The Potential Ascensions of Christopher Harper and James White

supafly said:

Where OTG has an excellent point would've been trying to lock up Vereen last season

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He has absolutely zero point there because he has no idea if the Patriots offered him a deal at any point.

Gronkowski123 said:

never seen so much hype for a practice squad player.
here's hoping harper has 100 yards and a TD

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I am not seeing a lot of hype. The fact is at this point in time due to injuries, he MUST play.

JMC00 said:

HOLY hindsight.

Lewis over Vereen was 100% the correct choice.

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Did you just say "Holy Hindsight" and then say "Lewis over Vereen was 100% the correct choice."???

01 ~ The only ones employing HindSight are you Geniuses fantasizing that Lewis was anything but a Miracle.

02 ~ As if anyone foresaw Lewis doing what he's done.
03 ~ As if I've ever said anything but that we should've kept Vereen and Lewis!!

Off The Grid said:

Yeah, our Offense hasn't suddenly slowed down dramatically since we lost Lewis in Week 9, or anything. Going into the Season without a proven Top Shelf SpeedBack was a brilliant Idea.

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I've always advocated for 2 "speedbacks." It's an essential position for this offense, and one of the most injury-prone positions in the league. But spending more than $4 million/year for a running back who is just "pretty good" not "top shelf" -- a guy who (like White and unlike Lewis) isn't much of a threat as a runner -- I just don't see it, especially with the team tight against the cap.

Oswlek said:

It's not me who disagees with you, Grid, it's the evidence.

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Wrong again. Evidence is your Enemy. So sorry if that offends you.

As is crystal clear given the capacity to read, Vereen has been good and often great when given the Ball.

And as I've explained so that any 4 Year old could follow: His dynamic Pass/Run Prowess opened up the Offense for everyone...which carried an Impact far beyond his mere Stat Line.

But if they don't give'm the Ball, it's kind of hard to do anything.

The notion that there's not a big drop off from him to White is an amusing one, I'll give you that.

patchick said:

I've always advocated for 2 "speedbacks." It's an essential position for this offense, and one of the most injury-prone positions in the league. But spending more than $4 million/year for a running back who is just "pretty good" not "top shelf" -- a guy who (like White and unlike Lewis) isn't much of a threat as a runner -- I just don't see it, especially with the team tight against the cap.

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Good Lord, I'm getting weary of repeating myself to those too lazy to read.

I advocated extending Vereen back in 2013, shortly after WoodHead ~ admittedly 2 Years older and with no Draft Pedigree but far more proven and reliable ~ had raised 2.5 a Year on the Open Market.

It's hard to imagine that it would've taken more'n 3 or so to lock up Vereen.

But no need to do that...right? We're fine at SpeedBack.

After all: We all knew that Lewis ~ who hadn't raised a Yard since 2012 ~ was gonna erupt.

venecol said:

I always felt that out of all the players we lost last year Vereen was the most crucial. Didn't have a second thought about Revis and Browner. Vereen was clutch in the playoffs and saved our but in the SB with crucial 3rd down catches. I think the plan was always to replace him with one of White, Lewis, Cadet, etc. Cadet got injured so we never got to see him and then let go probably after seeing Lewis production. I think and hope that White will pick up where Lewis left off. Even if he is 75% Lewis, I'll take it.

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Thank you.

Intelligence on Earth.

Read through the OP hoping that the capitalized letters spelled out a hidden message, perhaps about ovaltine.

Disappointed.

Off The Grid said:

I advocated extending Vereen back in 2013, shortly after WoodHead ~ admittedly 2 Years older and with no Draft Pedigree but far more proven and reliable ~ had raised 2.5 a Year on the Open Market.

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The 2013 Shane Vereen had only managed to play 26 games over his first 3 seasons. He was coming off an 8 game season.

That's just not a setup for a long-term contract. The team won't want to commit guaranteed $$, and the player knows his stock is low.

JMC00 said:

Not even debatable, you are only calling it a mistake because Lewis is injured.

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Yes, it's not as if I counseled extending Vereen 2 Years ago.

Oh.

Wait.

I sort of did.

You want a Link, Genius??

In case you're having difficulty piecing this together ~ and I get the strong sense that you are: you just jumped to a pathetically stupid and offensive conclusion based on absolutely nothing but your fevered Imagination, a conclusion that that was 100% wrong, and decided to insult my Intelligence and Integrity because that's all you evidently have left. I suppose that that's what you do when you get your nose shoved in it.

Just because you evidently make an habit of making claims after the fact ~ while being too lazy to actually check the facts ~ doesn't mean that anyone else lacks the Honor or Integrity that you clearly lack.

Only the most despicable and contemptible Vermin attack other's Integrity without reason.

fnordcircle said:

Read through the OP hoping that the capitalized letters spelled out a hidden message, perhaps about ovaltine.

Disappointed.

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Sorry about that.

Edit: Ovaltine Sucks.

patchick said:

The 2013 Shane Vereen had only managed to play 26 games over his first 3 seasons. He was coming off an 8 game season.

That's just not a setup for a long-term contract. The team won't want to commit guaranteed $$, and the player knows his stock is low.

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And you're certainly entitled to your opinion.

venecol said:

I always felt that out of all the players we lost last year Vereen was the most crucial.

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I agree 100%...but that still doesn't mean they should have re-signed him.

(In contrast, letting Woodhead go was inexplicable to me. IMO he was much more of an impact player at a lower cost.)

JMC00 said:

He has absolutely zero point there because he has no idea if the Patriots offered him a deal at any point.

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Nor did I ever say that I did. I simply stated that they should. At that time, I suggested it, as I've linked to your Genius self. That does not imply that they didn't. Nor does it imply that I made any such claim.

Unlike you, I am perfectly cognizant of what I know and what I don't know.

Unlike you, I don't simply make **** up about what others've allegedly said.

Unlike you, I have Honor and Integrity.

Off The Grid said:

And you're certainly entitled to your opinion.

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How generous of you! Just moments ago I was too lazy and slow-witted for you to bear.

It's very, VERY rare for a team to commit early to a major extension for a player coming off multiple injury-riddled seasons. I'm convinced that much of that is on the player's (and agent's) side. Looking ahead at one last contract year, it's tempting to roll the dice knowing that a 16-game season will dramatically change your earning prospects. It certainly worked out that way for Vereen.

Off The Grid said:

Good Lord, I'm getting weary of repeating myself to those too lazy to read.

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Grid, it isn't that people are lazy, it's that you are mistaken. It's OK, it happens to all of us sometimes.

Off The Grid said:

Wrong again. Evidence is your Enemy. So sorry if that offends you.

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Being right never offends me.

This thread is like when people were chastising BB when Gronk got hurt on an extra point play despite Gronk having been on that unit for 3 seasons. Nobody cares until something bad happens.

This is shaping as one of those dynasty Patriots games. Make just enough plays on O and win with defense.

patchick said:

How generous of you! Just moments ago I was too lazy and slow-witted for you to bear.

It's very, VERY rare for a team to commit early to a major extension for a player coming off multiple injury-riddled seasons. I'm convinced that much of that is on the player's (and agent's) side. Looking ahead at one last contract year, it's tempting to roll the dice knowing that a 16-game season will dramatically change your earning prospects. It certainly worked out that way for Vereen.

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Yup. Vereen's camp would not have accepted the type of deal that his performance had warranted by the start of 2014. And there is no reason for NE to pony up what his camp would have gone for when A) he hadn't been healthy and B) it is debatable whether even his 2014 season earned what he got.

Claiming NE made a mistake with Vereen, either early on or when he hit free agency, just isn't a well

Now, if someone wants to say NE was wrong for letting $2mm come between them and keeping Woodhead, that's a much stronger argument.

Hey man, I just came here to talk about Harper. I don't want none of this Vereen-White back and forth.

So, uh, go Harper!