Sony Michel recovering from foot surgery

[PatsBoy12]

Remember the Dolphins game at the end of the season? Brady throws a Pick 6 that cost us the game (his first in 2 years) - I think Captain Stone agreed with that statement in a previous thread. The ball was thrown between Michel and Edelman - you have to think that Brady was throwing to Michel and at the last minute decided to throw to Edelman, even though JE11 was not open, and the ball ends up floating in-between the two of them. The Pick 6 was by Eric Rowe so we know it was not an amazing read and pick. Why not throw the ball to Sony? Because Tom was not going to throw to Sony even if he was open. So he throws a pick 6 instead. I love Tom and always will, but he was not in a good place in 2019 and Michel takes a lot of heat for being a "run only" RB because Brady would not throw to him. Did Sony make mistakes early on? YES Was Brady going to forgive him and work with him? HELL NO.

This narrative has got to be the most overrated, overstated one to come along in some time. Yes, Brady was not always willing to throw the ball to a guy if he wasn't confident in the guy's ability to make the play. That's true and something he admitted. But it was not nearly to the extent that it's been posted ad nauseam on this board, and especially not when it comes to Michel. Sheesh! The fact is Michel has consistently either been out of place or flat out just dropped balls that hit him right in the hands. Consistently! He deserved a pass (no pun) his rookie season because of the missed TC, but he sucked at it in his second season as well. The fact is he has yet to show any of the pass catching ability he showed at UGA, which is undoubtedly one of the reasons the Pats took him so high in the draft. Until he does, Sony is not getting any unnecessary heat in this category. We'll see what it looks like in his third season, provided this most recent surgery doesn't force him to miss time.

 

[Snooky97]

So surprised at how Michel has turned out so far. His college tape and combine put him right next to Chubb apart from the bench press. I’m guessing Sony’s knees aren’t going to be 100% ever. Interesting though how Chubb who had surgery on his at college has maintained his ability. Maybe it’ll take another season for Michel to be fully healed up, but it doesn’t look like he will be that same guy we saw in his college tape.

 

[doesntmatter1]

I feel like we are too hard on the guy. He doesn't fumble and he rips off chunks whenever given a decent sized hole. This time off has to be good for his bum knee.

I expect a big year for him. Our last dominant running team was under Cassel imo and I think we see a repeat of that year with hopefully a playoff berth.

 

[TheRazorsEdge]

The jury is still out for me despite the discouraging news.

A few things I'll note:
- Although I do like him, Ive made peace with the thought that he just isn't first round talent. Of course hindsight is 20/20 and at the time of draft based on tape and mesurables he looked the part. It just hasnt gone the way we wanted/expected. I wouldn't say hes a BUST though.

- Speaking of draft time, one of his one red flags was injuries, specifically knee. So you can't be TOO shocked that its rearing its ugly head. The Pats often take gambles on players who are very productive in college but have checkered injury history. Sometimes you get Dominique Easley ... Other times you Get Gronk. Michel falls in the middle.

- He's not THE guy but I dont think its something we should judge him negatively on. He wasn't THE guy in Georgia. Its becoming more and more common for teams to have 2 even 3 capable backs. Even Chubb now has touches being taken away from him (K. Hunt)

- Hard for me to truly judge him last season. The offense was broken. Makeshift FB, little to no production from TE position, injuries on oline,Receivers who couldn't get open. Most NFL RBs would struggle in those situations. This is where I think alot of th ese negative takes are created. Knowing we spent a first on him we want him to be Barkley...or be one of backs who can carry a team when nothing is going right for them. He's not that though, so the opinion that we overpaid for him I think is fair. However given what we saw 2 years ago as the season wore on, I think writing him off completely would be too premature. If he can come close to that 2018 production - hed be just fine.

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

In 2018 Sony ran behind the the best OL/TE blocking combo in the league. He ran for close to 900 plus yards at 4.5 ypc (would’ve had around 11-1200 yards after missing most of the CHI game and 2 others due to injury.) Not bad at all for a rookie and the fact he came back and ran well was an integral part of winning the SB.

2019, he lost TBrown, Gronk, Allen, Develin, Andrews. As far as run blocking we are talking downgrades for replacments. Add to this we lost Wynn for half the year and Cannon was playing hurt for most of the year. It’s to be expected that Sony’s numbers would dip. His 4.5ypc dropped to 3.7.

There is some reason for optimism in 2020. Once Wynn returned in 2019 and the OL started to get some sort of cohesion (the Dallas game on) Sony averaged 4.26 ypc. Also from the college tape we’ve seen on our 2 rookie TEs I would expect an improvement over last years TEs which will be a big help. The Biggest issue for me next year is the health of the OL.

 

[Wozzy]

This is why you stable 5 good RB's.

 

[holyredeemer]

This proves anyone can be an “analyst”. Lmao

Proof that the draft is a crapshoot.

 

[captain stone]

Remember the Dolphins game at the end of the season? Brady throws a Pick 6 that cost us the game (his first in 2 years) - I think Captain Stone agreed with that statement in a previous thread. The ball was thrown between Michel and Edelman - you have to think that Brady was throwing to Michel and at the last minute decided to throw to Edelman, even though JE11 was not open, and the ball ends up floating in-between the two of them. The Pick 6 was by Eric Rowe so we know it was not an amazing read and pick. Why not throw the ball to Sony? Because Tom was not going to throw to Sony even if he was open. So he throws a pick 6 instead. I love Tom and always will, but he was not in a good place in 2019 and Michel takes a lot of heat for being a "run only" RB because Brady would not throw to him. Did Sony make mistakes early on? YES Was Brady going to forgive him and work with him? HELL NO.

Yep, that Pick-6 ended our season right then and there; without it we're almost Guaranteed to win that game and have the following week off, and I would've enjoyed my own week off in Aruba a helluva lot better than I (and other Pats fans there) did...Soreknee was the open receiver and Brady should've thrown the ball to him or to nobody at all, though it's not like he gave Brady much if any confidence leading to that point either...

 

[203Pat]

In 2018 Sony ran behind the the best OL/TE blocking combo in the league. He ran for close to 900 plus yards at 4.5 ypc (would’ve had around 11-1200 yards after missing most of the CHI game and 2 others due to injury.) Not bad at all for a rookie and the fact he came back and ran well was an integral part of winning the SB.

2019, he lost TBrown, Gronk, Allen, Develin, Andrews. As far as run blocking we are talking downgrades for replacments. Add to this we lost Wynn for half the year and Cannon was playing hurt for most of the year. It’s to be expected that Sony’s numbers would dip. His 4.5ypc dropped to 3.7.

There is some reason for optimism in 2020. Once Wynn returned in 2019 and the OL started to get some sort of cohesion (the Dallas game on) Sony averaged 4.26 ypc. Also from the college tape we’ve seen on our 2 rookie TEs I would expect an improvement over last years TEs which will be a big help. The Biggest issue for me next year is the health of the OL.

So we need to have an all star cast around our first round pick for him to have a solid season?

 

[captain stone]

- Hard for me to truly judge him last season. The offense was broken. Makeshift FB, little to no production from TE position, injuries on OLine, Receivers who couldn't get open. Most NFL RBs would struggle in those situations. This is where I think a lot of these negative takes are created. Knowing we spent a first on him we want him to be Barkley...or be one of backs who can carry a team when nothing is going right for them. He's not that though, so the opinion that we overpaid for him I think is fair. However given what we saw 2 years ago as the season wore on, I think writing him off completely would be too premature. If he can come close to that 2018 production - he'd be just fine.

Agree with pretty much everything, except that we just wanted/expected him to be Nick Chubb (or - better still - have Nick Chubb himself), not Barkley...

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

So we need to have an all star cast around our first round pick for him to have a solid season?

I’m pointing out that when you go from the best TE blocking duo in 18 to IMO the worst in 19 and lose one of the best fbs in the game, your starting center for the year and injuries to both tackles it’s going to affect most if not all RBs.

My optimism with not just Sony but all of our backs is not that we have the squad up front we had 2 years ago (we don’t). It’s that we are better in those areas mentioned this year compared to last.

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

Agree with pretty much everything, except that we just wanted/expected him to be Nick Chubb (or - better still - have Nick Chubb himself), not Barkley...

Of the players drafted around him Chubb has been the best. But maybe contrary to some opinions on here Sony hasn’t been the worst. He’s been better than Ronald Jones, and despite the knee issues more durable than both Penny and Kerryon.

 

[blackglass3]

Feels like Aaron Dobson part 2. Shows promise the first season then the wheels fall off.

 

[TheRainMaker]

As much as I s*** on Michel, it could be a lot worse. The Seahawks drafting Penny was inexcusable.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Feels like Aaron Dobson part 2. Shows promise the first season then the wheels fall off.

It's actually nothing like Aaron Dobson.

 

[PatsBoy12]

So we need to have an all star cast around our first round pick for him to have a solid season?

No, but in a team sport, especially football, there is usually a corollary between a good supporting cast and a player's individual #'s. The Oline was below average last season. It was the strength of the offense in 2018. That's a huge dropoff.

 

[1960Pats]

Is this the reason he runs in a straight line and can't make a defender miss?

No. This is the reason he can get caught from behind after he makes a defender miss.

Is it possible that it isn't the drafting that's missing on RBs as much as the coaching? I don't follow college but I think Sony was highly rated.

 

[TheRainMaker]

I don't follow college but I think Sony was highly rated.

He was highly rated as one of the top backs and was compared to Alvin Kamara.

 

[Bradybranch]

I am still waiting to see what he gives us that Legarrette Blount or Stevan Ridley or BenJarvus Green-Ellis or any RB of that ilk couldn't. We paid pennies on the dollar for those guys and statistically speaking they were better than Sony.

You must have missed the 2018 post season

 

[1960Pats]

No, but in a team sport, especially football, there is usually a corollary between a good sporting cast and a player's individual #'s. The Oline was below average last season. It was the strength of the offense in 2018. That's a huge dropoff.

Those facts plus no TEs and injuries to the WRs tells me that in 2019 Tom Brady did very well to help get the Pats to 12-4.