RB position going forward?

[dales804]

Re: Stevan Ridley might've just lost his job

Still say Ridley was down and the ball was dead, much like how the ball was supposed to be dead when he got that concussion against the Ravens in the playoffs.

Why was the AFCCG fumble supposed to be dead? He got hit and lost the ball. Take the concussion out of it and loss of consciousness since that can't be determined in the .5 seconds from the hit to the fumble. Is there something I'm missing?

 

[BradyFTW!]

When the Pats drafted Shane Vereen, I had hopes that they'd found a genuine do-it-all back -- an ideal weapon for a no-huddle offense. Apparently, though the team hasn't felt he could handle the feature back role. Even after Ridley imploded today, they handed the ball to Blount. But once they finally turned to Vereen, he delivered to the tune of:

14 carries for 101 yards
7 catches for 58 yards

Pretty nice for essentially half a day's work.

So, do you think Vereen will finally get a chance to start? How long will it take for Ridley to crawl out of the doghouse? Etc.

The question with Vereen will remain his durability until he can take a full workload for more than a couple of games and stay healthy.

If he ever does get to the point where the Pats feel comfortable with his durability, then he absolutely should be the #1 RB, IMO. He's so much more versatile than Ridley that any downgrade in between-the-tackles running (and I'm not convinced that there's a big one) is worth it.

How many legitimate (legitimate = you can run between the tackles with them) RBs are actual threats to motion out into the slot or run a wheel route out of the backfield then pick up 30 yards after the catch? I can only think of a couple, and that's a really dangerous weapon to have.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Re: Stevan Ridley might've just lost his job

Still say Ridley was down and the ball was dead, much like how the ball was supposed to be dead when he got that concussion against the Ravens in the playoffs.

If a Bill had been touching him, then yeah. But since nobody was touching him, it was a fumble. That's what makes this easily the worst fumble of his career; he wasn't even hit.

 

[Whitt25]

Re: Stevan Ridley might've just lost his job

Why was the AFCCG fumble supposed to be dead? He got hit and lost the ball. Take the concussion out of it and loss of consciousness since that can't be determined in the .5 seconds from the hit to the fumble. Is there something I'm missing?

He was down before the ball fell out.

 

[JMC00]

Re: Stevan Ridley might've just lost his job

Still say Ridley was down and the ball was dead, much like how the ball was supposed to be dead when he got that concussion against the Ravens in the playoffs.

I kind of wish he just stayed on the ground holding his leg even if he wasn't injured. Play would have definitely been ruled dead.

If I'm a running back coach i'm telling my guys anytime you slip or go down untouched and the ball comes out just stay down and hold your thigh or something and then come off the field gingerly assisted by someone, have the RB stay our 1 or 2 series with some of the training staff around him to make it look like it might be something and there is just no way the NFL can prove it otherwise.

 

[detpatsfan]

Re: Stevan Ridley might've just lost his job

Funny thing he was on his way to a decent game. Already had 9 carries for 46 yards 5.1 ypc and a 20 yard run.

I love how some Pats fans are acting like this guy's career is over. Guy had one bad half he's going to run all over Rex Ryan's D.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Not sure you can learn to not fumble.....especially when you're laying it down for no reason

Kevin Faulk did. Adrian Peterson pretty much has (fumbled on >2% of carries for his first 3 years, then less than 0.5% of carries in the three years after). There are lots of examples of RBs who outgrew fumbling problems.

 

[dales804]

Re: Stevan Ridley might've just lost his job

He was down before the ball fell out.

I haven't watched the play in a while but I remember seeing it and watching the replay closely and believe he did in fact fumble it.

 

[detpatsfan]

Kevin Faulk did. Adrian Peterson pretty much has (fumbled on >2% of carries for his first 3 years, then less than 0.5% of carries in the three years after). There are lots of examples of RBs who outgrew fumbling problems.

Add Tiki Barber to that list.

 

[JMC00]

Can we also give an assist to the field for the fumble?

He goes to make a cut and slips on a field that obviously was moist in some spots and his carrying arm takes the brunt of the impact popping the ball loose.

It's not like he was running and the ball just slipped out of his arm.

 

[mgteich]

"Going forward" in 2013, we have one of the best running games in years. Considering that we were #7 in rushing last year, that's pretty impressive. We certainly have 2 starting quality backs. We also have 2-3 reasonable backups.

When one RB is down, we shouldn't see any disruption in the running game.

 

[Whitt25]

Re: Stevan Ridley might've just lost his job

I haven't watched the play in a while but I remember seeing it and watching the replay closely and believe he did in fact fumble it.

I could be wrong, but that's what it looked like to me. I sat there watching all the replays, too.



Looked like he was down.

If a Bill had been touching him, then yeah. But since nobody was touching him, it was a fumble. That's what makes this easily the worst fumble of his career; he wasn't even hit.

I was gon say I thought he was touched, but apparently he wasn't til after he dropped it.