Is Maroney as good as we think he is?

[jacksonfan]

Does anyone else here feel that Maroney is hurting us sometimes? Its true he can be explosive and take it the distance from most anywhere on the field, but I see too many times when he doesn't take the 4 or 5 yard gain, but instead gets stopped cold cause he waits too long trying to find a better hole to run through. I dont know, although its obvious that Maroney and Antoine Smith are in two different stratospheres talentwise, I almost think that Smith, when he was at his peak with us, gave us a more predictable, reliable back, getting 3-4 yards per carry. I know most of you might think I'm insane for thinking like this, but I see the Colts' Addai as a back who can better sustain a drive right now than Maroney. Maroney is more dynamic, but Addai seems stronger and just about as fast, and gets a more consistent ypc. Thoughts??

 

[Remix 6]

ever look at the 2 OLs..our OL blows. when Maroney doesnt get yards..hes getting in the back field. our OL is not consistent and they keep trying to get Maroney inside..let him go outside..hes not a true powerback. he can take it outside..let him use his speed.

 

[oldskool138]

Does anyone else here feel that Maroney is hurting us sometimes? Its true he can be explosive and take it the distance from most anywhere on the field, but I see too many times when he doesn't take the 4 or 5 yard gain, but instead gets stopped cold cause he waits too long trying to find a better hole to run through. I dont know, although its obvious that Maroney and Antoine Smith are in two different stratospheres talentwise, I almost think that Smith, when he was at his peak with us, gave us a more predictable, reliable back, getting 3-4 yards per carry. I know most of you might think I'm insane for thinking like this, but I see the Colts' Addai as a back who can better sustain a drive right now than Maroney. Maroney is more dynamic, but Addai seems stronger and just about as fast, and gets a more consistent ypc. Thoughts??

I think it's a combination of his being a rookie, the inconsistent play of the O-Line and sharing the workload with Dillon. Plus, playing on the crappy surface at Gilette doesn't help. Give him more time to develop. He's gonna be great!

 

[BradyisGod]

Thoughts are on your 5th post, you've already earned yourself a questionable reputation for rational thought.

Maroney doesn't get any reps in a game, so how will we ever know if he's any good. I question the substitution packages on this team.

As for Maroney v. Antowain...um...5 year veteran vs. Rookie. Factor that in before you make your final judgement...

 

[Tunescribe]

It's not Maroney, it's the OFFENSIVE LINE not giving him holes. When he gets a little bit of space, he usually does something with it.

 

[pats1]

It's not Maroney, it's the OFFENSIVE LINE not giving him holes. When he gets a little bit of space, he usually does something with it.

I'm going to have to disagree here.

Something that's annoyed me that Box has also noticed is how Maroney is dancing waaaay too much in the holes. With the defensive speed of the Broncos, Colts, Bills, etc., he's been caught in the backfield too many times. But when he does hit the hole with some force, like Dillon, that's where you see the big 7+ yard gains in a quick second.

Box, from the Colts breakdown:

Maroney needs more Dillon in his game, too much sideways shuffle trying to get outside and break the big one, they’ll come for you, hit that hole and anybody in it.

Gold Star to Troy Brown for making a difficult catch to tie the record and making a sweet block on the LB on Maroney’s shufflef*ck.

Maroney does the shimmy shammy flim flam trying to see if Harper knows any dance steps.

 

[rabthepat]

I feel the same way at times but I remind myself he is just a rookie. It's going to take him a full season or two to hit full stride in the offense.

 

[Tunescribe]

I'm going to have to disagree here.

Something that's annoyed me that Box has also noticed is how Maroney is dancing waaaay too much in the holes. With the defensive speed of the Broncos, Colts, Bills, etc., he's been caught in the backfield too many times. But when he does hit the hole with some force, like Dillon, that's where you see the big 7+ yard gains in a quick second.

Box, from the Colts breakdown:

Maroney is not the power back that Dillon is. What you and Box consider "dancing" is Maroney trying to make guys miss in the little space he's given so he find daylight and make use of his speed. He's much niftier than Dillon, a totally different running style. If he can make one guy miss at the line of scrimmage -- which he often does -- he's usually on his way to a solid gain of 4, 5, 6 yards or more. Maroney "skips" at the line for quick changes of direction unlike Dillon, who is more apt to knock the first tackler out of the way than make him miss altogether.

One thing that pissed me off about Dillon's 55-yard run today was how he kept looking over his shoulder instead of fixing his eyes on the goal line and going full speed ahead. I think that could've been a touchdown, but he slowed himself down looking for someone to tackle him or knock him out of bounds, which eventually happened.

But back to the O-line issue: We have some injuries there that I believe are compromising the running game, and even when healthy, our line is not blowing big holes open. Our line's forte is protecting Brady. Light is not the world's greatest run blocker, and O'Callaghan is a work in progress, but promising. I think the best running attacks have big, mobile road graders at tackle.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

could it be that teams fear the colts passing attack so they DON'T stick 8 people in the box?

and the coaches call too many plays within the tackles and don't utilize his speed.


the one thing i do wonder is.... the pats ran behind the RIGHT side of the line in the first quarter and were getting big chunks with dillon. clearly they saw a msimatch their. they need to run more off tackle and mroe counters and ABSOLUTELY more screens, but the O-line needs to give time for it to develop. no fancy screens, just a good ole hb or te screen

 

[Nyjetsin06]

Maroney will be fine. hes a heck of a running back. He is a rookie by the way.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Maroney is a diamond in the rough. Better to polish it than grind it up trying to make him something he isn't. BB insists that we have one blocking scheme and all the backs are responsible for running all the plays. Unfortunately those plays were devised with Dillon in mind. If Maroney tries to be Corey he likely will run like him before his second contract arrives.

The concept that our Oline has a forte amuses me though...

 

[onegameatatime]

On the comparison to Colts, I think the Colts have an especially good O-line combined with a more dangerous passing game.

Maroney is very good and not overrated. He is a rookie, in a complicated scheme, and running on lousy surfaces. His return game is outstanding.

What I do not understand in our O-line is how the line does not seem as good as the pieces, especially on the left side.

 

[PatsMan26]

Anybody who rights this **** about maroney is crazy. Had he been in the game when dillon got his 50 yard run, he would have scored. In that case this thread would be totally different. The OL cant block every time exactly the way the play was drawn up. Maroney is a very good player.

 

[RayClay]

He's as good as I think he is.

 

[Fencer]

I wince when he's in there on short-yardage plays, because it seems like he gets blown up in the backfield a higher fraction of the time than Dillon does.

That said, he's already a good NFL RB, and I think he'll be an excellent one soon.

 

[waspie (UK)]

Word coming from friends in Minnesota (who would still have picked him for the Vikings if they'd had their way) is that if there was one criticism of Kool Aid, it was that he tended to tire and fall away in the last few weeks of the season. Those words have stuck with me all year - it's time to show they were wrong.

 

[onegameatatime]

Getting blown up on short yardage situations tends to be a defensive penetration issue.

 

[stcjones]

Does anyone else here feel that Maroney is hurting us sometimes? Its true he can be explosive and take it the distance from most anywhere on the field, but I see too many times when he doesn't take the 4 or 5 yard gain, but instead gets stopped cold cause he waits too long trying to find a better hole to run through. I dont know, although its obvious that Maroney and Antoine Smith are in two different stratospheres talentwise, I almost think that Smith, when he was at his peak with us, gave us a more predictable, reliable back, getting 3-4 yards per carry. I know most of you might think I'm insane for thinking like this, but I see the Colts' Addai as a back who can better sustain a drive right now than Maroney. Maroney is more dynamic, but Addai seems stronger and just about as fast, and gets a more consistent ypc. Thoughts??

Maroney is EVERYTHING I hoped he would be......unfortuneatly, our Offensive line....is EVERYTHING...I hoped they wouldn't be.........

 

[CheerforTom]

I don't blame the line so much as bad playcalling. When I watch Patriots games, there's a pattern that's almost uncanny to me: whenever they give the ball to Dillon and he's forced to cut back or do anything except pound up the middle, he loses yards. Everytime. In the same way, whenever they call Maroney to go straight up the middle Dillon style, 9/10 times he loses yards.

The thing is, there've been lots of games this season where Dillon has left by the 4th quarter, or earlier. McDaniels seems to try to use Maroney as if he was a perfect substitute for Dillon in these cases, and it makes him (Maroney) look very bad.

I don't mean to dump more crap on McDaniels, I think he takes more heat than he deserves, but this one's on him.