How Bad Are Our Running Backs?

[mgteich]

It confounds me why people think White is a top candidate to be cut. I agree with you, White was open on wheel routes and Tom didn't hit them. He was doing a great job at receiving at the end of the season. He didn't have many opportunities to run and when he did there wasn't much room at the line. He may not be Dion Lewis but I think he could be Shane Vereen. If someone beats him out because he is better, fine, but I think his contributions could increase.

If White, the backup 3rd down back, were anywhere as good as you say, then Brown (yet another 3rd down back) would not have been signed.

 

[supafly]

If White, the backup 3rd down back, were anywhere as good as you say, then Brown (yet another 3rd down back) would not have been signed.

Yes, there is certainly a reason, or more likely a handful of reasons, why James White was not targeted more often, particularly when we had major injuries.

It would seem as though he wasn't really involved much in the offensive gameplan unless we were attempting to come back from major deficits (Philly and Denver 2nd game). Those are the two times where he saw double digit targets, and it likely has to do with the fact that they were throwing darts at the wall since nothing else was working.

 

[Gronk]

I think White was filling the Faulk/Woodhead/Vereen/Lewis role as a receiving RB late in the season, and did an adequate to occasionally superb job of doing so. He wasn't/isn't a fraction of the running threat that any of those guys were, which explains why he's never had more rushing attempts than pass targets in a game where he saw significant time, while simultaneously limiting his effectiveness and causing the Patriots to sign mediocrity definition Donald Brown, which is only a slightly more boring name for a black man than James White.

I would like to see White on the team because he has flashed potential and I think he could get better all around. I would like more for him to become less relevant due to a healthier team at RB, as well as all other positions.

 

[strngplyr]

I'd love to se how White finishes a competition with Lewis and Foster. I pleaded al last season for White to see the field more, now I'd love to see him replaced.

He's a complicated player. An RB who should be a WR, but he's not good enough to be an RB or a WR, yet has a special role inbetween both where he excels. Vereen excelled a that WR role later in his Pats Career that we all hope White can do but, Foster looks like a different player. He can be more like a quicker and faster Faulk than White or Vereen projected to be.

UDFA's are fun. We overhype them all for a reason, but Foster is one who I think we all hope can replace a few players, he certainly has the ability, I hope he can put it all together on the field.

 

[manxman2601]

I have a theory why he didn't draft an RB this draft. Yes, there were plenty of opportunities to draft one this draft. We traded up into the 5th round and traded out. We now have a 2017 4th rounder which means we will most likely keep our 4th rounder and lose the one we got from the seahawks. What if BB used that seahawks 2017 4th rounder to trade for a RB? Chiefs are shopping Kniles Davis. Do you think a 4th rounder is too high to give up for Davis?

Considering what you might get at RB in next years class, I do.

 

[PP2]

Considering what you might get at RB in next years class, I do.

Exactly!

Next year's draft is much stronger, RB-wise, so I'm actually glad we didn't pick any this year.

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

It confounds me why people think White is a top candidate to be cut.

I don't see him getting cut either, but it was rather obvious that the coaches and even Brady were limiting White's touches down the stretch. For whatever reason, White appeared to never have the confidence of the coaching staff.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

It's amazing that fans who've watched this whole Belichick era still have annual panic attacks about position groups before the seasons even start. Every year there's a perceived hole somewhere on the roster and every year fans go crazy about it, until it inevitably works itself out - and fans move on to the next thing to freak out about.

This goes all the way back to the Bledsoe era. Remember David Terrell? We supposedly needed receivers in the worst way then. Remember also that people were furious that BB wasted a draft pick on a quarterback when we had three already?

Remember how people were panicking about the nose tackle position before the Ted Washington trade? How people were furious we drafted Nate Solder when we already had Matt Light under contract and needed pass rushers?

Then there was last year, when we needed corners so badly, and we watched one draft binky after another go elsewhere. Now we are more stacked with young corners maybe than we've ever been.

BB is a weird dude for sure. Absolutely it would seem having a three-down threat like David Johnson would be nice. But for whatever reason, they don't seem to care. That's probably because of their experience solving the RB problem with guys off the scrap heap. From Lewis to Woodhead to Green-Ellis to Jonas Gray to Blount, they seem to end up with enough guys to win without spending either money or much draft capital on the position.

This is also a team that constantly cycles through the bottom of its roster, before and after the draft. Does anyone really believe they won't keep bringing backs through?

Personally I love the Lewis-Blount combo, when healthy. I'm guessing Donald Brown, who actually has been good in the NFL before, won't embarrass them if he has to play in the interim. This is nowhere near as bad as the year they cut all their safeties a week before the season or whatever. In only a few cases (the infamous 2006 WR corps being an example) did any of these position-group panics ever turn out to really cost them. They find players and coach them up quick and that's one of the fun parts of being a fan of this team, frustrating as they can be sometimes.

I'm not in a panic, I'm more just completely shocked that they didn't use any of their 11 picks on a RB, in any round of the draft.

BB obviously has a plan (I hope lol).. I mean, Blount is a serviceable 1st and 2nd down RB, but he's getting up there and wasn't abe to finish out the season last year.

Dion Lewis is (was) a great 3rd down back, but we don't know how he'll respond to that surgically repaired knee and he hasn't been able to stay on the field for an entire 16 game season at pretty much any point in his career.

Those are 2 solid starters with question marks on their durability. After them, it falls off pretty hard IMO..

Donald Brown is a vet, so he can give you something and hopefully be serviceable..

James White hasn't really stepped up into that 3rd down role the way we would have liked so he's a question mark going into his 4th year (contract year! )

Bolden is a great special teamer, but from a RB perspective he's basically a JAG that can fill in and take some reps when absolutely necessary, but not a guy you want to rely on to produce game in and game out for you.. he is what he is, a great special teamer that can provide depth at RB and fortunately has the skillset to play all 3 downs

 

[Double TE]

RB? They will be passing 80% of the time. Gronk, Bennett, Edelman, Lewis, Hogan, Amendola. Spread and throw. Good luck trying to stop it. 20% run plays to keep em honest.

 

[RobertWeathers]

RB? They will be passing 80% of the time. Gronk, Bennett, Edelman, Lewis, Hogan, Amendola. Spread and throw. Good luck trying to stop it. 20% run plays to keep em honest.

As we have seen, running 20% of the time does not keep teams honest if you can't make yards.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I'm not in a panic, I'm more just completely shocked that they didn't use any of their 11 picks on a RB, in any round of the draft.

BB obviously has a plan (I hope lol).. I mean, Blount is a serviceable 1st and 2nd down RB, but he's getting up there and wasn't abe to finish out the season last year.

Dion Lewis is (was) a great 3rd down back, but we don't know how he'll respond to that surgically repaired knee and he hasn't been able to stay on the field for an entire 16 game season at pretty much any point in his career.

Those are 2 solid starters with question marks on their durability. After them, it falls off pretty hard IMO..

Donald Brown is a vet, so he can give you something and hopefully be serviceable..

James White hasn't really stepped up into that 3rd down role the way we would have liked so he's a question mark going into his 4th year (contract year! )

Bolden is a great special teamer, but from a RB perspective he's basically a JAG that can fill in and take some reps when absolutely necessary, but not a guy you want to rely on to produce game in and game out for you.. he is what he is, a great special teamer that can provide depth at RB and fortunately has the skillset to play all 3 downs

Blount is coming off injury and is at the end of a RB's prime. Maybe he is ok. Maybe he is breaking down.

Lewis is made of glass and is coming off a major knee injury

Bolden is spotty and barely a 3rd string RB

Brown is spotty

White is a nice receiver but can't run

Gaffney is made of glass

If everyone plays like Week 1-8 and the line does well then fine but way too many question marks.....

If the line is still shotty and a 39 yard old QB needs to throw 624 times again he will get hit a ton. Why they chose not to draft/sign a reliable player that can get them 150-200 touches is beyond me.

 

[supafly]

As we have seen, running 20% of the time does not keep teams honest if you can't make yards.

Not to mention the fact that "80 percent" is nowhere close to how often we normally throw the ball throughout the season.

It's usually around 60 percent, with some seasons even seeing a 55/45 split (or less). When BJGE was here we had a season where it was like, 52/48, or 53/47.

 

[supafly]

RB? They will be passing 80% of the time. Gronk, Bennett, Edelman, Lewis, Hogan, Amendola. Spread and throw. Good luck trying to stop it. 20% run plays to keep em honest.

That sounds disastrous in terms of trying to keep Brady off of IR.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Not to mention the fact that "80 percent" is nowhere close to how often we normally throw the ball throughout the season.

It's usually around/under 60 percent, with some seasons even seeing a 55/45 split (or less).

Yea last year was 62/38 pass/run. I'm not saying turn into a Chuck Knox offense but I'd like to see what you list and see TB12's YPC go up and use play action more.....and less hits taken.

Just because you run more does not mean there are less explosive plays made

 

[supafly]

Yea last year was 62/38 pass/run. I'm not saying turn into a Chuck Knox offense but I'd like to see what you list and see TB12's YPC go up and use play action more.....and less hits taken.

Just because you run more does not mean there are less explosive plays made

Yes, 62/38 would likely be as high as we'd ever want to see, and I'm guessing some of that was due to the obvious lack of a running game.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Yes, 62/38 would likely be as high as we'd ever want to see, and I'm guessing some of that was due to the obvious lack of a running game.

After the Philly debacle they put him on a little bit of a pitch count but before that he was chucking the ball all over averaging 42 throws a game. After Philly he averaged 29 as in part to what you say they didn't want to see him killed and limited the hits.

 

[supafly]

After the Philly debacle they put him on a little bit of a pitch count but before that he was chucking the ball all over averaging 42 throws a game. After Philly he averaged 29 as in part to what you say they didn't want to see him killed and limited the hits.

As a fan, I'd probably want to see the passing attempts max out in the high 30s, but that's in a perfect world.

I think everyone is probably on the same page in terms of wanting to get the running game going, and as usual--I'm sure there will be some gameplan specific instances where we see #12 chucking the ball 50+ times again.

 

[jimnance]

Yea last year was 62/38 pass/run. I'm not saying turn into a Chuck Knox offense but I'd like to see what you list and see TB12's YPC go up and use play action more.....and less hits taken.

Just because you run more does not mean there are less explosive plays made

TB12 is at his absolute best using play action. He is devastating. Anyone who's watched his entire career knows this. And THAT is why we need a running game- along with reducing the pounding he takes. I'm hopeful that with Scar back and good health on the ol, Pats'll be much better running this year. And don't underestimate having Bennet, a very good blocking te, as well as develin back.

 

[captain stone]

"Ladies and gentlemen, the team with the Worst Running Backs in football is…
…the New England Patriots!"

 

[RayClay]

Not sure I get that "Blount can't do it" stuff. Ya he isn't going to be a 1600 yard back behind a musical chairs because of injury OL

But before he went out he had 700 yards in 8 1/4 games (6 of those games he had 70+ yards). Like every other RB needs touches to be effective. The way some people ***** about it I honestly think you are looking for a RB that averages 6-7 yards a carry and can run for 100 yards on 10-12 carries

He doesn't get started quickly, never has. It has nothing to do with the total amount of yards he accumulates.