Two Major Issues Have Been Solved

[Tony2046]

I remembered Bolden getting non-garbage rushes last season but maybe it was an illusion since it's not on his game log, and he did even less in 2016. My memory must be faulty.

I'm less convinced of the difficulty of the Patriots system on running backs. I also think Patriots fans tend to underestimate the impact a quality running back can have on a game. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Patriots take a day 1 or day 2 back in this draft. Sure, you can get a workaday guy like Gillislee for $1.5 million but you probably won't get a real stud outside the draft.

Have to give you credit on that one. I didn't see that happening at all.

 

[ATippett56]

Interesting point that I had not considered, @maineman209 in regards to the possibility of selecting cheap, experienced vets as opposed to rookie RBs. Your theory makes a lot of sense.

Bill Belichick disagrees. Say hello to Sony Michel.

Winners and losers from round one of the NFL Draft

"The New England Patriots couldn’t afford to keep running back Dion Lewis around this year. As it was, Lewis ended up inking a four-year deal with Tennessee worth up to $19.8 million. When it was time for the Patriots to pick at No. 31 overall on Thursday night, much to their delight Georgia running back Sony Michel was conveniently still on the board.

Michel is an explosive playmaker and can do a lot of the same things Lewis did for New England last year. He’s going to be a dynamic player for Tom Brady and Co. with Josh McDaniels calling plays. And the best part is that he’s going to cost the Patriots just over $9.6 million the next four years, per Spotrac. That’s half what Lewis got on his deal, and in the end Michel could be a much better long-term option anyway."

 

[supafly]

Bill Belichick disagrees. Say hello to Sony Michel.

Winners and losers from round one of the NFL Draft

"The New England Patriots couldn’t afford to keep running back Dion Lewis around this year. As it was, Lewis ended up inking a four-year deal with Tennessee worth up to $19.8 million. When it was time for the Patriots to pick at No. 31 overall on Thursday night, much to their delight Georgia running back Sony Michel was conveniently still on the board.

Michel is an explosive playmaker and can do a lot of the same things Lewis did for New England last year. He’s going to be a dynamic player for Tom Brady and Co. with Josh McDaniels calling plays. And the best part is that he’s going to cost the Patriots just over $9.6 million the next four years, per Spotrac. That’s half what Lewis got on his deal, and in the end Michel could be a much better long-term option anyway."

If you happened to read a few posts prior, you’d see that I was strongly advocating the idea of drafting a RB, I just wasn’t buying into the thought of knocking TWO vets off of the roster. As a matter of fact, I expected a pick, and have been bringing up the idea of drafting offensive players in several threads over the past couple of months. As mentioned just yesterday, I would’ve preferred to move up and take Barkley in the off chance that we traded all of our high picks. I felt that he was the safest choice in the draft. If you want to take it one step further, I’ve been pounding the table for a higher round RB pick year in and year out for awhile, now.

My response was to @maineman209 ’s thought that Belichick could be choosing to bring in cheap, vet free agents due to their experience and lower cost. As I said in my response, that was something that I had never considered, but that he could be onto something. I still believe that his theory makes sense. We were simply speaking freely and bouncing ideas off of each other, which is the norm.

 

[ATippett56]

If you happened to read a few posts prior, you’d see that I was strongly advocating the idea of drafting a RB, I just wasn’t buying into the thought of knocking TWO vets off of the roster. As a matter of fact, I expected a pick, and have been bringing up the idea of drafting offensive players in several threads over the past couple of months. As mentioned just yesterday, I would’ve preferred to move up and take Barkley in the off chance that we traded all of our high picks. I felt that he was the safest choice in the draft. If you want to take it one step further, I’ve been pounding the table for a higher round RB pick year in and year out for awhile, now.

My response was to @maineman209 ’s thought that Belichick could be choosing to bring in cheap, vet free agents due to their experience and lower cost. As I said in my response, that was something that I had never considered, but that he could be onto something. I still believe that his theory makes sense. We were simply speaking freely and bouncing ideas off of each other, which is the norm.

Bolden - special teams
Burkhead - injury prone
Gillislee - disappointment
Hill - wild card
White - change of pace, third down specialist

Brandon Bolden Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Rex Burkhead Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Mike Gillislee Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Jeremy Hill Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

James White Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

 

[supafly]

Bolden - special teams
Burkhead - injury prone
Gillislee - disappointment
Hill - wild card
White - change of pace, third down specialist

Well, a good part of your reasoning is why I love the pick, or at least the idea of drafting a high round RB.

White and Burkhead are locks, but they just don’t offer enough in the run game. I suppose that when combined together, it gets us where we need to be (at times) but it’s just not the kind of consistent rushing attack that we need.

Bolden to me is basically a ST only player. He’s important in his role, but it’s difficult to see him as an actual RB who is going to contribute on a regular basis due to lack of reps.

The real battle will be between Hill and Gilleslee, as the winner may end up as the guy who gets 12-14 rushes a game until Michel gets comfortable. I’m actually hoping that they may use Michel more than expected right off the bat, but that will still likely mean limited touches for at least the first half of the season as he’s played only situationally.

 

[ATippett56]

Well, a good part of your reasoning is why I love the pick, or at least the idea of drafting a high round RB.

White and Burkhead are locks, but they just don’t offer enough in the run game. I suppose that when combined together, it gets us where we need to be (at times) but it’s just not the kind of consistent rushing attack that we need.

Bolden to me is basically a ST only player. He’s important in his role, but it’s difficult to see him as an actual RB who is going to contribute on a regular basis due to lack of reps.

The real battle will be between Hill and Gilleslee, as the winner may end up as the guy who gets 12-14 rushes a game until Michel gets comfortable. I’m actually hoping that they may use Michel more than expected right off the bat, but that will still likely mean limited touches for at least the first half of the season as he’s played only situationally.

Sony Michel is the Dion Lewis replacement.

Barring injury, I agree that the final roster spot at the running back position will most likely between Gillislee and Hill.

 

[supafly]

Sony Michel is the Dion Lewis replacement.

Barring injury, I agree that the final roster spot at the running back position will most likely between Gillislee and Hill.

Maroney had about 750 yards during his rookie year, so it’s possible that Michel could be the bell cow (12-15 touches) quicker than people think.

If so, that would allow Burkhead/White to be used more effectively. It could also mean that the winner of the Hill/Gilleslee battle could be inactive for most games barring injury, since Bolden will be active for his ST role.

It’s also possible that he looks good enough to back up @primetime ’s idea of cutting both vets and only keeping 4 RBs on the roster, but that won’t be determined until the end of the summer.

 

[ATippett56]

Maroney had about 750 yards during his rookie year, so it’s possible that Michel could be the bell cow (12-15 touches) quicker than people think.

If so, that would allow Burkhead/White to be used more effectively. It could also mean that the winner of the Hill/Gilleslee battle could be inactive for most games barring injury, since Bolden will be active for his ST role.

It’s also possible that he looks good enough to back up @primetime ’s idea of cutting both vets and only keeping 4 RBs on the roster, but that won’t be determined until the end of the summer.

The number of running backs will depend on how many quarterbacks and wide receivers will be on the roster for the 2018 NFL Season.

 

[supafly]

The number of running backs will depend on how many quarterbacks and wide receivers will be on the roster for the 2018 NFL Season.

While the numbers at other positions will play a role into some borderline decisions, I don’t think it’s quite as simple as you’re suggesting.

The number of RBs will be determined by how the players look in TC and preseason, how the rookie is coming along, who may contribute on STs, who is likely to be active on game day, and what the injury situation looks like at the end of August.

 

[maineman209]

Interesting point that I had not considered, @maineman209 in regards to the possibility of selecting cheap, experienced vets as opposed to rookie RBs. Your theory makes a lot of sense.

RB cap hits for 2018
... (and future years):

White = $2.44M
... (2019 = $4.0M, 2020 =$4.5M)
Burkhead = $2.31M
... (2019 = $3.3M, 2020 = $4.0M)
Gillislee = $2.18M
... (UFA in 2019)
MICHEL = $1.76M
... (2019 = $2.19M, 2020 = $2.63M, 2021 = $3.07M, + option year)
Hill = $1.33M
... (UFA in 2019)

Maximum RB Corps cost for 2018 would be about $8.69M, if they shed only Hill at the end of Camp. Doesn't escalate all that quickly in future years. For comparison, Fournette alone will be hitting the Jags cap for $8.64M in 2020.

Excellent cost control there.

 

[captain stone]

Well, after having Two picks in the first round...

ZERO major issues have been solved.

 

[Triumph]

Gillislie is asta lavista.

 

[VectorPrime]

This thread has aged like fine wine.

 

[Deus Irae]

This thread has aged like fine wine.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Bill Belichick disagrees. Say hello to Sony Michel.

Winners and losers from round one of the NFL Draft

"The New England Patriots couldn’t afford to keep running back Dion Lewis around this year. As it was, Lewis ended up inking a four-year deal with Tennessee worth up to $19.8 million. When it was time for the Patriots to pick at No. 31 overall on Thursday night, much to their delight Georgia running back Sony Michel was conveniently still on the board.

Michel is an explosive playmaker and can do a lot of the same things Lewis did for New England last year. He’s going to be a dynamic player for Tom Brady and Co. with Josh McDaniels calling plays. And the best part is that he’s going to cost the Patriots just over $9.6 million the next four years, per Spotrac. That’s half what Lewis got on his deal, and in the end Michel could be a much better long-term option anyway."

Comforting.

 

[ATippett56]

Comforting.

The purr-fect acquisition.

 

[BTTA]

Well, after having Two picks in the first round...

ZERO major issues have been solved.

Given the fact that even top 10 picks have a less than 1/3 chance of being a star, and the odds drop precipitously from there, that's true of every team that drafted yesterday.