Gunnails
In the Starting Line-Up
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Prediction (barring injury): Jordan or Eckel get walking papers sooner than later.
I think it's still very much up in the air whether Jordan (or any other veteran RB the Pats could have signed) will make the team. The Pats have never really carried around a 4th RB that isn't also a FB. If Maroney, Faulk, and Morris are all healthy, Jordan won't have any role with this football team.
Jordan will make this team, he is simply too talented and would fill many rolls:
1.) Spell Maroney,
2.) Back up to Faulk on 3rd down,
3.) Goal line and inside the 10 back,
4.) In terms of running ability he is more talented than Morris and he is younger (by almost 2 yrs) and not coming off as serious an injury. Jordan had a great start last yr before getting hurt and he won't face 8 man fronts like he did in Oakland.
The more I think of it the more I like Jordan as our top back up on 1st 2 downs. See Reiss analysis and Lombardi's take here: http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/2008/07/lamont_jordan_a.html
Well then you're just not paying attention. I think the vast majority of Patriots fans would be TOTALLY and COMPLETELY and in all ways STUNNED if he were cut. Clutch/productive-wise, Kevin Faulk is a top 5 WEAPON on the Patriots. There's Brady, Moss, Welker, Faulk, Maroney. Period. (And on a per-play basis, it's not in that order.)
I think if Jordan is healthy, he'll make the team and have a role.
:singing::singing:
here we go again.
Maroney is the team's #1 back. Faulk is the #2/3rd down back. Evans is the fullback. Jordan is likely vying with Morris for the #3 RB position, with the loser (I'd expect that to be Jordan unless Morris gets hurt again) or Eckel hitting the road..
The Pats have absolutely no room to carry a fourth pure RB. Jordan is training camp depth unless one of the incumbents do something to his job.
Gotta disagree. I take this as a clear sign they will be keeping 5 RBs. As I said in a previous thread, I thought it was clear the management wanted a true RB3 who could carry the load in case Maroney & Morris were both concurrently dinged.
They found their man in Jordan.
RBs will be Maroney, Morris, Jordan, Faulk, Evans. If anyone is gone, I think it would be Evans.
With this stockpiling of rb talent, the Pats could also look across the NFL landscape and find a team who loses some of their own rb once exhibition games begin. Team-x loses their #2 rb for the season in August and suddenly the Pats have a chip worthy of a draft pick.
I was with you right up to this point. The team does have the room, depending upon how all the special teams players shake out. Eckel could be dropped instead of Jordan if the right players are available for STs.
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It allso illustrates how the Pats or evidently not happy with the RBs they have on the roster, at least to the extent that they looking to improve.
It is about depth and training camp competition, thus this makes a lot of sense.. imo he will take Eckel's place..
If it wasn't for Maroney and Morris missing games last season, Eckel wouldn't have been around.
I understand what you're saying. But one thing we've seen Belioli do is stockpile the areas that get repetitive with injury. From tight end to cornerback, and now running back, when this team feels it has injury prone players in the lineup, it seems to do its best to really stock that position. Yes, it's true that the team looks for depth everywhere, but it has always appeared to me that they focus more on the areas of frequent injury than elsewhere.