Could Maroney play Receiver?

[Snarf]

This possibility has been mentioned in other threads, but not discussed as far as I can recall.

It seems to me that Maroney looks very much like a receiver in the way that he plays. Shifty, quick, pretty fast, tap dancey... made of glass

Why not line him up on the outside and try to get him in the open field with the ball? Seems to me this is where he shines, not behind the line.

How hard precisely would it be turn him into a receiver?

 

[BradyManny]

This possibility has been mentioned in other threads, but not discussed as far as I can recall.

It seems to me that Maroney looks very much like a receiver in the way that he plays. Shifty, quick, pretty fast.

Why not line him up on the outside and try to get him in the open field with the ball? Seems to me this is where he shines, not behind the line.

How hard precisely would it be turn him into a receiver?

I don't think it makes any sense, to be quite honest. He's a good running back and he's not yet a good receiving back. He dropped an easy pass that he could've turned into yardage in the first quarter of the game the other day. I love seeing him with the ball in the open field though, so hopefully we see more of it, and he catches it.

 

[neuronet]

Great question. I hope some of the gurus know the answer in terms of practical stuff. For instance (I know I should know this) is it legal for RBs to line up anywhere on the line of scrimmage?

 

[Tunescribe]

It would be kind of cool to see him shift from the backfield into the slot. Although, we already have two slot guys in Welker and Edelman.

 

[JMarr]

What do you do when you have a cheap and immensely physically talent at RB who has less than stellar instincts and field vision? Play him in the slot, at wideout, in the wildcat formation, etc. Unfortunately the jury is in and Maroney will never be an above-average RB in this league.

I think Belichick has lowered expectations at this point and is hoping that Maroney can take over Faulk's role eventually, and be an adequate but [rarely used] change of pace RB this year. [out of 5 RBs on the roster, he's the only one that has any kind of speed].

But I think the question was answered last week when Maroney lined up at wideout a few times. If he can't learn to run some routes or doesn't become our full-time kick returner this year, he basically has no value to this team and should be released.

 

[mayoclinic]

I wouldn't think so. He's great with the ball in space, but we haven't seen anything so far to suspect that he could run precise routes.

 

[LeonPowe]

No, but he could play running back. Unfortunately for him and Fred Taylor, it looks like our new bozos in charge aren't having any of that.

"Chuck it deep, Tom!"

 

[WhiZa]

I don't think he'd make it past the LOS without doing a 5 second dance. YouTube - Laurence Maroney dancing at 2006 NFL Rookie Premiere Part 2

 

[JD10367]

Let's worry about just letting Maroney play running back. He hasn't proven he can do that yet. I didn't realize we were so thin at pass-catching options that we needed to entertain this idea...

 

[Adam Seward]

The dance route could tear defenses apart!

 

[IcyPatriot]

There's no reason not to try it once or twice a game ... I think he can do it. I'd like to see him do a few wide receiver screens where Brady actually throws it with Maroney 5 yards off the line. With Morris and Taylor lined up in front of him ... nice gadget play.

 

[cstjohn17]

He hasn't even proven he can play RB, has bad hands and is slow by NFL receiver standards. At least he wouldn't be asked to do any blitz pickup at WR.