Is Belichick satisfied with our running game?

[cupofjoe1962]

.. Maroney is still young and he's got the skill..

He may have skill, but he is not a good football player.

Let me guess..... you also think Ron Brace will develop into a good player.

 

[RayClay]

And he has averaged 4.5 yards a carry his whole career when he carries the ball at least 20 times.

My point is, he was running along with Dillon then, as he did with Barber in school. He is consciously trying to run harder to force defenses to respect that aspect, a necessity for an NFL runner.

He's fumbled, a natural result of that and he needs to address the problem. I'm very happy with his consistent, less spectacular running lately. Once he forces defenses to respect his inside running, his upside is off the charts, as his open field running year one attests,

 

[RayClay]

He's played 4 seasons. He is what he is.

He hasn't played four full seasons and you know that.

 

[SoonerPatriot]

He hasn't played four full seasons and you know that.

True, and I agree, if there is one guy in the stable with the possibility of upside there's no question it's Maroney. I just have doubts to whether or not he will take the next step in his development as a player, Maybe he's a late bloomer.

 

[RayClay]

True, and I agree, if there is one guy in the stable with the possibility of upside there's no question it's Maroney. I just have doubts to whether or not he will take the next step in his development as a player, Maybe he's a late bloomer.

That's all I'm saying. Everyone has a right to an opinion.

Mine is, he always was paired with a downhill runner. He's played with a broken bone in his shoulder, which would ****** trying to run tough, I know it would for me. He ran very hard and consistent most of last year which I liked, even though it was less statistically than before.

Nothing wrong with a limited upside, some of the best runners grinded it out every play. Maroney's problem has been the consistent hardnose part, not the upside.

Actually, if he keeps up the downhill running, he will have made the most important step to realizing his upside. Where many college star RBs hit the wall is, you can't run around defenses in the NFL, like you could in college. Every running back, even a Barry Sanders, has to prove he can run up the gut sometimes, or defenses will just string you out until you're out of the league.

I'm willing to give a guy who played with a broken shoulder bone the benefit of the doubt. If they don't feel he's worth a new contract, so be it.

 

[gomezcat]

2011 would be the year to pick up a good RB with (probably) Oakland's pick. Apparently, Mark Ingram from Alabama is very good.

The running game is OK for another year. Clearly, the RBs need to get younger, but they'll do for now. As others have said, better blocking TEs and Vollmer added at RT should improve things.

 

[DomTMGE]

rarely post here but check out the undrafted free agent Pat Paschall who we have bagged. i really do rate this kid regardless of what division he played in.

YouTube - NDSU RB Pat Paschall record breaking run

 

[ALP]

AndyJohnson - yes, agreed completely.

Let's take two (relatively) contemporary examples:

The Marion Butts era. The guy ran for around 3 yards per carry. But Parcells handed him the ball 300 times anyways. Used him right up, until the bitter end. It was no mistake that Bledsoe passed for 4,555 yards and 25 TDs, with Coates catching 96 balls. If you remember, Michael Turner had over 50 catches, and Leroy Thompson had like 67. None of those guys were WRs - all of it came from the commitment to the run, not the personnel itself. Turner went to the Eagles and Thompson went to the Chiefs, and like Patten/Branch/Givens they were never heard from again.

Fast forward to 2001 and 2003. Antowain Smith... do I need to say more? He was a good, serviceable back, but that's what he was. That's all they needed. Ball control, short passing game, commitment to the run, stout veteran defense. Hello 2 SBs. Replace with Corey Dillon, hello 3rd SB.

The commitment to a tough run game - as Andy said 30-35 times per game, will protect Brady and protect the defense as well. If TB throws an average of 25 times per game, the Pats will be a serious contender. If he throws 40 per game, we're looking at a flawed team.

Another way to look at it, and argue if you like, but it's my firm belief that if the Rams had run 10 more times in 2001 they would have beaten the Pats. If the Pats had run 10 more times in 2007, they would have beaten the Giants.

The personnel at RB is completely serviceable, and can win a SB. History has proven it.

i see your point to the commitment to the running game...but our last sb was in 04, the 03 season....the question i have is: do the recent changes since our last superbowl in the NFL make the runninggame less of an issue, and the passing game more so?

 

[WesWelker83]

I think with Vollmer playing a full year at RT that the run game should be a lot better this year. We also added two excellent blocking TEs in Gronkowski and Crumpler. Mankins and Light are very good run blocking OL and Stephen Neal always has very good run blocking metrics. When Neal was out the running game suffered significantly with Connelly in the game. I think Bussey or Wendell could be gone this year with Larsen coming in. I really like what I read about Larsen and I think he could be a late round steal. He has good size, footwork, mean streak and quickness. BB said that Larsen is an OG and Ohrenberger is a C. Interesting.

Koppen I think hurts our run game at times. He struggles to create a push vs the Kris Jenkins type of heavy NT because these guys have 35-40 pounds on him.

Do you guys think our interior running will be better this year?

This is my biggest concern about the offense right now. We couldn't run the ball at all vs Baltimore in the playoff game and now they add Mount Cody. We also didnt run the ball well week 2 vs the Jets and NT Jenkins. This year we are playing good run defenses with elite NTs like NYJ twice (Jenkins) , Minnesota (Williams wall), Green Bay (Pickett and Raji) , Baltimore (Cody and Ngata), Pitt (Hampton), and Cincinnati (Peko and Tank Johnson). These were all top 8 NFL rushing defenses.

Running the ball and controlling the clock will the key to this season. It makes the defense a lot better. If we can control the clock this year I see a potential Super Bowl.

Thoughts?

 

[cupofjoe1962]

I am already hoping the Pats draft Mark Ingram in the 2011 draft.

Walters football already has created a 2011 mock draft....

They do not have us taking Ingram, but they do have us taking a RB
with our 1st round pick (2nd of 2 - 1st round picks).

I find it interesting what they said about our running game.

WalterFootball.com: 2011 NFL Mock Draft: First Round Continued

They have us picking #17 and selecting.....

New England Patriots: Ryan Williams, RB, Virginia Tech
If Tom Brady and Wes Welker are healthy, imagine how explosive New England's offense would be with a talented running back like Ryan Williams as a threat coming out of the backfield. With Kevin Faulk and Fred Taylor nearing retirement, and Laurence Maroney sucking, this position must be addressed.

Nice to see what people outside of NE think of Maroney.

 

[stcjones]

rarely post here but check out the undrafted free agent Pat Paschall who we have bagged. i really do rate this kid regardless of what division he played in.

YouTube - NDSU RB Pat Paschall record breaking run

Thiis looks impressive.....then again so did maroneys youtube to the theme of braveheart.....hasn't worked out as well as the promo

 

[SeauOUCH]

The RB situation is fine for this year, Lomo is in his last year & will either FINALLY have a break out year or we will move on next year. Taylor & Morris are more than likely gone next year but are fine depth this year.

We have 2 #1's & 2 #2's next year to take any running back we please. Running backs are pretty much plug & play so if Lomo doesnt work out for us this year we can take whatever back we want next year to step in.

 

[Ghost of Ben Dreith]

The RB situation is fine for this year, Lomo is in his last year & we will move on next year. Taylor & Morris are more than likely gone next year but are fine depth this year.

We have 2 #1's & 2 #2's next year to take any running back we please. Running backs are pretty much plug & play so when Lomo doesnt work out for us this year we can take whatever back we want next year to step in.

There....I fixed it for you.

Understand that we put up the numbers in the ground game last year with every defense we play thinking "pass first". Imagine how much harder we would be to defend with a true "excellent", not franchise level, RB.

I hope Paschall turns out to be a real diamond in the rough....how sad is that....I am pinning hopes for an improved running game on an UDFA