Where does the RB position rank for you on needs for this team?

[Love The Drake]

Ivory over Morris

 

[Love The Drake]

Would Falcons trade Tevin Coleman who I badly wanted on the team

 

[supafly]

I'd rank it pretty high on the list, myself.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Dion Lewis is quick as a cat! I hope his recovery is going well.
We do need a big guy to replace Blount too.

 

[Love The Drake]

Ivory or Coleman.

 

[Gronk]

Having a great OL is the most important. But in terms of player acquisition need I'd put RB at #1 because I think there are good reasons to believe OL will improve through returning players from injury and improved coaching and development.

I can't remember the last time they were this objectively thin at RB. 2009? Maybe 2010?...though that worked out ok with BJGE and Woodhead emerging. Lewis is back...but coming off ACL. Blount might be back...but he shouldn't be. James White...is so good at RB that most of his biggest fans here think they should try him at WR. It doesn't need to be one guy, and it's a team so of course OL matters here too, but they need a real player or two at RB. Not just people the scheme or TB can make look good.

WR is a need too but even if they don't do much in terms of turnover there if they improve RB and OL then WR improves by proxy.

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

RB and a new backup "swing" tackle are top priorities. Getting Marcus Cannon off the team is a top priority.

 

[Schmo]

Dion may very well be THE guy, but I think it would be unwise to rely on his health. Ideal solutions:

As long as Forte doesn't break down, he is the ideal rb for this offense. Period.

Lamar miller could very well be the steal of free agency. He'll still get paid, but if he were used correctly at all this year, he could have had 1400 yards rushing. He was healthy all year and got under 200 carries. Guy had 47 catches anyway. 24!!! years old.

Both of these guys, along with Dion, are three down backs. No more, "I know we're going to run Blount, defense knows we're going to run Blount, Blount falls backwards after gaining 1-2 yards."

If we were to get a pure runner, I think essentially having traded in ridley and grabbing ivory would be a pretty sweet deal.

 

[supafly]

Dion may very well be THE guy, but I think it would be unwise to rely on his health. Ideal solutions:

As long as Forte doesn't break down, he is the ideal rb for this offense. Period.

Lamar miller could very well be the steal of free agency. He'll still get paid, but if he were used correctly at all this year, he could have had 1400 yards rushing. He was healthy all year and got under 200 carries. Guy had 47 catches anyway. 24!!! years old.

Both of these guys, along with Dion, are three down backs. No more, "I know we're going to run Blount, defense knows we're going to run Blount, Blount falls backwards after gaining 1-2 yards."

If we were to get a pure runner, I think essentially having traded in ridley and grabbing ivory would be a pretty sweet deal.

I'd much rather have Lamar Miller for the reasons you've provided, but the concern is that his cost will be north of 5m dollars per year.

Even a guy like Forte who's proven to be a consistent dual threat may very well see 4.5m dollars on something of a 2/9 type of contract. It's actually what I'm fully expecting, and he'd be getting even more if it weren't for the fact that he's 30.

This will all depend on how Belichick views the prioritization of this position, and whether or not he plans on taking a draft pick. Your suggestion of a guy like Ivory may prove to be more cost efficient. I hope not. I hope that Bill spends on this position and finally gives Brady a decent RB.

 

[AzorianPats]

I'm gonna put RB ahead of OL as the main need.

I feel injuries and lack of experience was the downfall of terrible OL play. I think we desperately need a RB that's gonna grind out the tough yards.

The difference in the AFC championship was Denver daring us to run. We tried, and couldn't. That hast to be a huge wake up call to the FO.

 

[supafly]

The difference in the AFC championship was Denver daring us to run. We tried, and couldn't. That hast to be a huge wake up call to the FO.

What kind of wake up call will be the big question, as we saw similar postseason losses with both the NYJ and Baltimore as well, yet nothing was done aside from selecting some mid round draft picks.

 

[fightingirish595]

What kind of wake up call will be the big question, as we saw similar postseason losses with both the NYJ and Baltimore as well, yet nothing was done aside from selecting some mid round draft picks.

Super Bowls are won in middle rounds

 

[fightingirish595]

In my opinion; in today's NFL you don't use a first round pick on a runningback unless the guy is a freak, like fournette or peterson

 

[Deus Irae]

Super Bowls are won in middle rounds

This last Super Bowl wasn't

 

[supafly]

Super Bowls are won in middle rounds

As opposed to the talk of addressing it via free agency and/or selecting a higher round draft pick at the position?

The point was that we've seen this movie before, with postseason losses to teams who dared us to try and run, and nothing was really done about it then. As a matter of fact, we actually somehow ended up moving on from our most productive back at the time in Woodhead.

 

[fightingirish595]

As opposed to the talk of addressing it via free agency and/or selecting a higher round draft pick at the position?

The point was that we've seen this movie before, with postseason losses to teams who dared us to try and run, and nothing was really done about it then. As a matter of fact, we actually somehow ended up moving on from our most productive back at the time in Woodhead.

Our two best backs went down with injury, I think as long as the Oline is one of the best units in the league, we will be just fine.

Believe me I'm the first guy who will tell you that most of the time, You need to be able to run the ball when it matters to win championships. If you dont believe, look at my post history, I have said it over and over, I think i said it before the playoffs started. However There are exceptions, such as this year.

 

[fightingirish595]

This last Super Bowl wasn't

Yeah, it was won in free agency. Thats rare. Seahawks were built in the middle to late rounds.

The broncos this year had 2 1st rounders (that they drafted) on their defense

The Patriots have stocked their defense with first round picks, and they won a suoerbowl last year, so theres an example to counter my argument