Ridley officially arrives at crossroads

[Brady6]

Yes.... When I take a position that deals with context, I tend to take that position because I think (based upon as objective a criteria as I can come up with) it is the correct one. That does give me an advantage.

Which is fine but don’t exaggerate the circumstances, Ridley may have benefited in areas but so did Martin and Dillon. Last year Ridley ran behind a line of Solder and Wendell as first year starters, and Mankins, Connolly and Vollmer injured for much of the season in some capacity which meant Thomas and McDonald were on the field significant reps, on top of that his WR mainly consisted of the 5’9 185 Lb. Welker and the soft as marshmallow Brandon Lloyd. Point being everyone had things that were positives and negatives for them and you saying I don’t understand the difference or impact is hypercritical when your ignoring the difference between Martin running behind a LT like Armstrong in his prime and Dillon behind Koppen, etc, compared to Ridley running behind Solder and Wendell as first year starters.

Ummmm...... In the passing game, it's 11 on 11. In the running game, it's 11 on 10. You're missing that critical distinction.

I did not know that they took a player off the field when teams ran the ball…

I'm not acting like that at all. You are flailing about wildly, and you've now brought Drew Bledsoe into the discussion. That should have clued you in to just how weak your position is. Drew Bledsoe was not the QB of the Dillon era Patriots.

Not trying to be a jerk but this is your biggest flaw as a poster, you’re actually one of the better posters on this board and I can tell you’re very educated in football but you always insist on making some snide remark putting down the other persons position and your desire to do so causes you to overlook things. I never said Bledsoe was the QB in the Dillon era, I am well aware that Tom Brady was the QB of the Patriots between 2004-2006, Bledsoe was however the QB during the Martin era who we were also discussing.

That changes absolutely nothing that was being discussed. Antowain Smith was a 1000 yard rusher (1157) in 2001. That doesn't mean that he was a great running back.

So your comparing the season of 29 year old player who signed as a free agent after 4 subpar seasons with Stevan Ridley a player who in his second NFL season and first year as a starter had nearly 1300 yards, 12 rushing touchdowns and averaged 4.5 yards per carry? Ok if you say so!

 

[MassPats38]

I am not comparing Ridley to Watt but what I am saying is if DI says that Ridley cannot be considered elite because of the point he is at in his career then Watt who is from the same draft class would have to have the same rules apply. I think Watt is elite, I think if Ridley did not have the ball security issues he would be an elite back or at least on the cusp of that, I also think a player can be elite as a rookie, the NFL is performance based league not a tenure based league.

Deus is talking about snap counts/game involvement, not years. That translates to actual, documented performance. Watt has been on the field since day 1 and been an impact player for all of that stretch. For Ridley, 87 carries in his first year, a good second year, and less production in third year amounts to one good year. That would be like calling Peyton Hillis elite after 2010. Not then, not now.

Not to say Ridley could not be elite if he sustained his performance last year for a few seasons. Just that he hasn't yet, so is he Hillis or Curtis Martin? We don't know.

 

[Deus Irae]

Which is fine but don’t exaggerate the circumstances,

I haven't. You've made really lousy arguments that have been easily refuted by multiple people, not just by myself. It's not that I'm exaggerating, it's that you don't like the facts, especially the fact that you can't just point to the raw numbers without context, and expect to have a proper picture. Brandon Tate has a career rushing ypa of 10.4, yet you don't see teams clamoring to line him up as their starting HB. There's a reason for that, and it goes beyond the raw data.

As to the rest of your post, well, it's just more of the same line of reasoning, so I'll leave it at that. Except for one part:

Not trying to be a jerk but this is your biggest flaw as a poster, you’re actually one of the better posters on this board and I can tell you’re very educated in football but you always insist on making some snide remark putting down the other persons position and your desire to do so causes you to overlook things. I never said Bledsoe was the QB in the Dillon era, I am well aware that Tom Brady was the QB of the Patriots between 2004-2006, Bledsoe was however the QB during the Martin era who we were also discussing.

I don't consider being snarky to those who've earned it to be a flaw and, given that the 3 seasons I'd cited to in my post were 2004 Dillon and 2012 Peterson/Ridley, Bledsoe was absolutely and completely irrelevant. It was you throwing out a red herring and, I called you on it, as was warranted.

 

[Brady6]

I don't consider being snarky to those who've earned it to be a flaw and, given that the 3 seasons I'd cited to in my post were 2004 Dillon and 2012 Peterson/Ridley, Bledsoe was absolutely and completely irrelevant. It was you throwing out a red herring and, deservedly, I called you on it.

Ok you got me Drew Bledsoe is my uncle and I was trying to convince everyone he was actually the QB that took to 3 super bowl victories and you called me out… Sorry uncle Drew I tried

 

[fumbrunner]

 

[Kdo5]

Deus is talking about snap counts/game involvement, not years. That translates to actual, documented performance. Watt has been on the field since day 1 and been an impact player for all of that stretch. For Ridley, 87 carries in his first year, a good second year, and less production in third year amounts to one good year. That would be like calling Peyton Hillis elite after 2010. Not then, not now.

Not to say Ridley could not be elite if he sustained his performance last year for a few seasons. Just that he hasn't yet, so is he Hillis or Curtis Martin? We don't know.

It's hardly like Ridley has been able to get into a groove over several weeks. He was injured, and his fumbles have certainly lessened his playing time. I'd imagine that has something to do with his loss of production.

 

[mgteich]

Yes, his fumbles have lessened Ridley's playing time. It is also true that Ridely's lack of playing time has likely limited his fumbles to leading all non-quarterbacks instead of leading all players.

Belichick thinks there is an issue. I'm sure we all noticed the changed style with which our running backs carried the ball in this past game.

It's hardly like Ridley has been able to get into a groove over several weeks. He was injured, and his fumbles have certainly lessened his playing time. I'd imagine that has something to do with his loss of production.

 

[Kdo5]

Yes, his fumbles have lessened Ridley's playing time. It is also true that Ridely's lack of playing time has likely limited his fumbles to leading all non-quarterbacks instead of leading all players.

Belichick thinks there is an issue. I'm sure we all noticed the changed style with which our running backs carried the ball in this past game.

So we don't know? Maybe he fumbles even more, or maybe he does not and w/more playing time silences the people who think he is somehow the worst RB out of the four. Blount also has a history of fumbling. So I'm not sure we've seen the last of Blount putting the ball on the ground either.

Ridley:
512 carries
11 fumbles

Blount:
520
11 fumbles

Career numbers. It isn't like Ridley's fumbling has been substantially worse than Blount. And I like LaGarette Blount. I just think Ridley is better.