Anything on Shane Vereen yet?

[Ivan]

That's an excellent observation, Ivan; and although it could be argued that would be the case just about every week, going up against a great front seven like CAR's would point to a guy like Vereen seeing more touches.

I have a feeling that we may find it extremely difficult to run, and end up with an unbalanced attack towards the end, unless we're in control of the game more than I expect. Being able to take advantage of the RB passes vs pressure and going more up tempo is likely our best option.

I think they know they have some limitations and just aren't as polished or consistent as an offense as they have been over the last 6 years but as they get the pieces back in place they are able to game plan much more than they were earlier in the year when simply executing the play was the issue. While there are times when i think MacDaniel's gets too cute and pass happy i do think he's an excellent OC when it comes to matching units, knowing the strengths and weaknesses all around and forcing opposing teams to play out of their comfort zones. Carolina wants to dominate them at the line of scrimmage and I think he's going to try and slow them down by making them chase and making them second guess what is coming at them. If they can run an uptempo the way they have in recent years then that's a great option as it would also allow them to run the ball more effectively against a line like this.

 

[yukon cornelius]

from the herald via rotoworld:



Shane Vereen (wrist, short-term IR) will face an increased level of competition at practice this week as coaches determine his role for Monday night's game against the Panthers.
Vereen, who has been practicing since Oct. 30, is eligible to return this week. His performance in practice will determine both whether he'll be active and exactly how he'll be used. We expect the dynamic passing back to suit up, but he could be eased back into the mix. Ideally, owners will hold Vereen on benches, hope he gets the 10-14 touches we expect and then unleash him against the Broncos in Week 12. Fill-in passing back Brandon Bolden can be dropped across the board.




personally i think they are underselling his usage.....i think he's closer to what we saw in week 1 than not....

 

[signbabybrady]

Who goes when we activate him?

One would think a RB would be in trouble and that would lead to Washington as the obvious candidate but I would actually like to see him return a few kicks for us. Devlin or TE perhaps with Gronk back we are in essence carrying an extra player at this position but I like the contributions Mulligan and Devlin have given us and Whoman is safe. Makes me look to that WR that has the legal issues.

 

[JMC00]

Who goes when we activate him?

One would think a RB would be in trouble and that would lead to Washington as the obvious candidate but I would actually like to see him return a few kicks for us. Devlin or TE perhaps with Gronk back we are in essence carrying an extra player at this position but I like the contributions Mulligan and Devlin have given us and Whoman is safe. Makes me look to that WR that has the legal issues.

I would think it would be LaQuan Williams.

 

[Brady6]

Re: Re: Anything on Shane Vereen yet?

I would think it would be Cierre Wood.

Isn't Wood on the practice squad?

 

[JMC00]

Isn't Wood on the practice squad?

ya. fixed though.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Who goes when we activate him?
.

It's what we call a "target rich environment"

 

[supafly]

from the herald via rotoworld:



Shane Vereen (wrist, short-term IR) will face an increased level of competition at practice this week as coaches determine his role for Monday night's game against the Panthers.
Vereen, who has been practicing since Oct. 30, is eligible to return this week. His performance in practice will determine both whether he'll be active and exactly how he'll be used. We expect the dynamic passing back to suit up, but he could be eased back into the mix. Ideally, owners will hold Vereen on benches, hope he gets the 10-14 touches we expect and then unleash him against the Broncos in Week 12. Fill-in passing back Brandon Bolden can be dropped across the board.




personally i think they are underselling his usage.....i think he's closer to what we saw in week 1 than not....

One thing to keep in mind for week #1 though is that Ridley was benched rather early on for putting the ball on the ground (literally) when BUF's defense picked it up and ran 75+ yds for a score to change the whole complexion of the game. To that point it appeared that we were running away with it, so that was a very important momentum changing play that made things a lot closer than they had to be.

It's understandable to assume that Vereen received more work due to the Ridley benching, so I'm not sure how much I'd expect games like week #1 myself; although if you're talking fantasy production (judging by your link to rotoworld and their comments) a TD can often make an enormous difference, so Vereen certainly has the capability to get his number called in the red zone on any given play.

The running back by committee system tends to make any RB on the Patriots a more riskier proposition, aside maybe from Ridley--who seems to be getting his bellcow status back again lately, at least in the form of TD's at worst.

I did put in a waiver wire claim on Vereen a couple of days ago, and I will likely use him as a flex option here eventually. One thing to consider is that the Panthers tough front 7 may actually call for more touches from Vereen than we initially thought, although that is just speculation. I'm expecting 10-12 touches from him if he plays on Monday night, unless he's hot where that could go up to 15 or so touches.

 

[supafly]

Carolina wants to dominate them at the line of scrimmage and I think he's going to try and slow them down by making them chase and making them second guess what is coming at them. If they can run an uptempo the way they have in recent years then that's a great option as it would also allow them to run the ball more effectively against a line like this.

We spoke briefly last night about the pass opening up the run vs their front 7, and I went back today and went through some numbers on my sportsbook site.

It appears that CAR's last loss (to ARZ) their defense actually gave up 95 yds on 20 touches, or 4.75 ypc. I think that ARZ opened up their playbook and passing attack a bit and ended up having some success in the running aspect too, although I didn't see the game so maybe the numbers were skewed a bit by a big gain somewhere.

Either way, I definitely agree that we should utilize our up tempo attack, try to score early, use some RB screens/flat passes to take advantage of pressure and blitzing, and then blend in some additional running to work the clock and keep them guessing a bit after some initial damage. I'm not positive, but I think this was generally the plan for the SEA game last year, and we all know that not only did we score enough pts to win, we had the game easily in hand until T.Wilson appeared to screw it up.

 

[Joker]

Look...the 800 pound pink elephant in the room is Cam...in a big time national game...he shows up like the past four weeks, it's gonna be a long night. Their defense at home is too good.

 

[Brady6]

Re: Re: Anything on Shane Vereen yet?

Not really. The guy only broke his wrist.

Have you ever tried to do a deadlift or a bench press with a broken wrist? Try balancing the bar when squating even.

 

[supafly]

Look...the 800 pound pink elephant in the room is Cam...in a big time national game...he shows up like the past four weeks, it's gonna be a long night. Their defense at home is too good.

Yep. Their ability to run (especially with our recent struggles vs the run in the past 4-5 games) will definitely be key for them dictating whatever they choose. That goes for DeAngelo Williams, Tolbert, Stewart, and of course--Cam Newton too.

 

[supafly]

Have you ever tried to do a deadlift or a bench press with a broken wrist?

Try doing a deadlift or bench press after a round of amyl nitrate poppers or 1/2 a tube of airplane glue, then we'll talk...

In all seriousness, I'm guessing Vereen should be okay myself. We'll have to see how he performs, but it'll be good to have him back nonetheless.