Pats sign RB Kenjon Barner ?

[maineman209]

Well it's on tape so I wouldn't be surprised if Josh has it in the books, but I would suspect it would be used in a limited way (1-2 carries) if at all. The only real solutions I see are Michel and Burkhead being a different player than he was Sunday. Tom cannot throw it, catch it, AND run with it....

White and Burkhead both ended up averaging at least 4 yds/carry last season (Gillislee was 3.7). White averaged 4.3 in 2016 while Blount averaged 3.9.

On Sunday, White and Burkhead combined for 82 of the Pats 122 rushing yards, even though it was only at a 3.6/carry clip. Even so, the Pats passing percentage, 55.7%, was still below the league average. I'm not at all sure that it's a big problem.

Manwhile, we still don't know for a fact how Michel will do against actual NFL defenses, so it seems like wishful thinking to project him as a "solution".

 

[Thelonious]

Unless you’ve seen Sony Michel play recently you have no idea how effective be will be.

Well, I certainly have a great idea how effective he's been lately, now don't I? The answer is: not at all - and how are we to judge the future if not by an examination of the present and past? Your logic is null.

This is like a guy banging his head against a wall, then setting up to bang it again, on the theory that he hasn't done it "recently," so he doesn't really know how it's going to feel.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Well, I certainly have a great idea how effective he's been lately, now don't I? The answer is: not at all - and how are we to judge the future if not by an examination of the present and past? Your logic is null.

This is like a guy banging his head against a wall, then setting up to bang it again, on the theory that he hasn't done it "recently," so he doesn't really know how it's going to feel.

So you just assume Michel will be useless on Sunday because he hasn’t played a snap in the NFL. Got it.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Manwhile, we still don't know for a fact how Michel will do against actual NFL defenses, so it seems like wishful thinking to project him as a "solution".

At the same time you can’t write him off.

 

[jah]

So you just assume Michel will be useless on Sunday because he hasn’t played a snap in the NFL. Got it.

Not assuming a rookie who hasn't played any game snaps will fill an immediate need = assuming said player will be useless?

 

[Mack Herron]

White and Burkhead both ended up averaging at least 4 yds/carry last season (Gillislee was 3.7). White averaged 4.3 in 2016 while Blount averaged 3.9.

On Sunday, White and Burkhead combined for 82 of the Pats 122 rushing yards, even though it was only at a 3.6/carry clip. Even so, the Pats passing percentage, 55.7%, was still below the league average. I'm not at all sure that it's a big problem.

Manwhile, we still don't know for a fact how Michel will do against actual NFL defenses, so it seems like wishful thinking to project him as a "solution".

What I meant was that I see Michel or an improved Burkhead as possible solutions to the problem of generating a consistent ground game. I see White as mainly a passing down specialist and Patterson as a gadget WR.

 

[Thelonious]

So you just assume Michel will be useless on Sunday because he hasn’t played a snap in the NFL. Got it.

Well, you have don't "have it," deliberately, I suspect, probably because you have no honest argument against my modest observation that Belichick might be a bit more cautious in drafting players with histories of injury.

 

[Jimke]

My trouble with Barner as a punt returner is his three fumbles.

 

[maineman209]

What I meant was that I see Michel or an improved Burkhead as possible solutions to the problem of generating a consistent ground game. I see White as mainly a passing down specialist and Patterson as a gadget WR.

Okay, "possible solutions", especially since Michel remains nothing but a possibility until he's taken a real NFL snap.

But I still don't think that the Pats have a problem generating a consistent enough ground game. While they had up weeks and down weeks (mostly depending on what they wanted to exploit in the opponent's defense), they averaged 118 rushing yards per game last season, good for 10th best in the league. Not including the QBs, nine different players contributed. Lewis had 43% of the carries, 47% of the rushing yards and 38% of the 16 rushing TDs (6th best in the league).

The Pats had 122 rushing yards last Sunday against a pretty stout DL.

BTW, if opposing defenses think of Patterson as a "gadget WR", that's great. Line him up in the backfield and they won't have a clue what he's about to do.

 

[Mack Herron]

Okay, "possible solutions", especially since Michel remains nothing but a possibility until he's taken a real NFL snap.

But I still don't think that the Pats have a problem generating a consistent enough ground game. While they had up weeks and down weeks (mostly depending on what they wanted to exploit in the opponent's defense), they averaged 118 rushing yards per game last season, good for 10th best in the league. Not including the QBs, nine different players contributed. Lewis had 43% of the carries, 47% of the rushing yards and 38% of the 16 rushing TDs (6th best in the league).

The Pats had 122 rushing yards last Sunday against a pretty stout DL.

BTW, if opposing defenses think of Patterson as a "gadget WR", that's great. Line him up in the backfield and they won't have a clue what he's about to do.

I am cautious relying on last year's data. After all, this is another year and Lewis is gone. Burkhead is no Lewis, and he was especially frustrating to watch Sunday because I thought the OL was great but he never seemed to break to the second level. It will not get easier Sunday.

Now this:

 

[primetime]

Burkhead is not bigger than Gillislee, nor does he play bigger than him. We'll see about the other one soon enough, we hope.

Burkhead's listed at 5-10, 215. Gillislee is listed at 5-11, 210. Burkhead's got more weight in a compact space. I don't know where the myth that Gillislee is a power back came from. He was generally considered a lanky speedster in college and with the Bills.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

My trouble with Barner as a punt returner is his three fumbles.

On the plus side they probably didn’t clank off his helmet

 

[captain stone]

Burkhead's listed at 5-10, 215. Gillislee is listed at 5-11, 210. Burkhead's got more weight in a compact space. I don't know where the myth that Gillislee is a power back came from. He was generally considered a lanky speedster in college and with the Bills.

I thought that I've seen Gillislee's weight listed at 220-225 during the last year or two.

 

[primetime]

I thought that I've seen Gillislee's weight listed at 220-225 during the last year or two.

The Saints roster lists him at 210 and he weighed 208 at the combine.