Blount is the biggest "outside runner" in the NFL. He's usually inconsistent at best inside, and crap at short yardage. Put him in space with a chance to hit the second level and jump over/run over/make them miss and he'll have a fantastic YPC stat.
He's a 255lb dancer, and that doesn't work inside, tho he can dominate late game with any run style, really.
I guess I just think he's super situational and being used as a 25-30 carry per game RB here.
He may be a situational guy, I agree. But the "inconsistency inside" thing is something that has taken on a life of it's own, and people make way more of it than they should. I've seen people claiming he should convert every time, in which case every running back in history is a failure.
First, people forget that when Blount is in the game, it's a different defense. He's not a pass catching threat, so he's usually against a run stopping defensive package. He also doesn't play many 3rd down snaps (29 in 3 years with the Patriots), so it's usually 3rd and short which usually means run stop/goal line defenses.
He did have some issues in short yardage with Tampa early on, but while with the Patriots, he's converted at least half of his 3rd/4th and short situations each season, 56% overall. That's below a HOFer like Peterson at 71%, but comparable to Lynch (58%).
And the outside runs, there aren't many. Here are the play direction splits from 2015:
RIGHT SIDE 53 rushes, 234 yards, 4.4 YPC
LEFT SIDE 50 rushes, 157 yards, 3.1 YPC
MIDDLE 50 rushes, 212 yards, 4.2 YPC
LEFT SIDELINE 8 rushes, 52 yards, 6.5 YPC
RIGHT SIDELINE 4 rushes, 48 yards, 48 YPC
Yes, he had good success in his 12 rushes along the sideline. But it wasn't all he did last season. In fact, he put up pretty good numbers in the middle and right side rushes. But you could see a definite difference in runs to the left. In 2013 and 2014, he averaged over 6 YPC running to the left side, so you have to figure the Solder injury last season factors into that a bit.
