap for a few years ( thinkn rookie deals are for 3 or 4 years??.. ) , make the back position exciting in New England which has been missing since the Corey Dillion days, a talented back can be picked up in the mid to late rounds because of all the stud backs declaring. I'd like to see the pats pick up 1st choice Jay Ajayi of 2nd choice Jeremy Langford, both are taller/bigger backs, big powered, versatile runners/receivers that would be a great fit in the pats rb system, both projected between late 2nd to 5th round. To all the Ridley lovers, no disrespect to the guy, but he is not the kinda player/rb that will strike fear in the opponent's defense, doesn't have game changing abilities, when people are chatting about good nfl backs you will never hear of ridley or any patriot back for that matter and this draft could change that for the pats and especially coming off surgery from a pretty severe injury for a rb i think that will put a noticeable gimp in rids step unless he's a genetic freak like Adrian Peterson which is highly unlikely lol. I think everyone can agree a stud game changer type of back is never a bad thing to have and can be had in this years draft for pretty much nothing

Ridley is NOT a below average back. He is a proven 1300 yard RB for the Pats behind their somewhat weak Offensive line.

BB invested 'tough love' in him to reduce his average propensity to fumble. Did you know that Blount had more fumbles than Ridley, at the time of the fumbling intervention?

The last RB that Belichcik cared enough to do so was a fellow named Kevin Faulk.

supafly · Dec 26, 2014

varjao said:
I'm very disappointed in the White pick, I wonder who we could've gotten with that 4th.

I hear you, although it may be argued that the coaching staff wishes to see some bulk added, as well as improved technique--in terms of the blitz pickup. After all, picking up the blitz is the single-handed most important role that a running back is going to have in the NFL, particularly when your QB is Tom Brady.

Another theory is that we just had better options at the position, in terms of experience etc. I think we needed a bigger type of back, which is why they brought Gray up from the PS + went out and brought Blount in. The change of pace type of back was already here at the time in Shane Vereen.

James White will definitely get a chance next season one way or another, especially if Vereen isn't here any longer.

Brady6 · Dec 26, 2014

deters said:
Tyler Gaffney claimed after Panthers cut him. He is 6'0 220 and ran a 4.49 at the combine. Kid was a beast and a work horse at Stanford. They would run him like 40 times a game and he never got tired.

I agree with you. I have high aspirations for Gaffney.

Oswlek · Dec 26, 2014

Richard Camembert said:
But he has a second issue in his fumbling, which is why we have Blount in the first place

On a per carry basis, Blount fumbles more than Ridley. NE has Blount simply because he was a solid arbitrage opportunity (twice!).

Oswlek · Dec 26, 2014

varjao said:
I'm very disappointed in the White pick, I wonder who we could've gotten with that 4th.

He looked terrible, but it is hardly time to draw any conclusions at this point. With Vereen healthy and Bolden a ST who is also a capable backup, White most likely would have been inactive all year even if he looked good.

Richard Camembert · Dec 27, 2014

Oswlek said:
On a per carry basis, Blount fumbles more than Ridley. NE has Blount simply because he was a solid arbitrage opportunity (twice!).

Well, they traded Demps and a pick for Blount, so you're right that he probably wasn't gotten solely because of Ridley fumbling. But Blount started playing a lot in 2013 only after Ridley fumbled in three straight games. Also, Ridley stopped playing in one of the earlier games that season after fumbling. Maybe I'm falling victim to the myth of causation, but to me, BB benched and then demoted Ridley for fumbling.

Not sure BB would have grabbed Blount from PIT if he hadn't shown how effective he could be during the PT Ridley lost due to fumbling.

Ridley had no fumbles this year in six games before getting hurt, so maybe he fixed the problem. But there was enough of a problem that he got benched for fumbling twice, and this aspect of his play might enter into contract talks as a second issue.

mgteich · Dec 27, 2014

Brady6 said:
I agree with you. I have high aspirations for Gaffney.

It is good to have high aspirations for UDFA's. As an exercise, you might list all the late draft choices or UDFA's that have sat out their rookie years on IR and then contributed.

jmt57 · Dec 27, 2014

For what it's worth, here is a listing of the 2015 unrestricted free agent running backs. C.J. Spiller is signed through 2015 but the last year is voidable, and he is expected to hit free agency. There will also be others such as Marshawn Lynch that could be released and become free agents. Players currently not on a roster such as Ray Rice or BenJarvus Green-Ellis are not listed but are also available.

26 - DeMarco Murray, Cowboys
29 - Justin Forsett, Ravens
27 - Ryan Matthews, Chargers
31 - Frank Gore, Niners
25 - Stevan Ridley, Patriots
25 - Shane Vereen, Patriots
25 - Roy Helu, Washington
27 - Knowshon Moreno, Dolphins
25 - Mark Ingram, Saints
27 - Darren McFadden, Raiders
26 - Bilal Powell, Jets
24 - Jacquizz Rodgers, Falcons
29 - Antone Smith, Falcons
25 - Jonathan Dwyer, Cardinals
27 - Daniel Thomas, Dolphins
32 - Leon Washington, Titans
28 - Ahmad Bradshaw, Colts
26 - Joe McKnight, Chiefs
33 - Ronnie Brown, Chargers
27 - Alfonso Smith, Niners
25 - LaMichael James, Dolphins
28 - Chris Ogbonnaya, Giants
27 - Shaun Draughn, Browns
26 - DuJuan Harris, Packers
28 - Cedric Peerman, Bengals
26 - Philip Tanner, Niners

realtime · Dec 27, 2014

varjao said:
I'm very disappointed in the White pick, I wonder who we could've gotten with that 4th.

We could have beefed up our OL with Cameron Fleming instead. Or we could have gone for a more durable between-the-tackles guy. Too bad we didn't draft Tyler Gaffney at that spot.

Brady6 · Dec 27, 2014

mgteich said:
It is good to have high aspirations for UDFA's. As an exercise, you might list all the late draft choices or UDFA's that have sat out their rookie years on IR and then contributed.

Gaffney was was drafted by the Carolina Panthers, we claimed him off waivers when they waived him injured. Jonas Gray missed his first season recovering from a knee injury as an UDFA out of Notre Dame.

Brady6 · Dec 27, 2014

realtime said:
We could have beefed up our OL with Cameron Fleming instead. Or we could have gone for a more durable between-the-tackles guy. Too bad we didn't draft Tyler Gaffney at that spot.

Well there were other options at that pick.

Brock Vereen
Lorenzo Taliaferro
Telvin Smith
Aaron Lynch
Corey Linsley
Zach Fulton
E.J. Gaines

Those players were all selected within 30 picks after White and are either starting or playing significant reps for their teams.

realtime · Dec 27, 2014

Brady6 said:
Well there were other options at that pick.

Brock Vereen
Lorenzo Taliaferro
Telvin Smith
Aaron Lynch
Corey Linsley
Zach Fulton
E.J. Gaines

Those players were all selected within 30 pickfter White and are either starting or playing significant reps for their teams.

Lynch and Linsley are by far the best of that group IMO. But we had just drafted Stork, so no way were we going to use another 4th on Linsley. And I doubt Lynch was even on the Patriots' board. 1st round talent, but 10 cent head, lazy and unproductive even after leaving ND, etc.

You can always play the what-if game with draft picks, but I have a hard time criticizing the White pick after less than 1 full season. If you want to criticize the Patriots 2014 draft, you can ask how/why the Patriots passed twice on Jarvis Landry, who would have been a perfect fit on this team. But even that is very low on the list in the what-if game of Patriots draft history.

luuked · Dec 27, 2014

Brady6 said:
Well there were other options at that pick.

Brock Vereen
Lorenzo Taliaferro
Telvin Smith
Aaron Lynch
Corey Linsley
Zach Fulton
E.J. Gaines

Those players were all selected within 30 picks after White and are either starting or playing significant reps for their teams.

Yay for hindsight.

You all should look up how much Vereen played in his rookie season before panicking over White.

Am I concerned about him? Yes sure but there is precedent for flexbacks essentially sitting out their rookie season with us.

A man named Brady · Dec 27, 2014

I don't trust any RB we have in the PS and it's been like that for years. If we get great contributions like Blount in the divisional round I'll be ecstatic but I'm not surprised if we get nothing.

It's going to be all on Brady's arm again

RayClay · Dec 27, 2014

Brady6 said:
Well there were other options at that pick.

Brock Vereen
Lorenzo Taliaferro
Telvin Smith
Aaron Lynch
Corey Linsley
Zach Fulton
E.J. Gaines

Those players were all selected within 30 picks after White and are either starting or playing significant reps for their teams.

RayClay · Dec 27, 2014

To be fair, list all the players out of the 129 that were picked before White that weren't.

Brady6 · Dec 27, 2014

RayClay said:
To be fair, list all the players out of the 129 that were picked before White that weren't.

This link has all the players selected.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_NFL_draft

James White has appeared in 2 games and produced 54 total yards on 14 touches. I'm sure there are worse picks before him but there were also better picks before and after him. I guess my thing is that if I need to lose 10lbs pointing out that another person has to lose 20lbs doesn't make my situation any different. That's my personal outlook you're obviously free to have a different one.

That said I would like to see more of James White before making a determination. I learned a lesson this past week with Amendola and that is not to confuse lack of opportunity with being a poor player.

Brady6 · Dec 27, 2014

luuked said:
Yay for hindsight.

You all should look up how much Vereen played in his rookie season before panicking over White.

Am I concerned about him? Yes sure but there is precedent for flexbacks essentially sitting out their rookie season with us.

I'm an awesome GM in hindsight I would be NFL executive of the year for sure.

RayClay · Dec 27, 2014

Brady6 said:
This link has all the players selected.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_NFL_draft

James White has appeared in 2 games and produced 54 total yards on 14 touches. I'm sure there are worse picks before him but there were also better picks before and after him. I guess my thing is that if I need to lose 10lbs pointing out that another person has to lose 20lbs doesn't make my situation any different. That's my personal outlook you're obviously free to have a different one.

That said I would like to see more of James White before making a determination. I learned a lesson this past week with Amendola and that is not to confuse lack of opportunity with being a poor player.

It was a joke. You're right, he hasn't played near enough to make a determination. It's absolutely a crapshoot when you get to the bottom of 4, not much better than an UDFA which 2 of our present RBs were.

varjao · Dec 27, 2014

jmt57 said:
For what it's worth, here is a listing of the 2015 unrestricted free agent running backs. C.J. Spiller is signed through 2015 but the last year is voidable, and he is expected to hit free agency. There will also be others such as Marshawn Lynch that could be released and become free agents. Players currently not on a roster such as Ray Rice or BenJarvus Green-Ellis are not listed but are also available.

26 - DeMarco Murray, Cowboys
29 - Justin Forsett, Ravens
27 - Ryan Matthews, Chargers
31 - Frank Gore, Niners
25 - Stevan Ridley, Patriots
25 - Shane Vereen, Patriots
25 - Roy Helu, Washington
27 - Knowshon Moreno, Dolphins
25 - Mark Ingram, Saints
27 - Darren McFadden, Raiders
26 - Bilal Powell, Jets
24 - Jacquizz Rodgers, Falcons
29 - Antone Smith, Falcons
25 - Jonathan Dwyer, Cardinals
27 - Daniel Thomas, Dolphins
32 - Leon Washington, Titans
28 - Ahmad Bradshaw, Colts
26 - Joe McKnight, Chiefs
33 - Ronnie Brown, Chargers
27 - Alfonso Smith, Niners
25 - LaMichael James, Dolphins
28 - Chris Ogbonnaya, Giants
27 - Shaun Draughn, Browns
26 - DuJuan Harris, Packers
28 - Cedric Peerman, Bengals
26 - Philip Tanner, Niners

And the draft looks solid, It will be an interesting free agency in the running back market. I just don't see BB paying good money for a FA RB with the players we have in the house and having to sign our own expensive FA like Revis and Dmac.

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