RB Talent Unmatched

[RobertWeathers]

For a good impression of how effective the Pats' total running game has been so far, advancedfootballstats.com shows that Patriots' RBs occupy 3 of the top 8 slots in Running Success Rate. (That's a stat that attempts to track how successful running plays are in achieving situational objectives -- e.g., a 2-yard run might not help your conventional stats, but it's a success on 3 and 1.)

Advanced NFL Stats - Player Statistics by Position

I am loving the running game right now. However....I want to see them be successful running the ball when the have to and when the defense expects them to in the playoffs. Even if it's 4 3rd and 2s and they go 4-4.

Its those runs that extend drives, keep good offenses off the field and demoralize a defense.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Quality 'middlie tier' rushing team? Do you even watch the games? Pats are rolling up yards like nobody's business. And if the eye test isn't enough how about these stats for you:

NFL.COM Official Rushing Stats

Rushing yards per game 165.4, 3rd in the NFL
Rushing TDs 10, 1st in the NFL
Total Rushing Attempts per game, 38.2, 1st in the NFL
1st downs by run, 64 1st in the NFL
Total rushing yards, 827 3rd in the NFL

Believe it or not, the Pats are an ELITE rushing team in the NFL, stacking up as top 3 in just about every run category you can think of. Now a lot of credit has to go to the OL of course. But the RBs are racking up the numbers physically as well. Pats run offense is legit! Wipe away your previous preconceptions of the Pats as a pass first or pass only team.

Pats are what you call a quality middle tier running team....to call them elite at this stage is going way overboard

I think Ridley has a decent chance of being a top 10 rb in this league. He reminds me of a blend of Ricky Watters and MJD. We'll have to wait and see if durability is an issue. But after Ridley there is a HUGE dropoff

Bolden is a bit of a wildcard---it's hard to figure out if he's really good or he just has insanely awesome blocking in front of him on his runs---his running style doesn't really impress me.

Woodhead experiment should be over IMO

Vereen...cmon

 

[Bhelmet]

Quality 'middlie tier' rushing team? Do you even watch the games? Pats are rolling up yards like nobody's business. And if the eye test isn't enough how about these stats for you:

NFL.COM Official Rushing Stats

Rushing yards per game 165.4, 3rd in the NFL
Rushing TDs 10, 1st in the NFL
Total Rushing Attempts per game, 38.2, 1st in the NFL
1st downs by run, 64 1st in the NFL
Total rushing yards, 827 3rd in the NFL

Those are impressive stats. If these guys can keep this up, our chances at winning the AFC go up dramatically. Long season, thankfully only one rookie. I think they are giving Bolden the right amount of work to keep him from the wall. Hernandez will only makes this better. He may take away from Rushing Attempts, but I bet yards go up as he produces so many mismatches. I loved it when Dillon was doing his damage, and I love our Dillon-by-Committee - each guy is playing well.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Statistically speaking, the 08 team had the best running game of the BB era.

But the best pure running game IMO was 2004. Pure meaning bellwether, playmaking, dominate games, get yards when you have to running games.

This particular unit has the chance to be both.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I'm sorry did you miss the Bills game?

Brandon Bolden

16 carries 137 yards 1TD LG 27 8.56 ypc

When has BJGE EVER averaged 8.56 yards per carry in his life? I'll tell you, never. Bolden is way more explosive than BJGE could ever hope to be.

How about the next game against the Broncos?

14 carries 54 yards LG 24 3.9 ypc

Bolden has a less explosive outing at 3.9 ypc, but he also ripped off a 24 yard gainer in there.

Average out the stats and you have 30 carries for 191 yards and 6.37 ypc for Bolden.

Compare to BJGE's 510 carries for 2064 yards and 4.04 ypc. Bolden averages a solid 2 ypc BETTER than BJGE.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis NFL Football Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com

Let's also consider overall explosiveness, that is plays over 20 yards.

Bolden already has 3 20+ yard carriers in the span of TWO games and 37 carries. BJGE in contrast has only 4 20+ yard gainers in his career of 43 games and 510 carries as a Patriot.

So that projects to 55 20+ yard gainers in 510 carries for Bolden which is an improvement of roughly 1,370%! Even if it turns out to only be half that number, that's an over 600% increase in explosiveness over BJGE! Although the sample size is small, it's safe to say that Bolden is WAY more explosive than BJGE.

BGJE was a respectable RB with great ball security but in his career as a Patriot he never got close to reaching the numbers that Bolden has already put up. Looking forward to watching more of the Pats 2 headed rushing monster this Sunday. They have a real test coming up against the Seahawks run D. If they can put up 150 yards in this game on the ground, I think it's safe to say that they have arrived and the NFL better get ready for them!

He's gained his yards, mostly, by taking what has been given. He's a Benji clone IMO. Of course, he's only 37 carries into his career, so he's still a little bit of an unknown quantity, but he hasn't shown me enough in the way of natural ability to peg him at anything more than an average RB. Maybe he will, but that's not usually something that develops.

Ridley makes yards. Huge difference. Huge.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I'm sorry did you miss the Bills game?

Brandon Bolden

16 carries 137 yards 1TD LG 27 8.56 ypc

When has BJGE EVER averaged 8.56 yards per carry in his life? I'll tell you, never. Bolden is way more explosive than BJGE could ever hope to be.

How about the next game against the Broncos?

14 carries 54 yards LG 24 3.9 ypc

Bolden has a less explosive outing at 3.9 ypc, but he also ripped off a 24 yard gainer in there.

Average out the stats and you have 30 carries for 191 yards and 6.37 ypc for Bolden.

Compare to BJGE's 510 carries for 2064 yards and 4.04 ypc. Bolden averages a solid 2 ypc BETTER than BJGE.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis NFL Football Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com

Let's also consider overall explosiveness, that is plays over 20 yards.

Bolden already has 3 20+ yard carriers in the span of TWO games and 37 carries. BJGE in contrast has only 4 20+ yard gainers in his career of 43 games and 510 carries as a Patriot.

So that projects to 55 20+ yard gainers in 510 carries for Bolden which is an improvement of roughly 1,370%! Even if it turns out to only be half that number, that's an over 600% increase in explosiveness over BJGE! Although the sample size is small, it's safe to say that Bolden is WAY more explosive than BJGE.

BGJE was a respectable RB with great ball security but in his career as a Patriot he never got close to reaching the numbers that Bolden has already put up. Looking forward to watching more of the Pats 2 headed rushing monster this Sunday. They have a real test coming up against the Seahawks run D. If they can put up 150 yards in this game on the ground, I think it's safe to say that they have arrived and the NFL better get ready for them!

The Bills' D has given up 550 rushing yards in the past two weeks. Might be one of the worst stretches of defending against the run in league history.

That said, Bolden did play exceptionally well against them. You probably have to discount it a bit based on the strength (weakness) of defense that he performed against, but even if you discount it heavily, it's still a quality performance by any measure.

 

[Chrome_Seahawk]

As an unbiased outside observer (who certainly has some bias going into this week) - I think it would be best to rename this thread "RB SCHEME and players for that scheme - Unmatched" - I think you guys have a great scheme that gets players who are tailor made for this scheme into space and allows them to pick up significant yardage. I don't know that there are many other teams that would trade a lot for your RB's though, as they don't necessarily fit other teams schemes. FWIW, I know a thing or two about what happens when you get fast guys into space - In addition to being a Seahawk fan, I'm an Oregon Ducks fan. In the Ducks case, a lot of fanss like to bag on the RBs saying they wouldn't be as successful without our "gimmick offense"....the reality is that most of the backs are better than opposing fans give them credit for - but they are INCREDIBLE in the scheme - think that is likely the case for the Pats as well.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

would rather have Shone Greene and his .23 yards per carry

 

[VJCPatriot]

Is it just the Pats scheme or is Ridley potentially a better RB than Marshawn Lynch, in ANY scheme?

Year 2 is a typical breakout year for a lot of young players and so far Ridley is maintaining the YPC of his rookie season while getting more touches and finally becoming a full time starter. Ridley's explosiveness and physicality are talents that come out to play whenever he touches the football. Seattle will give him a tough test, but if he cracks 100 yards against them are you willing to admit that he is the real deal?

As an unbiased outside observer (who certainly has some bias going into this week) - I think it would be best to rename this thread "RB SCHEME and players for that scheme - Unmatched" - I think you guys have a great scheme that gets players who are tailor made for this scheme into space and allows them to pick up significant yardage. I don't know that there are many other teams that would trade a lot for your RB's though, as they don't necessarily fit other teams schemes. FWIW, I know a thing or two about what happens when you get fast guys into space - In addition to being a Seahawk fan, I'm an Oregon Ducks fan. In the Ducks case, a lot of fanss like to bag on the RBs saying they wouldn't be as successful without our "gimmick offense"....the reality is that most of the backs are better than opposing fans give them credit for - but they are INCREDIBLE in the scheme - think that is likely the case for the Pats as well.

 

[BananaRepublican]

Statistically speaking, the 08 team had the best running game of the BB era.

But the best pure running game IMO was 2004. Pure meaning bellwether, playmaking, dominate games, get yards when you have to running games.

This particular unit has the chance to be both.

I hope you're right but so much of the RB success is situational that I'm still hesitant. The passing O forces teams into constant nickel and dime packages, so I'm still wondering how these guys (especially Ridley and the OL) would do against heavier packages.

I wonder if inside the ten yard line success would be an indicator. Hard stat to find.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I will know we have arrived at as dominant run-capable team when we get the ball with 6-8 minutes left in the game and with a lead, and then we completely burn out the clock and seal the game by getting 1st downs again and again, all on the ground.

High total yards are nice, high yards per carry is great, high numbers of 1st downs are great, those clock-killin' Corey Dillon-type drives are what I would love to see. When we line up and say "we are going to run it and you cannot do anything at all to stop us"

I realize that is pretty rare in the modern NFL.

 

[PatsFan2]

I have often ask myself who or which RB does Ridley reminds me of? Believe it or not...i think Marshawn Lynch is the exact replica.

 

[Kontradiction]

As an unbiased outside observer (who certainly has some bias going into this week) - I think it would be best to rename this thread "RB SCHEME and players for that scheme - Unmatched" - I think you guys have a great scheme that gets players who are tailor made for this scheme into space and allows them to pick up significant yardage. I don't know that there are many other teams that would trade a lot for your RB's though, as they don't necessarily fit other teams schemes. FWIW, I know a thing or two about what happens when you get fast guys into space - In addition to being a Seahawk fan, I'm an Oregon Ducks fan. In the Ducks case, a lot of fanss like to bag on the RBs saying they wouldn't be as successful without our "gimmick offense"....the reality is that most of the backs are better than opposing fans give them credit for - but they are INCREDIBLE in the scheme - think that is likely the case for the Pats as well.

You should keep in mind that Ridley has also been running behind a somewhat makeshift offensive line so far this season. Schemes themselves don't open up holes and the schemes don't help the runners blow through those holes, break tackles, and get to the second level.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I have often ask myself who or which RB does Ridley reminds me of? Believe it or not...i think Marshawn Lynch is the exact replica.

Derrick Cullors???

 

[JJDChE]

I'm sorry? Is there a specific criteria for determining when a back "gains his yards" as opposed to "making yards"?

I'm eager to learn the answer to this one

Yeah, it's the difference between BJGE and Ridley. Benji takes what he sees. Ridley makes something that isn't there. Bolden is more in the BJGE mold.

I'm sorry did you miss the Bills game?

Nope. He is being severely overrated due to that game.

He's had ONE good game against probably the worst run defense in the league. Reign in your enthusiasm.

The good news is we will play the Bills again and the Jets twice, so our RBs will have plenty of chances to average 8 yds/att again this season.

 

[TheComeback]

Bolden is a bit of a wildcard---it's hard to figure out if he's really good or he just has insanely awesome blocking in front of him on his runs---his running style doesn't really impress me.

It didn't impress you when he bulldozed that LB five yard into the end zone the other day?

Woodhead experiment should be over IMO

Yeah, we should totally get rid of a quality scatback who costs next to nothing and who plays special teams and can pick up the blitz and catch

 

[PatsFan2]

Derrick Cullors???

Father time you old goat...totally forgot about that guys.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Father time you old goat...totally forgot about that guys.

Hey, I'm 41....No that old . He was mid-90s. Not that long ago.

Now my board name is OLD and I do remember watching him play.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Is it just the Pats scheme or is Ridley potentially a better RB than Marshawn Lynch, in ANY scheme?

Year 2 is a typical breakout year for a lot of young players and so far Ridley is maintaining the YPC of his rookie season while getting more touches and finally becoming a full time starter. Ridley's explosiveness and physicality are talents that come out to play whenever he touches the football. Seattle will give him a tough test, but if he cracks 100 yards against them are you willing to admit that he is the real deal?

The writing was on the wall with Ridley last year. 87 carries and 5 went for over 20+yards. That was right up there with the best rbs with over 200 carries. I'm surprised by his success this year by the way he lunges for the extra 3 yards and turns it into 5+yard gain. It's just a unique skill that many successful rbs have shown over the decades. He seems to have 'it' so far.

How lucky so far that we have Ridley and Bolden. Just keeping each other fresh does wonders.

 

[PP2]

Yeah, it's the difference between BJGE and Ridley. Benji takes what he sees. Ridley makes something that isn't there. Bolden is more in the BJGE mold.

Nope. He is being severely overrated due to that game.

He's had ONE good game against probably the worst run defense in the league. Reign in your enthusiasm.

The good news is we will play the Bills again and the Jets twice, so our RBs will have plenty of chances to average 8 yds/att again this season.

BJGE is no longer here. Do yourself a favor and move on from that. I understand you have a man-crush on Ridley, but why does it necessitate you bashing the other backs?

I don't think Bolden is "severely overrated."