c-Dill's offseason program

[hwc]

Last season, we did NOT have a legitimate backup to fill the role Corey fills.

Correct. In large part, that resulted from the fact that the other two RBs on the roster were also injured. Faulk missed much of the season with a knee injury. When you have three runing backs and all three are injured during the season (and two of your five o-line starters are out for the season), your running game is pretty much guaranteed to suck.

Don't forget that we had to go sign some stiff off the street and start him at RB in at least one game, if I recall.

The miracle is that the Pats won 10 games and made the playoffs last year. Most teams would have folded like a cheap suit with those injury problems.

The running game has two prime goals in the Pats offense:

1) convert third down short yardage situations and short yardage red zone opportunities.

2) change of pace draw plays and delays to use the opponents' pass rush as a weapon against them

Dillon actually did OK at the first one when he was able to play. He was pretty effective scoring TDs in the red zone.

When they were able to play, Faulk and Pass were pretty effective at the second one. That is, to a large degree, a function of the Pats' effective passing game.

Will the Pats draft a running back for competition in camp? Probably. They'll pick up this year's Cedric Cobb and see if he can take Pass' roster spot. But, I doubt very much they will use a first round pick or sign an expensive free agent at that position given the cap dollars already committed to the RB position on this team. All indications are that Belichick views the RB position as a disposible position with too much shelf-life uncertainty to commit first round cap numbers. Unless a once-in-a-lifetime player presents himself. It's too easy to go out and find a serviceable mudder when you need one.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

In Washington they refer to them as volcanic ash dunes.

I seem to recall Jerry Rice using the same training down in Mississippi and he kept on playing well into his 30's......Maybe there's something to it......

 

[spacecrime]

The big problem here is, whatever caused his high-ankle sprain --- and maybe an injury to the other leg, too --- why do we think it won't happen again this year? Maybe it will, maybe it won't.

True enough. It applies not just of CD, though. Any injured player may re-injure himself, and players who weren't injured last year could injure themselves this year. And players who had an inury last year could get a different injury this year.

The question is: is this type of injury more likely to recur in following years?

My thoughts:

Concussions: yes, each one makes the next more likley.

Broken bones: Maybe. Not if the bone is fully healed. Perhaps if the bone is now weaker.

Tendons/ligaments: Often true.

Muscle tears/strains: I don't know. Anyone?

 

[rabthepat]

CD's Numbers Last Year

Game Att/Yds

Oak 22/63
Car 14/36
Pitt 22/66
SD 14/63
Atl 23/106
Den DNP
Buf 18/72
Ind 12/40
Mia Left game no attempts
NO IA
KC IA
Jets 16/65
Buf 22/102
TB 19/48
Jets 26/77
Mia IA

733 rush yards total regular season.

Jacks 17/40
Den 13/57

I would agree about expecting a big come back from CD this year if he was going on 25 years of age not 32 years of age. I believe if you put that uniform on and step on the field "No Excuses." I judge CD by the games he played and to me he didn't cut it.

Colts fans use excuses, "They held us", "They left the field uncovered", "If we had home field advantage."

 

[the taildragger]

I would agree about expecting a big come back from CD this year if he was going on 25 years of age not 32 years of age. I believe if you put that uniform on and step on the field "No Excuses." I judge CD by the games he played and to me he didn't cut it.

Colts fans use excuses, "They held us", "They left the field uncovered", "If we had home field advantage."

I think we'd all agree he didn't "cut it" last year -- including Corey himself.
The media fished for an excuse, but I never heard him use one -- did you?

While injuries hurt production and end careers, it's all part of the game. did age factor into the injury?...do backs under 30 also get high sprains? Is 32 so over the hill that he can't recover from this type of injury?...we'll see, but this is where I'm more optimistic than you -- don't worry though, I'm legally ******ed.

I'm with you when it comes to players who get in a habit of making excuses...but this is more about making a responsible evaluation before pulling the trigger on a guy, prematurely, who was running like a beast 14 months ago.

Having said that, RB remains my big question mark for next season...if CD isn't healthy and ready to go, I'm sure BB will take care of that this offseason.

but yeah, the Colts are masters of the excuse...and I'm talking about the PLAYERS/organization rather than the FANS.

 

[rabthepat]

Cd

I think we'd all agree he didn't "cut it" last year -- including Corey himself.
The media fished for an excuse, but I never heard him use one -- did you?

While injuries hurt production and end careers, it's all part of the game. did age factor into the injury?...do backs under 30 also get high sprains? Is 32 so over the hill that he can't recover from this type of injury?...we'll see, but this is where I'm more optimistic than you -- don't worry though, I'm legally ******ed.

I'm with you when it comes to players who get in a habit of making excuses...but this is more about making a responsible evaluation before pulling the trigger on a guy, prematurely, who was running like a beast 14 months ago.

Having said that, RB remains my big question mark for next season...if CD isn't healthy and ready to go, I'm sure BB will take care of that this offseason.

but yeah, the Colts are masters of the excuse...and I'm talking about the PLAYERS/organization rather than the FANS.

I agree with you. I do wish BB would develop some RBs for the long term.

 

[hwc]

I agree with you. I do wish BB would develop some RBs for the long term.

You only have a 53 man roster. There really aren't a lot of slots available to"develop players for the long term".

How many running backs could the Pats carry on the 53 man roster? Five? Six? They've only been carrying three.

They tried to stash a RB on the practice squad last year and he got picked up by another team.

Basically, you only pick up a back if you think he has a legitimate shot of taking Patrick Pass' roster spot. You can't replace Pass with a big dollar player unless you have somebody really special.

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

Corey Dillon will never be a consistently 'great' runner again, period. Go back and look it up - once someone his age has a lousy season, for whatever reason, they almost NEVER return to previous form. Dillon's dedication is admirable but it may also be a twinge of desperation setting in as Corey himself starts to see the handwriting on the wall.

It is also a bit of whistling through the graveyard to suggest injuries held back Dillon in 2005 and won't in 2006. Dillon had never missed so much time in one season due to injury time. It could be an anomoly, or just as likely it is the decline of a body that has seen many miles - that's the way it ends for the vast majority of NFL players. Take off the rose colored glasses, take a good look, and see a hard-nosed runner who has taken a tremendous beating year after year; a guy who suddenly has repeated injury issues; a runner with very sporadic bursts of speed even before he was hurt this year; who outside of his last messed up season in Cincy had NEVER averaged below 3.9yds/carry (and had been above 4.2yds/carry for every other season) until last season when only managed 3.5/carry.

Sure, he might come back, but the overwhelming evidence suggests he is mucn nearer to being finished. sorry....

 

[kierkegaard]

Didn't Curtis Martin have some so-so years followed by an awesome one two years ago when he led the league in rushing?

 

[the taildragger]

I'm trying not to wear "rose colored glasses," but here's my problem:

Corey went from 4.7 to 3.5 in one season largely due to a persistent leg injury and a ridiculous amount of flux on the O-line. As phenomenal as he was in 2004 he was that lousy in 2005...as you hint at, those two years featured career high/low performances by Corey -- if age was such a determinate in performance then how do we account for 2004? I'm looking for him to end up somewhere in between in '06 (and that would be a heck of an improvement and reason to be optimistic).

Just like Rodney, I view a full return to form for Corey as a BONUS rather than the expectation -- I'm sure most of us are pretty much in the dark compared to what BB knows.

There's some misunderstanding/mischaracterization here...why does the choice have to be vintage 2004 Corey or no Corey at all? If BB determines Corey is 90-100% healthy, why isn't a new starting RB a position we can put off for '07?

 

[RayClay]

You only have a 53 man roster. There really aren't a lot of slots available to"develop players for the long term".

How many running backs could the Pats carry on the 53 man roster? Five? Six? They've only been carrying three.

They tried to stash a RB on the practice squad last year and he got picked up by another team.

Basically, you only pick up a back if you think he has a legitimate shot of taking Patrick Pass' roster spot. You can't replace Pass with a big dollar player unless you have somebody really special.

Klecko??????

 

[Feep_FLA]

Open post to Corey Dillon! Corey, you are the MAN! Something better than last years 700 yards and 2004's 1600 would be perfectly acceptable. You were injured and its suck it up time in the twilight of a great NFL career. We need 1,000 to 1,200 hard-fought, ****-kickin yards and I know you'll deliver because your as tough as you are mean and I, for one, know we can count on you! To all the naysayers I say he's earned the right to run another year or 2 or 3.....

 

[hwc]

Open post to Corey Dillon! Corey, you are the MAN! Something better than last years 700 yards and 2004's 1600 would be perfectly acceptable. You were injured and its suck it up time in the twilight of a great NFL career. We need 1,000 to 1,200 hard-fought, ****-kickin yards and I know you'll deliver because your as tough as you are mean and I, for one, know we can count on you! To all the naysayers I say he's earned the right to run another year or 2 or 3.....

Thank-you.

The complaining about Dillon really bothers me. From what I saw last year, he probably should have been on IR. Yet, he's a proud guy. He sucked it up and gave the Pats fans everything he had. And, all he gets for it is a trashing from the fans. I really think it's unfair.