Tidbit from K.Faulk

[JR4]

any news is better than nothing

From KFFL
Patriots | K. Faulk discusses return game
Mon, 26 Jun 2006 05:56:05 -0700

Eric Narcissse, of The Advertiser, recently discussed the New England Patriots return game with Patriots RB Kevin Faulk. When he asked Faulk if he was returning kickoffs and punts Faulk replied, "To be honest with you, I haven't the slightest idea. We are just trying to find the best guy to put back there." He then asked Faulk if he wanted to return kickoffs and punts and Faulk replied, "I'm a team player, so I'll do whatever the team wants me to do. My job is to help the team win, so if that means returning kickoffs or punts - I'll do it." Faulk also said the minicamps he has attended so far have been pretty good.

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Faulks response .... pure belichickian

 

[patsox23]

Faulk also said the minicamps he has attended so far have been pretty good.

AWESOME!!!

 

[ilduce06410]

well his mediaspeak seems ok

AWESOME!!!

seems to me that kevin were ever to get disgruntled and and crotchety, this year would be it.
new RB there, other RBs have velue.
what, does he now have to compete with patrick pass and heath evans for a roster spot? is BB going to leave that up in question all summer?
time to feel "disrespected" if there ever was one.

 

[spacecrime]

new RB there, other RBs have velue.
what, does he now have to compete with patrick pass and heath evans for a roster spot? is BB going to leave that up in question all summer?
time to feel "disrespected" if there ever was one.

of course.

roster spots aren't reserved

if faulk can't play better than pass and evans, then why is it disrespecting him to give the spot to the better players?

not that i think he won't beat out both pass and evans

barring tc injury, my guess is:

dillon-maroney-faulk-mills to the 53
pass to the shadow roster

 

[pats1]

of course.

roster spots aren't reserved

if faulk can't play better than pass and evans, then why is it disrespecting him to give the spot to the better players?

not that i think he won't beat out both pass and evans

barring tc injury, my guess is:

dillon-maroney-faulk-mills to the 53
pass to the shadow roster

Let's not make this into "Pass won't get cut" part II, but...

Since we know Mills won't be running the ball soon, I think we should leave him out of the # of RB equation. As I've said before, we won't see Pass lining up at TE, nor will we see Mills lining up at TB. They're not fighting for the same roster spot.

 

[spacecrime]

Let's not make this into "Pass won't get cut" part II, but...

Since we know Mills won't be running the ball soon, I think we should leave him out of the # of RB equation. As I've said before, we won't see Pass lining up at TE, nor will we see Mills lining up at TB. They're not fighting for the same roster spot.

I don't see either Mills or Pass as RBs, actually. I see Mills and Pass competing for the only FB spot on the roster, with ST being the deciding factor.

If Mills makes the roster, and I simply cannot see an early fourth round pick being cut unless he truly stinks, then Pass has a very tough job ahead of him.

But that is just my opinioin. It a difference of opinion that makes betting on horse races possible.

 

[arrellbee]

I don't see either Mills or Pass as RBs, actually. I see Mills and Pass competing for the only FB spot on the roster, with ST being the deciding factor.

If Mills makes the roster, and I simply cannot see an early fourth round pick being cut unless he truly stinks, then Pass has a very tough job ahead of him.

But that is just my opinioin. It a difference of opinion that makes betting on horse races possible.

I am somewhat puzzled. There are a lot of posts on Faulk and Pass. But I don't quite get why Pass isn't regarded as an RB (granted he has only 1/6 of the carries of the RB offense) or why Faulk is so 'clearly' more valuable than Pass. Mind you, I'm not making any case for either one of them - I'm pretty sure I don't have the nitty gritty info that will determine what Belichick does with the RB roster positions. But I am just puzzled. Here, for interest, are the stats for the two last year. I am clearly in the camp that stats don't give a terribly meaningful picture. Yet, they aren't meaningless either .......

Faulk and Pass had about the same number of carries and receptions last year (50+ carries and 20+ receptions each).
Carries:
Faulk 2.8 avg, 13 longest, 0 TD, 5 FD
Pass. 4.5 avg, 31 longest, 3 TD, 12 FD
Receptions:
Faulk 9.0 avg, 23 longest, 2 20+, 0 TD, 13 FD
Pass. 10.3avg, 39 longest, 4 20+, 0 TD, 8 FD

Faulk and Pass both have baggage of injuries and fumbles. As Box pointed out so clearly in one thread, Pass has ST value unless he gets beat out of those duties in TC.

As I say, I'm just puzzled.

 

[JR4]

.......................

Faulk and Pass had about the same number of carries and receptions last year (50+ carries and 20+ receptions each).
Carries:
Faulk 2.8 avg, 13 longest, 0 TD, 5 FD
Pass. 4.5 avg, 31 longest, 3 TD, 12 FD
Receptions:
Faulk 9.0 avg, 23 longest, 2 20+, 0 TD, 13 FD
Pass. 10.3avg, 39 longest, 4 20+, 0 TD, 8 FD

Faulk and Pass both have baggage of injuries and fumbles. As Box pointed out so clearly in one thread, Pass has ST value unless he gets beat out of those duties in TC.

As I say, I'm just puzzled.

good point arrellbee! When it comes to fumbles maybe Pass has had
his share of fumbles but the ones I remember best are the one Faulk makes.
He seems to have a knack of fumbling at just the worst time.
( assuming there is a better time to fumble )

 

[pats1]

Just as the Pats have kept an extra player or two at positions in the past, I can easily envision this scenario:

4 RBs - Dillon, Faulk, Maroney, Pass
4 TEs - Graham, Watson, Thomas, Mills
5 WRs - Branch, Caldwell, Jackson, Brown, Childress

Like it or not, Pass was and will continue to be the Pats' staritng FB. While Pass isn't the greatest blocker himself, he holds the edge (as we saw in 2004) in blocking over Mills.

Given Dillon's age and injury history last year, and then Faulk missing a good chunk of each season the last 2 years, and Maroney, well, being a rookie, there IS a need for a RB that had shown promise running it last year. And if you think Pass will be available if Faulk or Dillon goes down (again), think again. Teams haven't missed his return time early in his career, or some of his big plays in 2004 and 2005.

 

[PATSNUTme]

good point arrellbee! When it comes to fumbles maybe Pass has had
his share of fumbles but the ones I remember best are the one Faulk makes.
He seems to have a knack of fumbling at just the worst time.
( assuming there is a better time to fumble )

He also has the knack of making a big play at just the right time. Review the 3 Game to Glory films and see for yourself. It doesn't matter which one- any or all of them.

 

[Patriotic Fervor]

The simple fact of the matter is, Faulk puts the ball on the ground a little too much for his own good. BB has tolerated that in the past, but I wonder if Faulk won't be the odd man out this time around.

Oh, sure, they could keep the 4 RBs, as was mentioned just a few posts earlier, but if a situation arises whereby a slot must be filled elsewhere, it could spell trouble for Faulk.

While he is a dynamic 3rd-down option for the team coming out of the backfield, that option can, and quite possibly will, be filled by the emerging Maroney. So I'm not worried about that.

It shapes up as an interesting camp this year.

 

[pats1]

The simple fact of the matter is, Faulk puts the ball on the ground a little too much for his own good. BB has tolerated that in the past, but I wonder if Faulk won't be the odd man out this time around.

Oh, sure, they could keep the 4 RBs, as was mentioned just a few posts earlier, but if a situation arises whereby a slot must be filled elsewhere, it could spell trouble for Faulk.

While he is a dynamic 3rd-down option for the team coming out of the backfield, that option can, and quite possibly will, be filled by the emerging Maroney. So I'm not worried about that.

It shapes up as an interesting camp this year.

With the WR (but not passing game as a whole) situation thin this year, and with Faulk's dependability in the past as a receiver, his presence is needed.

 

[mgcolby]

If it comes down to Faulk or Pass, I will go with Faulk. I simply cannot forgive Pass for that fumble last year, sure Faulk has fumbled a lot in his career but what Pass did made it the worst fumble I can remember. I don't want to start the debate over, I was just simply stating that IMO I would trust Faulk a lot more than I would Pass with the football.

And for anyone who may try and defend Pass for his fumble remember that Harrison was in on a tackle the play after breaking his arm in SB 38.

 

[arrellbee]

Let's not make this into "Pass won't get cut" part II, but...

Since we know Mills won't be running the ball soon, I think we should leave him out of the # of RB equation. As I've said before, we won't see Pass lining up at TE, nor will we see Mills lining up at TB. They're not fighting for the same roster spot.

Just as the Pats have kept an extra player or two at positions in the past, I can easily envision this scenario:

4 RBs - Dillon, Faulk, Maroney, Pass
4 TEs - Graham, Watson, Thomas, Mills
5 WRs - Branch, Caldwell, Jackson, Brown, Childress

Like it or not, Pass was and will continue to be the Pats' staritng FB. While Pass isn't the greatest blocker himself, he holds the edge (as we saw in 2004) in blocking over Mills.

Given Dillon's age and injury history last year, and then Faulk missing a good chunk of each season the last 2 years, and Maroney, well, being a rookie, there IS a need for a RB that had shown promise running it last year. And if you think Pass will be available if Faulk or Dillon goes down (again), think again. Teams haven't missed his return time early in his career, or some of his big plays in 2004 and 2005.

I don't think it's a direct roster competition between Mills and any RB. However, I do think you have to look at the total number of RB/TE and say that it is perhaps a competition between a TE slot and a RB slot.

This is rehashing something that's had a lot posts, but I still have a difficult time thinking that it is such a probability that they would carry 8 RB/TE. When I look at the numbers at the other positions and the players that they might really want to carry, that extra 8th RB/TE slot really has to have a pretty high value in the overall scheme of things to happen. Belichick hasn't been timid in the past about cutting back in a particular position and taking his chances that the remaining players can carry the load. And the discussions about whether he will 'afford' to carry both Pass and Faulk really have to take place within the context that Maroney, especially as a first round pick, has to be EXPECTED to be a real option on 3rd down plays. And the Faulk/Pass valuation also has to take place with respect to the possibility that the 3rd down set could now become a much tougher option combination with Maroney as a threat to both run for enough yards for the first down or release in the same way Faulk/Pass are used for PLUS more of an emphasis on combining Maroney with a TE in motion who can either lead block or release for the pass. It also remains to be seen in training camp and preseason whether they might indeed intend that Mills be an h-back and whether he will line up in the backfield - and if they do, how he might perform. I can perhaps see more ways that keeping both Faulk and Pass becomes surplus than I can where they need to use the roster slot for 8 RB/TE. But that's just my feeling. The point that they will keep an extra player at a position if they feel there is value is absolutely pertinent. And in one year out of the last 5 they kept 8 RB/TE (but not the last 3 years). Ironically, a long shot would be that they keep only 6 like the last couple years. But that probably depends on whether they think Dillon will be around next year - it would be short-sighted if you cut both Faulk and Pass and then needed one of them next year.

By the way, one thing I haven't seen mentioned and I don't know whether it would be a consideration for the Pats in any way, but Pass is a FA after this year while Faulk is signed thru 2009 and would cost a remaining 2M to cut while Pass would only cost 75K to cut.