Despite Critics Stevan Ridley Not Exactly 'Fumble Prone'

[PatsFans.com Article]

Despite Critics Stevan Ridley Not Exactly 'Fumble Prone'
By: Ian Logue

As everyone knows, it's always easier to remember the bad things. That seems to be the case with runningback Stevan Ridley, who watched his stellar rookie season get completely erased in the minds of his critics after two late season fumbles....

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[supafly]

One was probably just a gaffe by Ridley, which is expected not only of the RB position at times, but for rookies in general.

The other one was a hard hit where many players would have fumbled.

No, I would not deem him as "fumble prone" as many others have done. There just isn't a large enough sample size, and it's not fair to throw negative labels out there.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I don't recall anyone calling him fumble prone. Just a lot of concern that he not develop a tendancy that as we all saw lead Belichick to bench him for the playoffs...underscoring his concern at the time.

 

[Ian]

I don't recall anyone calling him fumble prone. Just a lot of concern that he not develop a tendancy that as we all saw lead Belichick to bench him for the playoffs...underscoring his concern at the time.

You'd be surprised. I'm actually dumbfounded at the number of casual fans who actually believe it's an issue with him. That was a topic that's come up a lot in recent weeks both here and on talk radio, Twitter, etc. and the percentage of people who believe he has trouble holding onto the football was disturbing. I ran the numbers just to see how many carries he had prior to the first and came across some other things that surprised me about what an impressive rookie season he really had. Needless to say I felt the need to put this out there.

 

[patfanken]

You'd be surprised. I'm actually dumbfounded at the number of casual fans who actually believe it's an issue with him. That was a topic that's come up a lot in recent weeks both here and on talk radio, Twitter, etc. and the percentage of people who believe he has trouble holding onto the football was disturbing. I ran the numbers just to see how many carries he had prior to the first and came across some other things that surprised me about what an impressive rookie season he really had. Needless to say I felt the need to put this out there.

I think the conception of this rumor can be traced to some pre draft scouting reports, which reportedly said he had some fumbling issues in college. I have no idea if they are true or not. Our draftnik contingent would be better equipped to confirm or deny it.

I don't think we heard much about it, since it didn't come up as an issue until the last regular season game and the first playoff game. Fumbling 2 games in a row MADE it an issue, more than just having 2 fumbles over the course of a season. THEN when the media went back and found the reports on it being a problem in college, the "rumor" became fact... at least in the media's mind.

BB didn't help the matter by benching him the rest of the playoffs. Maybe he had ball control issue in practice that we didn't know about. All I know is that he had just 2 fumbles all season. One that was his fault, and one that it would be hard to fault him on. I don't know what the average is on RB fumbles, but I doubt very much Ridley will exceed that average.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Jeff Howe did a piece digging into his LSU record back in May. Apparently he had 1 fumble in every 102 carries and the average for thousand yard backs in the NFL last season was 1 in every 90 carries. The problem arose for BB when he had 2 in 95 carries and they occurred in close succession... Hard to tell if you're witnessing an emerging trend on the eve of your playoffs. Bill chose not to find out. I think more of the fumble concern with him was how he would rebound from the benching as that can get into some kids psyche's and cause further problems. We haven't seen or heard that it remains an issue and he talks very frankly about it's significance.

I actually remember hearing a couple of usually well informed mediots intimate that Vereeen was having some ball control and blocking issues in practice last season that moreso than injury were what kept him off the active roster on game days as the season progressed. He fumbled 7 times in 556 college carries or once every 79 carries. That won't fly here. Belichick is at a point with this offense where particularly skill position wise unless he's convinced you can help and not hurt him you don't see the field (unless your name is Ocho at least). He hasn't had that luxury on defense recently but knock on wood he's getting close to being there again on D too.

As for Bolden, he too had some ball security issues fumbling 8 times in 486 carries or once every 61 carries and that really won't fly here.

BostonHerald.com - Blogs: The Blitz» Blog Archive » Digging deeper to provide context for Stevan Ridley’s fumbles

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Playing with Benny probably didnt help this perception, what was Benny's stats including college, 1 in 500?

 

[pherein]

personally always believed every good RB is fumble prone. The idea is to make yardage and beat the defense, keep balance. Never go down. Not so much worry about the ball your carrying,lol.
You start worring about the ball and you start loosing your abilities as a RB that got you the job in the 1st place.

 

[Joey007]

It's not his fault he's being replaced by a guy who seemingly hasn't fumbled once in his entire NFL life. Just saying.

 

[Mix]

Playing with Benny probably didnt help this perception, what was Benny's stats including college, 1 in 500?

Green-Ellis fumbled once every 155 touches including both college & NFL. 10 fumbles in 939 touches in college + 588 touches in the NFL.

Obviously his ball security has been great since getting to the NFL but he fumbled a lot in college.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

No one knows how much he will fumble in 2012 but we do know he will fumble more than BJGE did

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Definitely one of the more blown out of proportion insinuations I can recall. 1 lost fumble in 91 carries last year

 

[robbomango]

I could have sworn it was 90+ fumbles:confused2:

 

[supafly]

Green-Ellis fumbled once every 155 touches including both college & NFL. 10 fumbles in 939 touches in college + 588 touches in the NFL.

Obviously his ball security has been great since getting to the NFL but he fumbled a lot in college.

Mix--just out of curiosity, where did you find the stats for lost fumbles in college from Green-Ellis?

I know we've been over this plenty of times here, but I thought the general consensus was that he did fumble (there was a time when many/most believed that he hadn't fumbled even in the NCAA's), but that it was only a few times. IIRC, our poster Sciz had to actually dig up a play-by-play breakdown for one of his fumbles just to prove that he did indeed do it in college.

I didn't realize that it was that much of an issue at the NCAA level. I guess you learn something new every day though.

 

[supafly]

I could have sworn it was 90+ fumbles:confused2:

You and 1/2 of the posters here, robby

 

[robbomango]

I Also heard he has all big toes for fingers.

 

[Mix]

Mix--just out of curiosity, where did you find the stats for lost fumbles in college from Green-Ellis?

I know we've been over this plenty of times here, but I thought the general consensus was that he did fumble (there was a time when many/most believed that he hadn't fumbled even in the NCAA's), but that it was only a few times. IIRC, our poster Sciz had to actually dig up a play-by-play breakdown for one of his fumbles just to prove that he did indeed do it in college.

I didn't realize that it was that much of an issue at the NCAA level. I guess you learn something new every day though.

Missouri vs Ole Miss
2nd and Goal at MIZZ 12 Ben Green-Ellis rush to the Misso8, fumble by Ben Green-Ellis recovered by Missouri Marcus Woods at Misso6, clock 06:18.

LSU vs Ole Miss
1st and Goal at LSU 2 BenJarvus Green-Ellis rush for 1 yard, fumbled at the LSU 1, forced by Jacob Cutrera, recovered by Luke Sanders at the LSU 1.

Ole Miss vs Wake Forest
2nd-3, WF3 1:55 B. Green-Ellis rushed to the right for 2 yard loss. B. Green-Ellis fumbled. B. Green-Ellis recovered fumble

Indiana vs Central Michigan
2nd and 7 at IND 28 Hoosiers fumble by BenJarvus Green-Ellis (IU), recovered by Anthony Tyus (CMU), returned for no gain.

Ohio State vs Indiana
2nd and 19 at OSU 47 Hoosiers fumble by BenJarvus Green-Ellis (IU), recovered by BenJarvus Green-Ellis (IU), advanced for no gain.

Northwestern vs Indiana
2nd and 12 at IND 36 Hoosiers fumble by BenJarvus Green-Ellis (IU), recovered by Dominique Price (NU), returned for no gain.

Indiana vs Michigan
4th and 10 at MICH 39 Hoosiers fumble by BenJarvus Green-Ellis (IU), recovered by BenJarvus Green-Ellis (IU), advanced for no gain.

Indiana vs Washington
0th and Goal at IND 21 Hoosiers fumble by BenJarvus Green-Ellis (IU), recovered by BenJarvus Green-Ellis (IU), advanced for no gain.

Michigan St vs Indiana
1st and 10 at MSU 46 Hoosiers fumble by BenJarvus Green-Ellis (IU), recovered by BenJarvus Green-Ellis (IU), advanced for no gain.

Penn St vs Indiana
3rd and 11 at PSU 45 Hoosiers fumble by BenJarvus Green-Ellis (IU), recovered by Jay Alford (PSU), 12 yard return.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Yeah, I always thought folks were overreacting to his fumbles, but he was being compared to a guy who never fumbled. In that regard, BJGE is a tough act to follow, whatever other advantages Ridley gives the team. Plus, he was popular among the fans and, from all reports, in the lockerroom as well.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Missouri vs Ole Miss
2nd and Goal at MIZZ 12 Ben Green-Ellis rush to the Misso8,
...

Penn St vs Indiana
3rd and 11 at PSU 45 Hoosiers fumble by BenJarvus Green-Ellis (IU), recovered by Jay Alford (PSU), 12 yard return.

Thanks for the work that went into that. Looks like he cleaned up his own mess five of the ten times. Ancient history, obviously, but useful nonetheless. Thanks again.

 

[HowardRoark]

I am more worried about Hernandez fumbling than Ridley.