Ridley Fumbles - Let's not let facts get in the way

[shmessy]

There were 11 fumbles in this game. Ridley had one of them.

Ridley, as a pro, has 9 fumbles in 513 rushing attempts.

In his first two seasons with the Pats, Kevin Faulk had 7 fumbles in 231 rushing attempts. I'm glad the Pats kept him around another decade.

 

[PATRlOT]

He makes $777,750 in 2014. He has no trade value. Only idiots (see Jim Irsay) trades high draft picks for RBs.

How does a LOW salary affect trade value negatively? Is that not a good thing? Compared to having a super HIGH salary nobody would want? Or am I missing something here...

Either way, I think he'll be back unless Bolden emerges big time.

 

[supafly]

How does a LOW salary affect trade value negatively? Is that not a good thing? Compared to having a super HIGH salary nobody would want? Or am I missing something here...

Either way, I think he'll be back unless Bolden emerges big time.

I think he's just saying that at a cheap, rookie pact like that, he still provides an enormous value for us and wouldn't be worth getting rid of; even if his role became reduced.

On top of that, he's hardly worth anything near a 2nd/3rd round draft pick, but that is not the point.

 

[supafly]

There were 11 fumbles in this game. Ridley had one of them.

Ridley, as a pro, has 9 fumbles in 513 rushing attempts.

In his first two seasons with the Pats, Kevin Faulk had 7 fumbles in 231 rushing attempts. I'm glad the Pats kept him around another decade.

In realizing that we have to take any comparisons of other RB's in the league into account with our specific situation here, it should be noted that a famous RB named Adrian Peterson fumbled 16 times during the period of '08/'09.

Of course he still ran for 1700 yards (9 fumbles in '08) and 1300 yards (7 more fumbles in '09), so they must have felt that he was worth keeping around.

We don't have the kind of patience for that here with anyone who puts the ball on the ground, so I understand if he is benched for a game or two. My hope is that they do not reduce his role or bench him in a drastic fashion for the remainder of the year, as I think our running game would decrease significantly.

My guess is that we'll try it without him for the next game or two and see how things shake out. That may also go a long way in determining his fate for the rest of the year. If things go downhill like I imagine that they will, at least on some level, then that may make the decision easier to give him another chance.

 

[Ozymandias]

The potential to be a top 10 RB (without the fumbling issues) may have been a stretch, but I'd still have to stick with top 15. I do understand that an offense like ours opens up the run, but I still think he's a good RB when he isn't fumbling. Personally, I think he offers much more than a guy like BJGE myself, although BJGE was fine in his role here even with more limited talent--because he kept the ball in his arms.

As far as being used in a RBBC system, sure--you're right, he was; but he was still "the" main back in that RBBC system at the same time. That likely won't be the case moving forward, at least not for the next game or two. I do hope that he gets another chance though, as I still think that he's our best pure running back. There's always the chance that Vereen can get the job done too, especially if the pass opens up the run more or when certain oppositional defenses provide that kind of opportunity.

If it were up to me, I'd sit Ridley on the bench for the next game or so; but after that I would give him one last chance for the season. We've seen fumbling problems corrected before with guys like Faulk. I'm not sure if Ridley's can be fixed and what the specifics are/were in comparison of the 2 examples, but I'd like to see him get another chance.

If worst comes to worst, then I'd at least like to see him still get reps--maybe in the role that Blount was playing lately in the second half with a lead or at least in garbage time. One way or another, he should still get looks, even if the setting and situation are changed at first.

I agree with all of this.

I'm not saying they should outright give up on the guy. I think he can still help the team tremendously. But, I think he should remain in the timeshare for the time being as a role player until he gets his mojo back.

Ridley is vastly superior to BJGE, from his Patriot days, in every way except that one critical area when he was here. Benjarvus didn't fumble when he was here. That consistency and ball security made it a easier pill to swallow regarding his talent deficiency because he was extremely dependable.

Ridley is on the other end of the spectrum and I don't think it's as easy to swallow that pill. As stated, the positives don't outweigh the negative all that much, so it's definitely a concern. We saw today what turnovers can do to a team in a hurry. Being dependable is just as, if not more, important as being talented in the NFL. Ridley' is just not playing reliable football right now.

 

[Fencer]

Recall that Vereen's wrist still isn't wholly healed. I don't think it's wise to send him diving through the grasp of too many DLs until that's better. So he's not going to morph into a feature back in the immediate future.

 

[TomPatriot]

There are, indisputably, at least three kinds of causes for fumbles:

• Bad technique.
• Bad/unlucky field vision. (This applies especially to strip sacks of QBs, but can also apply to ball carriers.)
• Hellacious hits.

I'd raise the number further, by saying there are different circumstances for technique, the extremes being when you're trying to push through a pile and when you're trying to juke somebody in the open field.


What I can't accept from Ridley is poor technique when he's plowing through heavy traffic. My first thought for the coaches is to do whatever it takes -- including intimidation-through-benching -- to correct that, while groaning and bearing it if he fumbles in more open-field kinds of situations.


My reasoning behind that is that wrapping up the ball up tightly presumably takes him out of his preferred posture and balance; otherwise he wouldn't use bad technique in the first place. And there's less cost from that disadvantage when he's plowing through a melee than when he's running in the almost-clear.

So then Fears should run the damn strip drill every practice twenty times until Ridley gets it right.

 

[BritPat]

Ridley either needs to change the way he runs, or accept the fact he's not long for this team. This isn't the 1970's or 1980's any more where you could get away with turnovers knowing the defense would likely help you out. In today's NFL they hurt and they cost points.

I really really like Ridley as a runner, but this **** stops. Now.

 

[Gumby]

The week of or after the first double-fumble game; I was watching some other game with the announcers spending about 3 minutes on the RB for one of the teams who also had fumbilitis the week before.

They went on and on about how the coaches spent so much time wiht him on a special technique (2-arms; 2d covering up the first arm carrying the ball) and a particular layout of the ball in the arm. The coach claimed it was IMPOSSIBLE for the RB to fumble if he carried the ball in that position.

The RB used that technique successfully in that game. (now if I could just remember what game, rb etc... etc... and grab a gif to post here.... hmmmm)

Whatever that technique was; Ridley needs to get some of that.

 

[Nikolai]

The week of or after the first double-fumble game; I was watching some other game with the announcers spending about 3 minutes on the RB for one of the teams who also had fumbilitis the week before.

They went on and on about how the coaches spent so much time wiht him on a special technique (2-arms; 2d covering up the first arm carrying the ball) and a particular layout of the ball in the arm. The coach claimed it was IMPOSSIBLE for the RB to fumble if he carried the ball in that position.

The RB used that technique successfully in that game. (now if I could just remember what game, rb etc... etc... and grab a gif to post here.... hmmmm)

Whatever that technique was; Ridley needs to get some of that.

I remember when Tiki Barber used to fumble all the time, and Coughlin taught him to hold the ball high, almost tucked into his armpit when he ran. He hardly fumbled after that.

 

[Gumby]

I remember when Tiki Barber used to fumble all the time, and Coughlin taught him to hold the ball high, almost tucked into his armpit when he ran. He hardly fumbled after that.

you might be right (on the coaching tree genesis of the technique anyway) ...... i think it was NYG game I saw. It was either that or an Indy game.

 

[TonyTucker]

Let him play the rest of the regular season to give Bolden and Vereen rest for the playoffs, he can't be relied on in big games. He's my favorite player, but he can't be trusted. It's in his head now.

 

[MassPats38]

Weird game with turnovers overall, but he is not going to be traded for anything worthwhile and I doubt he will be released. He will be here in 2014. The question is how will he be used?

Statistically, he is fumbling 1 time for every 33 carries this year, and this is pretty much once per game for a full time back. That ain't happening on this team. He is also becoming the Tony Romo of running backs, as every time he puts the ball on the ground it becomes a bullet to the head to the Pats in the form of 6 points on the board for the other team or 6 points off the board for the Pats.

With the last 5 games being readily winnable, I hope he gets some opportunities to redeem himself. I don't know if this is mental or if he is uncoachable and a loose cannon every time he carries the ball, if he was lucky last year or this is just a bad streak, but I would like to see if he can be fixed over that period with reps because he is better than Bolden and defenses have to pay more attention to the run with Ridley in the game. Frankly, with another 1 or 2 fumbles this year in limited carries he would have to be considered broken and put on the shelf for emergency relief. I would prefer to see his story being one of redemption rather than lost causes.

 

[vyrago]

The Patriots seem to have gotten Kevin Faulk over this problem and he was notorious for this early on. Maybe they should ask Kevin to coach Ridley.

 

[GaryfromTO]

he just needs to fix the spelling of his name and his fumbling days will be behind him

Who spells Steven with an 'a' ? (unless your French....Stephan)

 

[RobertWeathers]

Trying to add some perspective...

In 562 career touches (rushes & receptions, regular season & playoffs), SR has fumbled 11 times. That is an average of 1 fumble for every 52 touches. That is not that great.

Coming into this season, he averaged a fumble for every 60 touches.

Last year- his best, he averaged a fumble once every 66 touches.

AP is one fumble every 71 touches.

For his entire career, Emmitt Smith fumbled once every 108 times. I consider EM the gold standard for ball security for feature RBs.

During the regular season with the Pats, Antowain Smith fumbled every 98 touches.

During the regular season with with Pats, Corey Dillon coughed it up every 100 touches

I like Ridley but he either needs to fix his ball security issues or needs to be shown the street. After 3 seasons I don't have a lot of confidence in the former.

 

[meatface]

Ridley is clearly the best RB, even with the fumbles, limit him or whatever but they will need him in the playoffs.

 

[BrickPat]

Not unreasonable to assume that the Pats coached up Ridley with ball security drills before last night's game. He is either not very bright or is stubborn.

The (other) frustrating thing is that Ridley is otherwise a quick and decisive runner...in a way I wish he was more like Laurence "the dancing hesitation" Maroney, it'd be easier to cut him that way.

 

[PP2]

Ridley is clearly the best RB, even with the fumbles, limit him or whatever but they will need him in the playoffs.

That's the last place I want to see him.

He's going to ride the pine for a while now and will get reps in games where we are far ahead. As of right now, he is at the bottom of the depth chart.

 

[patman12]

The Patriots seem to have gotten Kevin Faulk over this problem and he was notorious for this early on. Maybe they should ask Kevin to coach Ridley.

Bring in Tiki Barber for some advice too.