Like I've said before, aside from Ayers, Vereen may have been the easiest to predict as far as free agents moving on to outside teams.
1) For as much talk as we heard about not being able to replace his tremendous 3rd down value, the 2014 splits show that he picked up a total of EIGHT first downs on third down attempts (18 targets throughout the season). Obviously, that's one every other game, so it isn't quite what some make it out to be.
2) In the months of December and January when the games mattered the most, Vereen averaged less than two catches per game (11 receptions in the last 6 games, going through the AFCCG). Obviously, the come from behind scheme in the SB helped to showcase his talent, and that likely landed him a big payday.
3) He had three catches or less in the majority of games played 10/19, so again--his production helped against certain teams and situations, but he was hardly the staple of our offense that some make him out to be.
He was great against those tough defensive fronts, having his biggest impact last year vs. DET and SEA, but that kind of production should be replaced every time, considering what the market value was set at. It seemed like a no-brainer that BB and JMcD would be able to spread those 3 catches per game average around in other areas, and he was practically non-existent in the running game.
We'll always be grateful for his awesome SB performance, but I think he was grossly overpaid. I also think that the market his picked back up rather dramatically for the position of RB, and that helped his cause as well.
