Schefter: Patriots trade Maroney to Denver for 2011 4th - Broncos get 2011 6 [merged]

[VJCPatriot]

Re: Schefter: Patriots trade Maroney to Denver for 2011 4th - Broncos get 2011 6 [mer

Maroney is a talented back in college and things just didn't fall into place for him here. Or he just couldn't cut it at the NFL level. Whether it was the lack of holes to run through, running scheme not being a good fit, or bad luck. Or any other excuses I can think of. He's shown that he can be a dynamic RB that be make big plays. Although not since 07. His runs of 20 yards or more declined rapidly after injury in 08. He's done that for us in the running game (his first year when he had a fullback to run behind) and a glimpse of what he can do with the football if he's utilized properly in the passing game. Too bad it was just false hope he could turn into a feature back. He never will be. I always felt like the Pats didn't take advantage of his ability to run the ball in space with screens or using him as a receiver out of the backfield. But that's probably because he never learned how to pass block. He almost got Brady killed by Ray Lewis in the playoffs.



He'll find success in Denver as a 3rd string back, much like David Thomas found success elsewhere. But I think Maroney could be HUGE because he has that kind of talent.

Good luck to him. And good riddance.

Fixed it for you.

I'm not a big fan of drafting mediocre players in round 1. The reason Maroney lasted 4 years is because he was a 1st round pick and nobody wants to give up early on a 1st rounder because it makes you look bad. BB finally got fed up with him and traded him after deciding that BJGE deserved a roster spot more.

You could make an argument that 2006 was just a terrible draft overall with a lot of busts and a lack of talent in the 1st round. That is semi-reasonable. Fact is we could have picked better players - D.Williams in Rd1, Greg Jennings in Rd2, etc. We just have to admit our mistakes and move on. BB did.

 

[mgteich]

Re: Schefter: Patriots trade Maroney to Denver for 2011 4th - Broncos get 2011 6 [mer

Maroney was considered a good choice when drafted. Some here preferred others; we have every year. However, Maroney was a fine complement to Dillon in 2006. Even after a preseason injury, most were fine with the choice until he was injured in October 2008 year after playing three games. This was his fourth injury in three years. Maroney did fine after his first three. Running backs are often out a couple of games with injuries. Maroney's considerable talent and hard work paid off in 2006 and 2007. See below from wiki.

Maroney didn't seem the same after his shoulder injury in October of 2008. Maroney was not "made of glass". He played through injuries and missed a couple of games year before that critical shoulder injury. He even played all but one game in 2009, but he was nowhere as good as before in his first year back from a major injury.

Folks are free to be unreasonable. That is the core of posting on sports boards. However the reality Maroney was a talent who had a great future and was doing well, even after the two injuries in his rookie year (he missed two games in 2006 and 3 in 2007, farly normal for a running back). Maroney's fault is that he has been injured, ONLY playing in 70% of his games over his four year career. His second fault was that he wasn't the dependable three yards and a cloud of dust back. But then, he wasn't drafted for that role.

Most of us wanted to have a bruiser on the team. And we were right. We needed a second back for short yardage and as an alternative to Maroney. Even after the greatest regular season ever, it was clear that a pounding back would have helped the team. Maroney was not Dillon's replacement. He was Dillon's complement.
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From wiki
Laurence Maroney - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2006 season
Maroney declared for the 2006 NFL Draft after the completion of his junior season and was selected in the first round with the 21st overall pick by the New England Patriots. He was the second running back selected behind Reggie Bush. He split time during the 2006 season with Corey Dillon.

Despite missing the team's preseason finale with a knee injury,[1] Maroney played in the team's regular season opener and rushed for 86 yards in his Patriots debut. In Week 4, Maroney earned 125 yards and two touchdowns (of 11 and 25 yards) on 15 carries against the Cincinnati Bengals, a performance that earned him both FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week and Diet Pepsi Rookie NFL Player of the Week honors. In Week 7 against the Buffalo Bills, he was voted AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after a 74-yard kickoff return, while in Week 8 he had a 77-yard kickoff return against the Minnesota Vikings. These two were the two longest non-touchdown returns of the season outside of Antonio Cromartie's 91-yard kickoff return against the Oakland Raiders, and they gave Maroney the longest kickoff return average among all NFL players; he finished 2006 with 783 kick return yards.

In Week 11, Maroney had 82 yards rushing, and four receptions for 34 yards, including a 19-yard reception that became his first receiving touchdown. However, two weeks later, Maroney suffered torn rib cartilage against the Detroit Lions on December 3 and missed the Patriots' next two games.[2]

...2007 season
Maroney, who became the Patriots' starting running back following the release of Dillon in the offseason, missed three games in October with a groin injury,[3] and rushed for 835 yards in the Patriots' undefeated 2007 regular season. In the playoffs, Maroney became a bigger factor for the Patriots, compiling 244 rushing yards and two touchdowns in two games before playing in Super Bowl XLII. In that game, Maroney had 14 carries for 36 yards with a 1-yard touchdown in a loss against the New York Giants.
.........
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I. The coaches, fans and players i think had grown tired of him and it was just best for everyone to have a fresh start.

He came across as a nice guy and i hope he goes on and does well, but i just don't see it

 

[emoney_33]

Re: Schefter: Patriots trade Maroney to Denver for 2011 4th - Broncos get 2011 6 [mer

I'm not a big fan of drafting mediocre players in round 1. The reason Maroney lasted 4 years is because he was a 1st round pick and nobody wants to give up early on a 1st rounder because it makes you look bad. BB finally got fed up with him and traded him after deciding that BJGE deserved a roster spot more.

BB would NEVER keep a guy around for 4 years because he doesn't want to look bad. Good grief VJC, you know this so why are you going out of your way to make Maroney look like the worst RB to ever play the game.

Also the trade had nothing to do with BJGE "deserving" a roster spot more. Maroney simply didn't offer enough of an advantage over the current RB stable with what the Patriots want to do (e.g. it's VERY important for a RB to be good blocking in this passing offense) to warrant keeping him around for 2010 vs. taking the 4th round pick.

You could make an argument that 2006 was just a terrible draft overall with a lot of busts and a lack of talent in the 1st round. That is semi-reasonable. Fact is we could have picked better players - D.Williams in Rd1, Greg Jennings in Rd2, etc. We just have to admit our mistakes and move on. BB did.

Yeah and every single team in the NFL could have had a better pick in the 2000 draft and every other draft. Maroney was a fine pick at the time, he never reached his potential but he did perform -reasonably- well here. People were expecting 2004 Corey Dillon from the get-go and thus all perspective was thrown out as they set impossible expectations on the kid.

We do not know exactly why BB made the move, but it's damn sure not because Maroney's running skills are horrible.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Re: Schefter: Patriots trade Maroney to Denver for 2011 4th - Broncos get 2011 6 [mer

Fixed it for you.

I'm not a big fan of drafting mediocre players in round 1. The reason Maroney lasted 4 years is because he was a 1st round pick and nobody wants to give up early on a 1st rounder because it makes you look bad. BB finally got fed up with him and traded him after deciding that BJGE deserved a roster spot more.

You could make an argument that 2006 was just a terrible draft overall with a lot of busts and a lack of talent in the 1st round. That is semi-reasonable. Fact is we could have picked better players - D.Williams in Rd1, Greg Jennings in Rd2, etc. We just have to admit our mistakes and move on. BB did.

Hmm, it looks like Lewis is taking Brady down with a horse collar tackle in that pic.

 

[DaBruinz]

Re: Schefter: Patriots trade Maroney to Denver for 2011 4th - Broncos get 2011 6 [mer

Condon84 - You need to go back and watch that play again. Ray Lewis wasn't Maroney's responsibility in the blocking scheme. It was Koppen's responsibility to pick up the late rusher and Koppen failed. In fact, Koppen moved to block the guy that Mankins already was engaged with. That freed Lewis up for the clear shot on Brady. Even Faulk wouldn't have gotten there in time.

Maroney had some good stuff for us. This idea that he lost something after his broken shoulder blade is silly. Even last year, BB took the O-line to task for not playing consistently with Maroney running the ball.

Too many people had huge misconceptions about Maroney when he was drafted. He was never a North/South "Downhill" runner in college. He was a cutback runner who gained most of his yardage outside the tackles, not between them. Could he make the runs between the tackles? Yes, but he was not a good at doing them. He just never had the build for it.

People say that Maroney was never a "starter" in college. That's a fallacy because Minnesota's offense was predicated on the run. They regularly run 5 guys through the RB position. It was that way for Barber and Mendenhall as well. The one thing that did happen in college was that his carries increased each year. And in his Sophmore and Junior years, he was the Gophers go to back.

Clearly there are things going on that we don't know about. His work ethic, locker-room antics, etc.

As for Troy Brown. I loved him as a player. As an "analyst", he's not very good.

As for all the people who are cheering because Maroney is finally gone, I pray that we don't have to rely on BJGE because he's already shown he's a mediocre RB.. A guy who could only average 2.2 yards per carry against one of the worst run defenses in the Rams 2 years ago.

And please stop beating your chests like you got something right.. Many of you Maroney haters have been clamoring for 3 years for him to be dumped. As they say, even a blind squirrel finds a nut on occasion.

He's gone. It's done. Hopefully the Pats find someone in the draft next year because the RB crew we have now is downright scary.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Re: Schefter: Patriots trade Maroney to Denver for 2011 4th - Broncos get 2011 6 [mer

Welcome back DaBruinz

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Re: Schefter: Patriots trade Maroney to Denver for 2011 4th - Broncos get 2011 6 [mer

Never a big Maroney fan, but never a hater either. Guy mixed in flashes of brilliance with a boatload of mediocrity. As a 1st round pick, he was expected to shine and for whatever reason he just didn't. I'm glad he's gone not out of malice, but rather in a "**** or get off the pot" kind of way...Pats basically said, "He's not what we were looking for, so let's see if we can get some value before he becomes a free agent." Time to move on. Good luck in Denver, LoMo.

That being said, I will always remember him fondly for his performance in the 2nd half of the AFCCG vs. San Diego. On a day Brady was struggling, the OL and Maroney took over that 2nd half with a dominating run game, sending the team to the SB as the first 18-0 team ever. Was very similar to Corey Dillon's performance in the 2nd half of the 20-3 Colts divisional win 3 years earlier. January/February title (or near-title) runs always need something along the way from everyone. During a 3 (or 4) game run, there are bound to be times when Brady will get held in check and the running game must come through. Maroney did that time. For that I tip my cap to him.

Regards,
Chris

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Re: Schefter: Patriots trade Maroney to Denver for 2011 4th - Broncos get 2011 6 [mer

Never a big Maroney fan, but never a hater either. Guy mixed in flashes of brilliance with a boatload of mediocrity. As a 1st round pick, he was expected to shine and for whatever reason he just didn't. I'm glad he's gone not out of malice, but rather in a "**** or get off the pot" kind of way...Pats basically said, "He's not what we were looking for, so let's see if we can get some value before he becomes a free agent." Time to move on. Good luck in Denver, LoMo.

That being said, I will always remember him fondly for his performance in the 2nd half of the AFCCG vs. San Diego. On a day Brady was struggling, the OL and Maroney took over that 2nd half with a dominating run game, sending the team to the SB as the first 18-0 team ever. Was very similar to Corey Dillon's performance in the 2nd half of the 20-3 Colts divisional win 3 years earlier. January/February title (or near-title) runs always need something along the way from everyone. During a 3 (or 4) game run, there are bound to be times when Brady will get held in check and the running game must come through. Maroney did that time. For that I tip my cap to him.

Regards,
Chris

Nice perspective and retrospective. I really wish him well against Oakland.

 

[moosekill]

Re: Schefter: Patriots trade Maroney to Denver for 2011 4th - Broncos get 2011 6 [mer

I liked Maroney very much until the shoulder injury. After that he seemed very tentative hitting the holes for the next year or so. He finally seemed to be getting back to his old self last year midway through the season, but then he suddenly made a few very costly fumbles and that was all she wrote.

The thing people don't seem to understand, the Pats weren't going to resign him, and probably weren't even going to play him very much this year. BB decided a 4th rounder next year is a lot better than nothing this year.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Re: Schefter: Patriots trade Maroney to Denver for 2011 4th - Broncos get 2011 6 [mer

This was NOT a waste of a 1st round pick.

Belichick didn't give Maroney as many starts and carries as he did because he felt pressure to use his 1st round pick - he did it because Maroney was the best option for the team.

Like it or not, when Belichick used Maroney because he was the best we had for a long time, and 4.2 ypc is far from awful.

The good news is that other RBs have overtaken them - that's a credit to those players more so than a knock against Maroney - and to Belichick's credit he secured a 4th round pick for a 15 game rental of Maroney by Denver.

Whether other players taken after Maroney are better is irrelevant - for the most part Maroney played his role adequately here. Not the best 1st rounder we've ever had but certainly not a bust.