The Bolden, the Beautiful (Bolden Appreciation)

[Actual Pats Fan]

Michael Bolden is a good singer too

"I AM talented!!!"

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Bolden has been playing well. Either he somehow got better with more snaps which would be pretty cool for his age, or he always had RB skills and only now got to show them due to team injuries at age 31.

.

O.J. Anderson says hi

 

[Triumph]

My favorite player.

When the going gets tough he won't poop himself.

 

[Patriot Missile]

O.J. Anderson says hi

That’s some pretty high praise. Haven’t heard his name in awhile. UMiami hall of fame. Nfl rookie of the year, 2xprobowler, played behind Joe Morris in Sb21 scoring a td and then led the way to sb mvp in 25. Almost 11000 yards and 86 tds. The only resemblance I see is comeback player of the year which I doubt Bolden will get. But he has been a good story for the the Pats.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

That’s some pretty high praise. Haven’t heard his name in awhile. UMiami hall of fame. Nfl rookie of the year, 2xprobowler, played behind Joe Morris in Sb21 scoring a td and then led the way to sb mvp in 25. Almost 11000 yards and 86 tds. The only resemblance I see is comeback player of the year which I doubt Bolden will get. But he has been a good story for the the Pats.

Yea. It's a bad comp. Anderson was a 1600 yard rusher his rookie year, didn't come out of nowhere. Bolden is a career special teamer who has had a couple decent games now at RB at age31.

.

 

[oldrover]

Michael Bolden is a good singer too

 

[Wax Frog]

You've got a horrible voice.

<bows deeply>

 

[Water Boy]

I’ve always liked Bolden. Just because he isn’t RB-1 material doesn’t mean he isn’t a serviceable back. I don’t expect a ton of yards but we are going to need some balanced ground and pound. With Harris and Stephenson out lets see what Brandon the bell cow can do.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Here's how the NFL wants you to understand RBs:
1) Boomers: Heroic slo mo footage, narration in a smooth baritone with a hint of an english accent, and sometimes poetry in heroic couplets...
2) This century: screaming millennials and some Gen Zs screaming stats on a gender-balanced fantasy football set (making a bunch of guys drop picante sauce on themselves when Cynthia Freuland recites the hot new probability she's computed, and the cleverest of the bunch shout out "you can start me in your flex slot cynthia").
3) Gen X: A commercial about a barbershop? I dunno.

Here's how NE wants you to understand them:
1) you need X TDs out of the position, Y catches, Z runs, and alpha or so yards. You need zero fumbles or as close as possible.
2) If one or more of your RBs are spec teamers, a QB, or a receiver, so much the better
3) If I need 2400 yards, there's 4 of them, and everybody pulls their weight... I'm not too stressed if nobody goes over 700
4) And so on for the other stats
5) Makes sure I have a tool for every situation: Power, speed, "quickness," hands, whatever ya got.
6) Don't cost me too much. You can't have everything, where would you put it.

NE has a horizontal assortment of RBs with a titular "depth" chart. It's really more like a "breadth" chart most of the time.

There's only one Derrick Henry. Right now, actually, there's zero of them. There might never be one again, as we understand what is meant by a Derrick Henry.

He makes 12.5M average salary per year. He was paid a lot of it up front of course, that's part of that bargain price, trading the guarantees for the sheer number. It's $50M for 4 years, about half fully guaranteed.

I don't argue with that approach, though most teams have moved on from it. We just don't do it. I do prefer what NE does. 4th in the league last year, and make no mistake, by committee. It's down this year, we're in the middle of the pack but 6th in TDs. Most years we're toward the top of the league, top 1/3 at least. Not league leading, but a threat to be respected.

Can't brag on the performances on offense this year statistically, it's the defense that is getting it done lately. But most years you just don't get a bell cow in NE. For a little while I got carried away thinking Michel really looked like he fit the bill. Meh. unless something really drops in our lap, that's not how NE does it. Seems that a real star is too much of a cap sink for our tastes most years. (You know what happens if you lead the league in TDs!)

 

[n1997y]

I’ve always liked Bolden. Just because he isn’t RB-1 material doesn’t mean he isn’t a serviceable back. I don’t expect a ton of yards but we are going to need some balanced ground and pound. With Harris and Stephenson out lets see what Brandon the bell cow can do.

Agree. He’s a blue collar grinder. Has done what he’s been asked to do. Career stats aren’t stellar but they’re really not all that shabby: rushing 261 carries for 1,179 yards, 4.5 ypc, and 11 TDs; receiving 81 catches for 686 yards, 8.5 ypc, and 5 TDs. He’s been up and down from year to year depending on what he’s been asked to do. We are seeing him asked to do more and doing more this year.


Career stats

Year	Team	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
2021	Patriots	22	108	4.9	0	22	189	8.6	1
2019	Patriots	15	68	4.5	3	9	111	12.3	1
2018	Dolphins	8	91	11.4	2	3	13	4.3	1
2017	Patriots	13	67	5.2	0	1	7	7.0	0
2016	Patriots	1	4	4.0	0	2	15	7.5	0
2015	Patriots	63	207	3.3	0	19	180	9.5	2
2014	Patriots	28	89	3.2	1	2	8	4.0	0
2013	Patriots	55	271	4.9	3	21	152	7.2	0
2012	Patriots	56	274	4.9	2	2	11	5.5	0
Career		261	1,179	4.5	11	81	686	8.5	5

 

[JayNM]

Ill post my thoughts after the game where he'll be heavily used so I dont change my mind later

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

That’s some pretty high praise. Haven’t heard his name in awhile. UMiami hall of fame. Nfl rookie of the year, 2xprobowler, played behind Joe Morris in Sb21 scoring a td and then led the way to sb mvp in 25. Almost 11000 yards and 86 tds. The only resemblance I see is comeback player of the year which I doubt Bolden will get. But he has been a good story for the the Pats.

Yea. It's a bad comp. Anderson was a 1600 yard rusher his rookie year, didn't come out of nowhere. Bolden is a career special teamer who has had a couple decent games now at RB at age31.

.

It's about an older guy not expected to make huge contributions. Obviously O.J. was a star, BB is a role player.

 

[Triumph]

Receiving

Currently rocking a 94% catch rate.
Brandon has dropped 2 passes all year.
Picked up 15 first downs

Rushing

Picked up 8 first downs
vs Houston 12 yds a carry
vs Carolina 6 yds a carry
vs LAC 6 yds a carry
vs Cleveland 10 yds a carry


Dude has been money in the bank and has done what he can to fill the void that James White left. Brandon Bolden Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

 

[SammyBlueCat]

He is playing well! Earlier this season he would be lucky to gain a yard!
JUST LIKE I COACH EM'!!!!

 

[Wozzy]

He was always this good, he just accepted the role he was given and has survived a lot longer than his RB peers because of it. In the case of 2021 the blocking improved, not Bolden.

Somebody has to play special teams, not everybody can be a superstar and get all the glory. How many other RB's have a decade long career and don't leave the game hobbled and ground to a nub. I think Bolden was one of the smartest guys in the room.

He's a plus athlete, if he wanted to be a workhorse RB he could have been, he chose another path.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

It's about an older guy not expected to make huge contributions. Obviously O.J. was a star, BB is a role player.

But you can't say BB the running back is getting in the way of BB the head coach (or BB the GM)

 

[Stu Pidassle]

Pretty cool for a 31 year old RB. Good team guy. Wish we kept the 31 year old elite CB1 as well

Not a fair comparison. I wish the 31 year old elite cb1 had Bolden's desire to be a Patriot vs chasing the last dollar. That said I can't blame any player who looks out for number 1. Football is a tough way to make a living with only a few years to make your money.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Not a fair comparison. I wish the 31 year old elite cb1 had Bolden's desire to be a Patriot vs chasing the last dollar. That said I can't blame any player who looks out for number 1. Football is a tough way to make a living with only a few years to make your money.

I do love Bolden. Almost no dropoff from what White was giving. Now I wonder if Bolden was languishing for years

 

[n1997y]

I do love Bolden. Almost no dropoff from what White waa giving. Now I wonder if Bolden was languishing for years

He was getting paid to play football, if that’s what you mean by “languishing“. Even better, collecting a few Super Bowl championship rings. You can call that languishing, I’ll call it living the good life.

 

[DarrylS]

Bolden has played twice a many snaps as a special teamer, how he has done is difficult to retrieve, but this team has always like versatile players..

Total Offensive Snaps... 1024 (25 w/Miami)
Total ST Snaps.. 2212 (295 w/Miami)

In his past 5 years has has played 60+% of ST snaps for the Pats including one year with Miami.