Pats trade Sony Michel to LAR

50-yard-line said:

You can't catch a ball not thrown to you. Michel can catch, and can run well in space. He was 4-for-4 for 37 last week, and looked very comfortable doing it. Made some nice moves and got a nice first down, too. I have no idea why they weren't using him in that capacity, particularly given that the last two years, every time he went into the backfield, the D crowded the box for a run.

The telegraphing has been particularly frustrating.

Michel can catch and run quite well.

Still confused?

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Why are people still talking about Sony Michel. he was traded. he is no longer a Patriot. I know it's very embarrassing for Michel defenders here that people were right that Michel was the odd man out and didn't really have a role here anymore. Just waiting now for NKeal to get cut so we can look back at how truly crappy those offensive draft picks have been before Eliot Wolf showed up.

50-yard-line said:

You can't catch a ball not thrown to you. Michel can catch, and can run well in space. He was 4-for-4 for 37 last week, and looked very comfortable doing it. Made some nice moves and got a nice first down, too. I have no idea why they weren't using him in that capacity, particularly given that the last two years, every time he went into the backfield, the D crowded the box for a run.

The telegraphing has been particularly frustrating.

Michel can catch and run quite well.

Still confused?

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Wanting him to catch passes and thinking he is going to this season are two different things. I think we all wanted him involved as a pass catcher but it didn't happen after three years so the confusion lies in anyone thinking that year 4 would be the year. If he really could do it consistently I can't imagine Bill and Josh got together and said "F Sony! Let's make sure we don't show him the ball!"

203Pat said:

Wanting him to catch passes and thinking he is going to this season are two different things. I think we all wanted him involved as a pass catcher but it didn't happen after three years so the confusion lies in anyone thinking that year 4 would be the year. If he really could do it consistently I can't imagine Bill and Josh got together and said "F Sony! Let's make sure we don't show him the ball!"

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I mean even if Sony has that skill, the blame is on the offensive coordinator for being so predictable. if it's so obvious whenever Sony is in it means run, that is absolutely a play-calling thing that is independent of Sony himself (having said that, Sony was totally overdrafted and not worth a 1st round pick just like Laurence Maroney).

DropKickFlutie said:

Why are people still talking about Sony Michel. he was traded. he is no longer a Patriot. I know it's very embarrassing for Michel defenders here that people were right that Michel was the odd man out and didn't really have a role here anymore. Just waiting now for NKeal to get cut so we can look back at how truly crappy those offensive draft picks have been before Eliot Wolf showed up.

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Were you always an a-hole or did it take practice?

He's all done.

50-yard-line said:

Michel was over 900 in his first two seasons here in mostly RBBC schemes. Looked to me like he was running as well this summer as at any time since turning pro.

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A few things about Michel: he had a good 2018 capped by scoring the only touchdown in the Super Bowl. In 2019 he had some health issues while enduring poor blocking from an OL in flux. Last year he provided solid value spelling Harris and reportedly was having an excellent camp. So performance/health-wise, he was doing fine. What some forget is this would've been the last year of Sony's rookie contract. So with the position being so deep and Stevenson showing promise, BB figured it was reasonable to let a proven talent go in his contract year for some compensation while getting younger and cheaper at the position overall. The numbers game, Stevenson's performance and Sony's contract situation were key factors. The trade had nothing to do with his ability or health; I expect him to play well in L.A. I was firmly on the side of keeping Sony based on the one-two punch he provided with Harris, but that was before Stevenson's emergence complemented by Taylor, etc.

Simpelton said:

Don't really care what happens to late round firsts. TBH they're kind of irrelevant.

I care a lot more about high round firsts like Isaiah Wynn and Mac Jones. At the bottom of 1 you're usually winding up with second round talent.

At least not until the injuries roll in

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So how many RB’s should they keep, 8? 7 could get hurt.

VJCPatriot said:

The intentional cherrypicking by the BB toesuckers is laughable. 2019 and 2020 the Patriots had the WORST tight end numbers in the entire league. You can look up the numbers yourself on NFL.com. Stop being intentionally blind. And we all know BB drove Gronk into retirement so the lack of tight end talent, including failing to draft a replacement was self-inflicted. It's the same way BB showed Brady the door by saying there's no way you're getting a 2 year contract with us Tom, you still need to prove it to me after 20 years of service. And yet the BB devotees will insist that Tom wanted to leave. No Tom wanted to leave because his head coach didn't want him anymore, TRUTH hurts, get over it!

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Wanted to talk about this in today's camp thread but I got kicked out of that thread, so I'll post it here.

This in part is what made Michel expendable. It's not just the promise of Stevenson but also the development of JJ Taylor. Excellent breakdown with graphics, be sure to watch all the way through:

DropKickFlutie said:

I mean even if Sony has that skill, the blame is on the offensive coordinator for being so predictable. if it's so obvious whenever Sony is in it means run, that is absolutely a play-calling thing that is independent of Sony himself

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And there it is! KNew that money shot was coming. Faking McDaniels

PP2 said:

Wanted to talk about this in today's camp thread but I got kicked out of that thread, so I'll post it here.

This in part is what made Michel expendable. It's not just the promise of Stevenson but also the development of JJ Taylor. Excellent breakdown with graphics, be sure to watch all the way through:

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You got kicked out? Why? That hilarious comment about your investments?

1960Pats said:

I like youns.

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As long as you folks don't start bringing out the "yinzers" we'll be just fine.

50-yard-line said:

You can't catch a ball not thrown to you. Michel can catch, and can run well in space. He was 4-for-4 for 37 last week, and looked very comfortable doing it. Made some nice moves and got a nice first down, too. I have no idea why they weren't using him in that capacity, particularly given that the last two years, every time he went into the backfield, the D crowded the box for a run.

The telegraphing has been particularly frustrating.

Michel can catch and run quite well.

Still confused?

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Michels role was to play on accumulation downs where teams run 60/40 or more. Many throws on those downs are play action and rarely going to a RB.
They didn’t telegraph the play or refuse to throw to him, they played him in a role where the down and distance were run heavy. We are talking about the 30% or so of the snaps that have the highest run/pass ratio. Personnel doesn’t “give away” the run/pass ratio, down and distance do.

mgteich said:

I STRONGLY disagree.

We do INDEED try to prepare for 2 injuries in all the units where carry at least 4 players.

TE is a bit different, since we only carry three. Even there, we would make up for 2 injuries by occasionally using our FB or an OT as a TE. Obviously, we would run lots more 3 WR sets.
===================
OL
I think that we are prepared for two injuries, with Karras and Cajuste on the 53. We will carry 1-2 MORE players to make that situation even more secure.

WR
In case of two injuries, we would have the remaining 2 active plus Gunner. We would run more 2 TE sets. Also, White would sometimes line up as a WR on 3rd down.

RB
With only ONE injury, we will have Stevenson, Taylor and White. Don't even think of two injuries.

DEFENSIVE FRONT SIX
We will likely have 13-14 players and be able to deal with any two injuries.

SECONDARY
We will likely have 8-9 position players, enough to deal with two injuries. Also, Bethel can be the 7th or 8th DB in long yardage situations.
===============
WHICH OF THE ABOVE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERS

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So, you were adamantly opposed to releasing Bolden when I brought that up a couple of months ago, and now you are opposed to the Michel deal. So who would you have released, Taylor or Stevenson? I think Belichick made the right move, your turn?

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

You got kicked out? Why? That hilarious comment about your investments?

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He was rude to a mod.

The thing I've noticed with Sony is that he always seems to start seasons with a spark (especially in the preseason). Basically every preseason since he was drafted (particularly a game against Carolina a couple years ago), he looks really sharp, quick, and explosive. Without fail, every regular season that spark seems to fade. He's still been serviceable and has had positive contributions, but he never looks like he's fully there physically (or anything close to his UGA days).

I always assumed it was an issue with conditioning or an over-focus on ball-security, but I wonder if he just physically wears down over the course of a season. Feet/knees/joints get sore and he doesn't have the physical durability to perform at his peak for more than a few weeks. I guess we'll get a better idea of what his deal is after some time in LA.

I'd absolutely take Harris and Stevenson over Sony; Taylor is more of a toss-up, however given their respective ages/contract statuses/trade value, I think going with Taylor and trading Michel is the correct decision.

50-yard-line said:

You can't catch a ball not thrown to you. Michel can catch, and can run well in space. He was 4-for-4 for 37 last week, and looked very comfortable doing it. Made some nice moves and got a nice first down, too. I have no idea why they weren't using him in that capacity, particularly given that the last two years, every time he went into the backfield, the D crowded the box for a run.

The telegraphing has been particularly frustrating.

Michel can catch and run quite well.

Still confused?

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Assumes facts not in evidence.

Ivan said:

So how many RB’s should they keep, 8? 7 could get hurt.

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In other units of 4 or more, we can reasonably deal with two injuries (WR, OL, Defensive Front Six, Secondary.

Arguably, this isn't the case at RB.

mgteich said:

In other units of 4 or more, we can reasonably deal with two injuries (WR, OL, Defensive Front Six, Secondary.

Arguably, this isn't the case at RB.

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Please list all the teams who could handle the loss of their top 2 RBs and still "reasonably deal" with it.

mgteich said:

I rate Stevenson very highly. He projects to be as good as any rookie RB we've had under Belichick. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't have a solid backup. After all, Stevenson is a rookie.

You are correct. I do not rate Taylor as highly as the team apparently does. The team seems ready for him to take a major role should there be an injury. Essentially, he is the first off the bench as an RB.

And in the end, the BOTTOM LINE is probably that the team decided to choose Taylor over Michel for the roster, and got whatever they could for Michel. Otherwise, they would have cut him and gotten nothing.

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We have Harris, Stevenson, Taylor and white as backs that will get significant game time. Trying to fit one more into that just doesn't go. Sure we may have injuries but that is true at all positions and that is football. If we don't have significant injuries we will have to sit one or two of those players which is a waste. We had Harris barely touch the ball his entire rookie year as we had too much talent they don't want to do that this year with Stevenson. As far as Taylor if he was taller he would have been drafted in a fairly high position i think. He has always looked great and i think could be very productive. He was great in college and looks good in the limited time he has had and deserves more time too.