The Ignored Position - Running Back

[Brady6]

Sorry, but there you go again. Making assumptions about the reason for someone not doing well. What we saw against DENVER was a failure of the blocking scheme and the Pats allowing the Denver defense to dictate what they would do.

Also, Blount had more than just 2 good games. Blount had 12 games where he had better than 4 YPC and 6 games at better than 5 YPC. You shouldn't ding Blount for the fact that the Pats use RBBC.

I don’t think Blount is going to command big money on the open market and I think that he will return here for a modest price. He is 27 years old and while I agree he played well this season he has played well in the past, he had 1007 yards in 2010 and 781 yards in 2011, so his 772 was not his first successful season but he still didn’t garner a ton of interest last season (or it appears he didn’t based on what we gave up to acquire him). I am not sure why that is the case but either way it is a positive thing if it stands true as it will likely allow us to retain him.

 

[State]

We rushed more in the 2012 regular season than we did in the regular season in 2013. And with Blount our rushing yards per attempt only went up 0.2, from 4.2 in 2012 to 4.4 in 2013. So I wouldn't break the bank with Blount. I think Ridley is our most talented back, but one who went into the dog house. Blount has had such an up-and-down college and pro career--I look for that to continue. Looking like Adrian Peterson one game, fumbling horribly multiple times the next. Too unpredictable.

Ridley can get over the fumbling problem. He's the future at RB. Bolden is an adequate backup. And injury-plagued Vereen has the speed and catching ability to add to this offense in ways we really need. Most LBers can't keep up with him along the sidelines. But we need a TE like Hernandez and a speed burner WR to take the offense to new heights, along with a healthy Gronk.

 

[TyronePoole]

Re: 2014 Pats Salary Cap Breakdown - RBs

This is such a meaningless issue, it's not a running league. In tiny samples a run heavy team can make through the veritable crapshoot that is the playoffs but in today's league passing correlates with efficiency and winning by factors more than running. Get a decent (league average) running game and move on, the cliches about "grinding out the clock" and "wearing the other team down" an especially "establishing" the run are total garbage. I'm convinced that people who care about the run game are all over 50 and/or have no idea what they're watching.

We beat one of the worst defenses in the league in a cake matchup that was still closer than it should have been at points because we were predicated on the run. Then we got owned because predictably running offenses get trounced by passing offenses over big samples and we couldn't even move the ball against a horrible john fox defense until they went prevent (like idiots). Wasting any amount of meaningful cap space at running back is a joke, it's probable the third least important position.

The worst analysis ever is when people start saying dumb things like "it's about execution" and meaningless crap about individual players when the trend couldn't be more obvious and is a clear underlying explanaition for the "execution" problems. No **** we couldn't block properly we were a one dimensional running team that basically signalled "hey we're running now" to the other team when Blount came on the field. I'm just shocked that a team who couldn't and refused to pass all season was easy to run stop against with a solid DL.

 

[primetime]

I don’t think Blount is going to command big money on the open market and I think that he will return here for a modest price. He is 27 years old and while I agree he played well this season he has played well in the past, he had 1007 yards in 2010 and 781 yards in 2011, so his 772 was not his first successful season but he still didn’t garner a ton of interest last season (or it appears he didn’t based on what we gave up to acquire him). I am not sure why that is the case but either way it is a positive thing if it stands true as it will likely allow us to retain him.

Even during his most successful seasons with the Bucs, he was a complete non-factor in the passing game and is a pretty uninspiring goal-line and short-yardage back, which is surprising given his size. And when Martin came, he was awful. And he's always had fumbling issues, which is ironic given that he got his chance with the Patriots when Ridley was in the doghouse.

As the above poster says, I think running backs who are non-factors in the passing game are a dime a dozen in the NFL and, while I wouldn't mind Blount back for a minimum contract, I also wouldn't pay much more than that to retain him.

 

[manxman2601]

Re: 2014 Pats Salary Cap Breakdown - RBs

This is such a meaningless issue, it's not a running league. In tiny samples a run heavy team can make through the veritable crapshoot that is the playoffs but in today's league passing correlates with efficiency and winning by factors more than running. Get a decent (league average) running game and move on, the cliches about "grinding out the clock" and "wearing the other team down" an especially "establishing" the run are total garbage. I'm convinced that people who care about the run game are all over 50 and/or have no idea what they're watching.

We beat one of the worst defenses in the league in a cake matchup that was still closer than it should have been at points because we were predicated on the run. Then we got owned because predictably running offenses get trounced by passing offenses over big samples and we couldn't even move the ball against a horrible john fox defense until they went prevent (like idiots). Wasting any amount of meaningful cap space at running back is a joke, it's probable the third least important position.

The worst analysis ever is when people start saying dumb things like "it's about execution" and meaningless crap about individual players when the trend couldn't be more obvious and is a clear underlying explanaition for the "execution" problems. No **** we couldn't block properly we were a one dimensional running team that basically signalled "hey we're running now" to the other team when Blount came on the field. I'm just shocked that a team who couldn't and refused to pass all season was easy to run stop against with a solid DL.

Two of the best teams in the NFL are built around a strong running game in the 49ers and Seahawks. I wouldn't mind betting that as the passing offense becomes so dominant, better teams will revert to the running game to take advantage of pass first defenses with smaller DTs and linebackers.

 

[TyronePoole]

Re: 2014 Pats Salary Cap Breakdown - RBs

Two of the best teams in the NFL are built around a strong running game in the 49ers and Seahawks. I wouldn't mind betting that as the passing offense becomes so dominant, better teams will revert to the running game to take advantage of pass first defenses with smaller DTs and linebackers.

Neither seattle or the niners are built around the run. They both have dominant defenses first of all, but more importantly they just happen to have good runningbacks and mediocre receivers but they don't look to run first. They both also have good quarterbacks.

Regardless, I don't know why the better teams would revert to the run when defenses can't stop the pass, whether they're pass first or not.