NFL News 2026 General NFL News/Discussion/Non-Patriots free agents

Vindicate · Jul 23, 2026

Uptown said:
Question: Has Gonzo matched up with Justin Jefferson yet? I can’t remember.

Nope. We faced them in the second preseason game and the starters weren't on the field. Jefferson would get erased by Gonzo.

Uptown · Jul 23, 2026

Boutte is good.

Uptown · Jul 23, 2026

Vindicate said:
Nope. We faced them in the second preseason game and the starters weren't on the field. Jefferson would get erased by Gonzo.

Noted. We see them in December. Hopefully, both Gonzo & Jefferson are healthy. Primetime matchup.

BUSTAMOVE · Jul 23, 2026

DoubleDeluxe said:
You got it.
I think some guys are just far too eager to get up to speed asap, and obv with Hendo having elite speed, he hurries too much.
Leveon Bell didn't have elite anything, other than patience.
Go back and watch some his tape, he was one of the most patient runners I've ever seen, and he was highly successful just taking his time and letting things develop.
They are not the same type of RB at all, but Hendo could certainly learn a learn about letting things develop.

Seahawks Kenneth Walker showed remarkable patience in SB

Vindicate · Jul 23, 2026

DoubleDeluxe said:
You got it.
I think some guys are just far too eager to get up to speed asap, and obv with Hendo having elite speed, he hurries too much.
Leveon Bell didn't have elite anything, other than patience.
Go back and watch some his tape, he was one of the most patient runners I've ever seen, and he was highly successful just taking his time and letting things develop.
They are not the same type of RB at all, but Hendo could certainly learn a learn about letting things develop.

Bell had a great OL to run behind. You need an elite OL to be patient.

DoubleDeluxe · Jul 23, 2026

Vindicate said:
Bell had a great OL to run behind. You need an elite OL to be patient.

yes and no.
Hendo has a tendency to get out ahead of blockers too early even when there isn't immediate pressure.
Bell would wait behind his blockers.
If immediate pressure, sure you need to create, but there were many times Hendo coulda stayed behind a blocker but was too quick to get ahead of them.
It's not always about the Oline.

captain stone · Jul 24, 2026

Uptown said:

What the **** kind of fugly ****ing creature was that?!? My eyes are still bleeding...

Ring 6 · Jul 24, 2026

DoubleDeluxe said:
yes and no.
Hendo has a tendency to get out ahead of blockers too early even when there isn't immediate pressure.
Bell would wait behind his blockers.
If immediate pressure, sure you need to create, but there were many times Hendo coulda stayed behind a blocker but was too quick to get ahead of them.
It's not always about the Oline.

Disagree with that. Rb should never slow down to let blockers get in front because that allows pursuit to get there. I assume you are talking about outside runs and the goal is to get upfield as fast as possible and outrun the defense.

Vindicate · Jul 24, 2026

DoubleDeluxe said:
yes and no.
Hendo has a tendency to get out ahead of blockers too early even when there isn't immediate pressure.
Bell would wait behind his blockers.
If immediate pressure, sure you need to create, but there were many times Hendo coulda stayed behind a blocker but was too quick to get ahead of them.
It's not always about the Oline.

Definitely correct, and I didn't mean to take away from Bell. Maybe I didn't pick up as much on Hendo's impatience as much. Hopefully the OL settles and he can get comfy, the situation was a bit erratic and maybe Hendo got stuck playing like there was always pressure.

n1997y · Jul 24, 2026

Ring 6 said:
Disagree with that. Rb should never slow down to let blockers get in front because that allows pursuit to get there. I assume you are talking about outside runs and the goal is to get upfield as fast as possible and outrun the defense.

That’s too simplistic. RB wants to use blockers to negate potential tacklers in front or downfield, without being caught from behind. Balancing those two is the art of star running backs. They want to outrun pursuers without outrunning their blockers, so they can run out of trouble without running into trouble.

This is also where having fast players around the RB helps, like the former track and field guy just signed at TE. Having blockers getting out faster in front lets the RBs play faster too. Is Gilliam fast, too?

Ring 6 · Jul 24, 2026

n1997y said:
That’s too simplistic. RB wants to use blockers to negate potential tacklers in front or downfield, without being caught from behind. Balancing those two is the art of star running backs. They want to outrun pursuers without outrunning their blockers, so they can run out of trouble without running into trouble.

This is also where having fast players around the RB helps, like the former track and field guy just signed at TE. Having blockers getting out faster in front lets the RBs play faster too. Is Gilliam fast, too?

It’s really not. RBs need to run to the hole and to space and not hesitate.
Especially in the NFL. Backside pursuit will swallow you up while you dance around waiting for blocks that may not even get made.
Do you have an example of a play to show Henderson screwing up by running to fast? We could use that to debate the concept.

TheRainMaker · Jul 24, 2026

DoubleDeluxe said:
Leveon Bell didn't have elite anything, other than patience.

Vindicate said:
Bell had a great OL to run behind. You need an elite OL to be patient.

Bell was the most overrated RB of the 2010's. The "patience" as Vindicate stated was due to the Steelers creating Grand Canyon sized holes for Bell. Go on YouTube and watch the 2015 opener where D'Angelo Williams did the same thing where at some points it looked like he walking downfield. That OL was continuously bullying the Pats front 7.

The following season, BB's game plans against Bell had the front 7 stay in their lanes and let Bell just run into them. Bell had a rude awakening once he went to New York and the OL wasn't up to par. His style was dead to rights.

I don't want Henderson to change his style and start that nonsense. Laurence Maroney was the OG feet shuffling-dancing RB that couldn't make a damn decision. When he did, it got to a point he started running into piles when there was the opportunity to bounce it outside after the defense committed inside. He had the worst vision of any RB I've ever seen. Damien Harris and 2012 Stevan Ridley made quick decisions and exploded through any creases they found with the OL.

n1997y · Jul 24, 2026

Ring 6 said:
It’s really not. RBs need to run to the hole and to space and not hesitate.
Especially in the NFL. Backside pursuit will swallow you up while you dance around waiting for blocks that may not even get made.
Do you have an example of a play to show Henderson screwing up by running to fast? We could use that to debate the concept.

I wasn’t the one who said Hendo runs too fast.

You yourself just explained the potential problem. “RBs need to run to the hole”. And if they outrun their blockers and get there first there is no hole. That’s exactly the point.

Ring 6 · Jul 24, 2026

n1997y said:
I wasn’t the one who said Hendo runs too fast.

You yourself just explained the potential problem. “RBs need to run to the hole”. And if they outrun their blockers and get there first there is no hole. That’s exactly the point.

You can’t “outrun your blockers.”
How would that work? No one designs a play so that a required blocker can’t get to his block before the ball carrier.
That would leave a play where the blocker was out of sync with the play and not to his blocking time. The solution isn’t for the rb to stop running untilnthe blocker catches up.
Again if you want to show an example we could discuss but I can’t understand your point because you are describing something that just doesn’t happen.

Ring 6 · Jul 24, 2026

TheRainMaker said:
Bell was the most overrated RB of the 2010's. The "patience" as Vindicate stated was due to the Steelers creating Grand Canyon sized holes for Bell. Go on YouTube and watch the 2015 opener where D'Angelo Williams did the same thing where at some points it looked like he walking downfield. That OL was continuously bullying the Pats front 7.

The following season, BB's game plans against Bell had the front 7 stay in their lanes and let Bell just run into them. Bell had a rude awakening once he went to New York and the OL wasn't up to par. His style was dead to rights.

I don't want Henderson to change his style and start that nonsense. Laurence Maroney was the OG feet shuffling-dancing RB that couldn't make a damn decision. When he did, it got to a point he started running into piles when there was the opportunity to bounce it outside after the defense committed inside. He had the worst vision of any RB I've ever seen. Damien Harris and 2012 Stevan Ridley made quick decisions and exploded through any creases they found with the OL.

The “patience” is from running in a zone scheme where the RB doesn’t have a designated hole to run to, and reads the blocking and picks a hole.
Patience is the play design not a skill. The skill is in making the right read. Many times you see RBs cut back all the way across the formation in that scheme, and many other times you see them bottled up for no gain or a loss, and perceive as dancing in the backfield.

Vindicate · Jul 24, 2026

Ring 6 said:
The “patience” is from running in a zone scheme where the RB doesn’t have a designated hole to run to, and reads the blocking and picks a hole.
Patience is the play design not a skill. The skill is in making the right read. Many times you see RBs cut back all the way across the formation in that scheme, and many other times you see them bottled up for no gain or a loss, and perceive as dancing in the backfield.

Interesting, when you say "zone scheme" is this the same as an outside zone scheme? Or are those two different things? And is this what the Pats run? Just trying to understand what the typical design for the Pats run game is, or rather, what Henderson is being asked to do.

Ring 6 · Jul 24, 2026

Vindicate said:
Interesting, when you say "zone scheme" is this the same as an outside zone scheme? Or are those two different things? And is this what the Pats run? Just trying to understand what the typical design for the Pats run game is, or rather, what Henderson is being asked to do.

In a man run blocking scheme the RB is given a hole to run to and each blocker is assigned a man and which direction to block him in. In other words everyone knows where the play is going and block accordingly.
In a zone scheme you block the man in your area and take him
whichever way you can. The RB picks a hole based off the blocking.
Outside zone scheme is when you prefer to run wide and block it like zone.
But the difference in running wide is the RB has a lot of E/W territory to cover so he cannot hestitate to read the blocks, but since it is more in the open field he has more time and space to read them. Successful outside runs are always out running the defense to the edge. You can’t afford to hesitate because pursuit will catch up. The other difference with the outside run is as soon as the ball is pitched or handed off every player on the defense is running to the point of attack, and since you are running to the edge cutting back brings you right into the flow of the pursuit.
Every team runs all of these schemes but favors some over others. The patriots are heavily a man blocking run team.

DoubleDeluxe · Jul 24, 2026

Very in-depth, objective watch of the Pats this season.

Sorry if already posted.

Uptown · Jul 24, 2026

LOL

Uptown · Jul 24, 2026

102	3K

1	590

17	700

NFL News 2026 General NFL News/Discussion/Non-Patriots free agents

In the Starting Line-Up

Hall of Fame Poster

Hall of Fame Poster

PatsFans.com Supporter

In the Starting Line-Up

In the Starting Line-Up

PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club

PatsFans.com Wall of Fame Member

In the Starting Line-Up

PatsFans.com Supporter

PatsFans.com Wall of Fame Member

I'll out mog you any day

PatsFans.com Supporter

PatsFans.com Wall of Fame Member

PatsFans.com Wall of Fame Member

In the Starting Line-Up

PatsFans.com Wall of Fame Member

In the Starting Line-Up

Hall of Fame Poster

Hall of Fame Poster

Similar threads

📅 This Week in Patriots History: