Best pass catching back out of the backfield in the TB/BB era?

[neali]

Pass protection, Faulk, then White.

 

[Jangles]

I still don't understand why woodhead got away

I loved watching him here

 

[BTTA]

Faulk and Vereen both made remarkable, finger tip catches that I've yet to see White make.

 

[ChessToCheckers]

I really liked both Faulk and Vereen and yes, they could make some catches that were tough. I'm thinking that perhaps White hasn't had to make one because of the precision in his route running?

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Bring on the dislikes.

I loved Danny Woodhead, but I don't understand the people whining about him leaving.

He has been injury-prone in San Diego. When he's been healthy, his average stats have been down, his volume stats up due to usage. His yards per carry and yards per catch are below even his averages with the Jets.

He played in 46 of 47 possible regular season games with the Patriots, but only 37 of 64 with the Chargers. Then look at his numbers in his 2 healthy seasons in San Diego. Breakdowns include his average in his time in New England/his 2013 season in San Diego/his 2015 season in San Diego/his overall San Diego numbers

Yards per rush: 4.8/4.0/3.4/3.9
Yards per catch: 10.7/8.0/9.4/8.6

He's averaged 63.6 yards per game since he joined the Chargers. Vereen averaged 61.4 yards per game in the 2 seasons after Woody left, with better per carry/catch averages (4.3 per carry, 8.8 per catch).

Woody also averaged 3.4 per rush and 9.4 per catch in the playoffs for us, under 39 yards per game.

Someone mentioned how Woody would convert 3rd and longs, but when I took a look, I don't see it. From 2011 to 2016, I looked at 3rd and 8+ yards. Woody had 14 targets, 7 receptions, 3 1st downs. He had 2 1st downs on 4 rushing attempts. So maybe that's what we remember. Those 5 1st downs on 18 plays is a pretty good percentage, but hardly enough to really be that big of an impact. By comparison, Vereen had 5 1st downs passing in 15 targets, and 3 1st downs rushing on 5 attempts, for 8 1st downs on 20 plays.

Woody was a good player, and he had a great first season with us, fell off a bit, but had a nice 2012. But it's not like the offense fell off a cliff because Woody left. We kept chugging along, even winning a Super Bowl. Woody had a good first season, then got injured and missed most of the 2014 year. He struggled to run the ball in 2015 but was a solid pass catching threat, then missed most of 2016.

So I liked him, glad we had him, wish we had re-signed him, but his loss seems very over-rated by many here.

 

[BobDigital]

Faulk - Could do it all and always got the first down it seemed.

White - This season has put him #2. He improved as a runner to be a respectable threat and is the best pass catcher on the list. They should choose to use him more next year as a runner. I think we are still yet to see his best.

Woodhead - Dynamic but was always on a snap count. He never had that one staple game in the super bowl like Vereen or White did though but that is cause at the time Hernandez and Welker ate up a lot of the under 10 yard stuff so not as much room for a pass catching back. Also could return kicks which gave him a nod. Also better Hands than Vereen. I talked the most about this pick cause many Pats fans will disagree with me putting him over Vereen I know.

Vereen - Vereen was a great talent but overrated here and around the league to be honest. He never got 500 rusher or receiving in one year. Not here not anywhere. Yes his route tree was great but his ability to execute many parts of it were questionable.

Lewis - Lewis would be higher but he needs to do it 16 games at least once. If he gives me that he shoots up the list.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Faulk - Could do it all and always got the first down it seemed.

White - This season has put him #2. He improved as a runner to be a respectable threat and is the best pass catcher on the list. They should choose to use him more next year as a runner. I think we are still yet to see his best.

Woodhead - Dynamic but was always on a snap count. He never had that one staple game in the super bowl like Vereen or White did though but that is cause at the time Hernandez and Welker ate up a lot of the under 10 yard stuff so not as much room for a pass catching back. Also could return kicks which gave him a nod. Also better Hands than Vereen. I talked the most about this pick cause many Pats fans will disagree with me putting him over Vereen I know.

Vereen - Vereen was a great talent but overrated here and around the league to be honest. He never got 500 rusher or receiving in one year. Not here not anywhere. Yes his route tree was great but his ability to execute many parts of it were questionable.

Lewis - Lewis would be higher but he needs to do it 16 games at least once. If he gives me that he shoots up the list.

Yea thats the thing. If DLew put together a bunch of 2015 seasons over 16 games he'd be right at #1 or close.

Because he has not, KFaulk is #1 all-around.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Bring on the dislikes.

I loved Danny Woodhead, but I don't understand the people whining about him leaving.

He has been injury-prone in San Diego. When he's been healthy, his average stats have been down, his volume stats up due to usage. His yards per carry and yards per catch are below even his averages with the Jets.

He played in 46 of 47 possible regular season games with the Patriots, but only 37 of 64 with the Chargers. Then look at his numbers in his 2 healthy seasons in San Diego. Breakdowns include his average in his time in New England/his 2013 season in San Diego/his 2015 season in San Diego/his overall San Diego numbers

Yards per rush: 4.8/4.0/3.4/3.9
Yards per catch: 10.7/8.0/9.4/8.6

He's averaged 63.6 yards per game since he joined the Chargers. Vereen averaged 61.4 yards per game in the 2 seasons after Woody left, with better per carry/catch averages (4.3 per carry, 8.8 per catch).

Woody also averaged 3.4 per rush and 9.4 per catch in the playoffs for us, under 39 yards per game.

Someone mentioned how Woody would convert 3rd and longs, but when I took a look, I don't see it. From 2011 to 2016, I looked at 3rd and 8+ yards. Woody had 14 targets, 7 receptions, 3 1st downs. He had 2 1st downs on 4 rushing attempts. So maybe that's what we remember. Those 5 1st downs on 18 plays is a pretty good percentage, but hardly enough to really be that big of an impact. By comparison, Vereen had 5 1st downs passing in 15 targets, and 3 1st downs rushing on 5 attempts, for 8 1st downs on 20 plays.

Woody was a good player, and he had a great first season with us, fell off a bit, but had a nice 2012. But it's not like the offense fell off a cliff because Woody left. We kept chugging along, even winning a Super Bowl. Woody had a good first season, then got injured and missed most of the 2014 year. He struggled to run the ball in 2015 but was a solid pass catching threat, then missed most of 2016.

So I liked him, glad we had him, wish we had re-signed him, but his loss seems very over-rated by many here.

I agree.

Over a 3 year period, Woody averaged 340yds on 4.8ypc and 30 catches for 328yds and a 10ypc. Solid contributions no doubt.

He was a good runner, but not better than KFaulk or DLew healthy.

He was a good receiver - certainly has been very good in SD (but hurt often), but here he was not better than KFaulk, Vereen, White or DLew.

Like you I'm glad here was here but the team has done just fine without him.

 

[zydecochris]

Pass protection, Faulk, then White.

That is why I think Faulk is the obvious choice, in my mind he was amazingly good at pass protection for a guy his size. It greatly added to his value and versatility.

 

[Alternator]

Even pro-rating the others out to match his career length, I'd still say Kevin Faulk, because he had the ideal mix of durability, versatility, and willingness to plug-and-play wherever needed.

The durability, especially, is a huge advantage over Lewis.