Gillislee

[TinhWoodhead]

i watched him last year with buff...he is a good back, runs hard

can we trade him back for mccoy?

 

[BabeParilli]

Watch out! The JAG police will be here any second!

Yeah, he's pretty much meh so far.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

Whatever is happening that's causing us to fail on a lot of 3rd and 4th and shorts needs to be addressed. I think we win game 1 if we get that 1st 4th and short conversion against KC because it would have really put them in a position to have to start calling the game differently.

we win that game if they let brady sneak it on couple 4th downs

 

[dafoe2016]

Given the realities of the salary cap, having a great player/group at every position/unit is impossible. Considering the rules and current state of the NFL it makes more sense to allocate limited resources to the passing game than the running game.

Last year Buffalo led the NFL with 5.3 yards per carry. Cleveland was 2nd at 4.9 yards per carry. Tennessee and Chicago were close behind with 4.6 yards per carry.

None of those teams made the playoffs. They combined for a record of 20-44.

Good points. I will admit I am not rational about wanting to see an above average back on the Pats. Or even just somebody I feel confident with in short yardage and goal line situations the way I did with Blount. I'm not even talking about a superstar. It's just depressing when you see a guy like Hunt go to the Chiefs in the third round. Seems like there is a guy or two like that every year. It would be nice if we could get one of them.

 

[nabwong]

Our RB unit is literally the most confident I've been in since 2004.

That says more about our history with RBs than anything else, but still.....

Pessimistic Pete is optimistic.

 

[dafoe2016]

we win that game if they let brady sneak it on couple 4th downs

I may get blasted for this, but there were three crucial plays in that game where Josh (who I hate) inexplicably ran a draw play straight into the gut of the defense with Gilleslee like he still had Blount. I think if he calls a sensible play in those situations we are 3-0 right now. Of all the things I hate about Josh- that's the biggest issue. His child like stubbornness. He will try to cram a round peg into a square hole no matter how many times it fails miserably. Reminded me a bit where he kept trying to force a go route to Scott Chandler like he was Randy Moss in the 2015 regular season loss to Denver. The officiating was horrible, but I blame McDaniels more for that loss than anybody.

 

[TommyD4207]

He's better than Blount. /thread

 

[upstater1]

You can always expend a 4th or 5th rounder on a back. Ain't no shame in that. Heck, Kareem Hunt was the 86th pick.

AND one more thing. They may have been running more in the 4th because they couldn't protect Brady. But I always tend to think that when you go hurry up, you tire out that defense.

I can only imagine that the new receivers are not on the same page with Brady so they can't do hurry up. AND the protections are not looking right at the moment. Otherwise, that 4th quarter was certainly funky looking.

 

[PatsFan2]

That Houston front is Big and Tough to run on. Gilly is a very good RB he's going to have some Big Games better days are ahead.

 

[FCB02062]

Gilleslie makes me miss stevan ridley

 

[Deus Irae]

I know it's only three games, but I am worried. He looks like a JAG to me. As did Burkhead with an even smaller sample size. Lewis does not look the same and White is an excellent third down back, but that still leaves us with no true lead back. It's a passing league. I get that. But it would nice if we had a legitimate option to take some pressure off Brady. Is there a single D coordinator that is worried about Gilleslee on 3rd and short running a draw play? Iu know I wouldn't be.

I just don't understand why we have to watch a never ending stream of bad RBs here. Not counting Faulk because he was a third down back, but since Martin was stolen from us 20 years ago, our top three backs have been Dillon, Smith and Blount. All of whom played for us for a very brief period. Everyone else is a JAG. Even Blount was a borderline JAG. But he had a particular skill set and was very good as a power back.

I know. Bill is the GOAT. And every other team in the league would kill to have our success during his tenure. I'm a whiny, entitled, spoiled fan. Blah, blah, blah..... It's just frustrating. I was a RB in high school. It's what drew me to the game. I love watching the great ones. It's a bit demoralizing to watch so many teams bring guys of the bench (in the modern two and three back systems) that are better than our lead back. They seem to grow on trees these days and we can't even get one?

1. Average running backs are relatively easy to get. Elite running backs are rarities. The notion that they grow on trees is a product of idiotic broadcast analysts.
2. Burkhead looks fine. He's not here to be a bell cow RB. He's here to be a Swiss Army RB.
3. They changed the RBs but, except for a brief period of time in the second game, they haven't really used them properly yet. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm hoping they'll eventually get it right.
4. As of now, Gillislee is looking like a (very) poor man's Blount. I expect that to change as McDaniels, BB and Brady tap into the full potential of the offense.

 

[thecore762]

Their DL is way better than our OL. Pretty much end of story - none of the stops today were at Gillislee's door. Instead, all stem from our current inability to run block and stop penetration.

This, considering they have bunch of first round talent in that o-line...I’m surprised Brady was able to pass the ball as much as he did and also run the little we could.

Still Andrews is the weakest link on the center of the team, often he gets pinned backwards and he can’t recover fast enough.

 

[maineman209]

Gillislee missed a lot of Camp, so these first couple-three games have been like his pre-season. The OL isn't executing consistently well, yet.

And yet, through the first two games (stats aren't up yet for yesterday's game against an elite DL) the Pats were 10th in rushing yards and first in rushing TDs ... with the ground game accounting for 18 of the Pats 48 1st downs.

That's more than enough to support the Pats' passing game, and they don't really need an elite RB to accomplish that.

 

[maineman209]

I may get blasted for this, but there were three crucial plays in that game where Josh (who I hate) inexplicably ran a draw play straight into the gut of the defense with Gilleslee like he still had Blount. I think if he calls a sensible play in those situations we are 3-0 right now. Of all the things I hate about Josh- that's the biggest issue. His child like stubbornness. He will try to cram a round peg into a square hole no matter how many times it fails miserably. Reminded me a bit where he kept trying to force a go route to Scott Chandler like he was Randy Moss in the 2015 regular season loss to Denver. The officiating was horrible, but I blame McDaniels more for that loss than anybody.

McDaniels' playcalling is at least somewhat constrained by what the players he has available to him for a given game have successfully executed in practice. People get upset with him for "not being creative" and for not calling a certain alternative play, but if the players themselves have consistently failed to successfully execute said play in practice, why would he call it?

This is especially true for the first couple-three games of the season. It's not as if the offensive players are capable of successfully executing every play in the playbook (or even a significant percentage of them) from the first snap of the season. McD calls what the players have shown in practice that they can execute. And that simply won't be as much in week-1 as it will be (hopefully) by week-6.

Sure, there are times that McD misreads what an opposing defense is prepared to defend well and "calls the wrong play" for the situation (and he owns up to those), but there are also times when a defense rises up and overachieves compared to what they've shown on tape, and there are other times when a play that's been executed perfectly every time in practice fails miserably in the game because a player failed to execute.

 

[doesntmatter1]

I like him. He is as north/south as it gets. He has no desire to find a second hole even if there is ZERO push. Until we start to get some push, use a different running back on these short and inches plays. James White has shown improvement and the defense can't key in on a running play so hard with his reputation as a pass catcher.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I may get blasted for this, but there were three crucial plays in that game where Josh (whom I hate) inexplicably ran a draw play straight into the gut of the defense with Gilleslee like he still had Blount. I think if he calls a sensible play in those situations we are 3-0 right now. Of all the things I hate about Josh- that's the biggest issue. His child like stubbornness. He will try to cram a round peg into a square hole no matter how many times it fails miserably. Reminded me a bit where he kept trying to force a go route to Scott Chandler like he was Randy Moss in the 2015 regular season loss to Denver. The officiating was horrible, but I blame McDaniels more for that loss than anybody.

Welcome back from your lifetime ban, NEM!

 

[upstater1]

This, considering they have bunch of first round talent in that o-line...I’m surprised Brady was able to pass the ball as much as he did and also run the little we could.

Still Andrews is the weakest link on the center of the team, often he gets pinned backwards and he can’t recover fast enough.

We do? Other than Nate Solder, the Patriots have not invested a lot on OL.

 

[BlueThunder]

Nate gets beaten like a drum by good DE's....it pains me to see guys make a turnstile out of him......

 

[PatsBoy12]

Nate gets beaten like a drum by good DE's....it pains me to see guys make a turnstile out of him......

He's going to get Brady destroyed one of these games. Wow.

I think one key problem is the Patriots lack strength on that interior line. They've drafted the lighter guys who are more athletic. That's not a bad thing for the type of offense they run overall, but it doesn't help in situations like the short yardage where you need guys to push the DL back. They're getting pushed two to three yards into the backfield. There's not much a back can do when that's happening. Their overall performance is a bit uneven, but so is pretty much every other aspect of the team. I'd say improvement (aside from getting guys healthy) starts with them on O.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

My innovative, out of the box solution to light OL short yardage run problems...
Bring Big Vince out of retirement
Bulk him up (Heh!) with even more BBQ ribs (He will like this)
Roll him into opposing DL
Result, just like bowling
Short yardage run problem SOLVED

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