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Ridley definitely gonna be #2 after today and how good Vereen looked.

 

Not with Bill in charge

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Not with Bill in charge

 

Well, I think that Bill trusts Vereen waaaaay more, so I don't see Ridley getting out of the doghouse as long as Vereen is playing this good.

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so, i guess us ridley owners are pretty much forced to banish him to the bench for week 2? what a great use of a 3rd rounder :mad:

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I don't think a coaching staff will scrap their offensive philosophy because of one game. Yeah Vereen looked very good and deserves more touches going forward. But I don't think Ridley will be banished from the offense entirely. I don't think he'll be a #2....nor will Vereen for that matter. I think they'll both be utilized.

 

It's the Patriots though.....so who knows. None of us know how they'll handle this situation going forward.

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BTL99, on 08 Sept 2013 - 3:28 PM, said:

 

 

Well, I think that Bill trusts Vereen waaaaay more, so I don't see Ridley getting out of the doghouse as long as Vereen is playing this good.

That is this week. Remember when Vereen fumbled once in the 3rd preseason game? Straight to the bench he went

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I don't think a coaching staff will scrap their offensive philosophy because of one game. Yeah Vereen looked very good and deserves more touches going forward. But I don't think Ridley will be banished from the offense entirely. I don't think he'll be a #2....nor will Vereen for that matter. I think they'll both be utilized.

 

It's the Patriots though.....so who knows. None of us know how they'll handle this situation going forward.

 

I think Vereen earned himself even MORE touches going forward. Only 3 down back on that team.

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I think Vereen earned himself even MORE touches going forward. Only 3 down back RB on that team.

Absolutely. Here's the thing though, do you think Vereen's performance was surprising to anyone on the Pats? They know what kind of player he is.....and if you remember back to preseason 2012, Vereen and Ridley were both running with the ones until Vereen got injured.

 

I guess my point is Vereen has always been productive when given the chance. He's always flashed his potential when given the opportunity. And through all that, Ridley has still gotten enough touches to be productive. I don't think that will change. I do think Vereen will be more involved.....but I don't think Ridley will be an after thought in the offense. He's still a good RB who produces.

 

I think both backs will be productive.....but relative to ADP, Vereen will be the much better value while Ridley will have lost value. I think people are still thinking in those terms. But in absolute points, both backs can be productive....if that makes any sense.

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I will add.....throw all that out the window if Ridley doesn't hold on to the ball. If his fumbling becomes more of an issue, then Vereen will become more of a bellcow in that offense.

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I will add.....throw all that out the window if Ridley doesn't hold on to the ball. If his fumbling becomes more of an issue, then Vereen will become more of a bellcow in that offense.

I don't know if Vereen will be a "bell cow".

I am curious to see if Blount gets "1st team reps" before the Thrs. night game?

 

There's no question that Vereen is the most talented RB and play-maker.

But Vereen has shown some problems with durability in the past and NE may want a Blount/Ridley type guy to handle work between-the-tackles.

 

I wondered why we didn't see more of Blount once Ridley was benched though? That's where I consider "1st team reps" and all that... maybe Vereen was simply better game-plan prepared so they went with him? Not sure.

 

To me, the biggest indicator will be practice and how they're grouped.

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I don't know if Vereen will be a "bell cow".

I am curious to see if Blount gets "1st team reps" before the Thrs. night game?

 

There's no question that Vereen is the most talented RB and play-maker.

But Vereen has shown some problems with durability in the past and NE may want a Blount/Ridley type guy to handle work between-the-tackles.

 

I wondered why we didn't see more of Blount once Ridley was benched though? That's where I consider "1st team reps" and all that... maybe Vereen was simply better game-plan prepared so they went with him? Not sure.

 

To me, the biggest indicator will be practice and how they're grouped.

Did it have anything to do with Blount's 2 ypc?

 

I do agree with Vereen though. Maybe bellcow is the wrong term....especially for a NE RB.

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Did it have anything to do with Blount's 2 ypc?

 

I do agree with Vereen though. Maybe bellcow is the wrong term....especially for a NE RB.

Blount was another guy that looked really good in pre-season but not-so-good yesterday.

 

You may be right... maybe Vereen does take on a much bigger role? It would be a bit out-of-character for NE to go that route though.

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Blount was extremely slow yesterday, no way he gets much, maybe short yards or possible goal line work is all he would be good for.

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It was horrible timing for Ridley to fumble against Buffalo, of all teams. Any RB for the Pats was going to have a big day against the Bills defense. The Bills made that turkey Bolden look like Jim Brown last year. Against almost any other team, Ridley gets pulled, Vereen goes in and has a pedestrian 40 or 50 yards, and Ridley is back in there next week. Now though, because it was the stinking Bills defense, Vereen suddenly looks like the next big thing.

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There's no question that Vereen is the most talented RB and play-maker.

But Vereen has shown some problems with durability in the past and NE may want a Blount/Ridley type guy to handle work between-the-tackles.

 

 

That's what i'm thinking too. Blount/Ridley might be the guy to close out and run out the clock in the 4th quarter.

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Against almost any other team, Ridley gets pulled, Vereen goes in and has a pedestrian 40 or 50 yards, and Ridley is back in there next week. Now though, because it was the stinking Bills defense, Vereen suddenly looks like the next big thing.

 

No, Vereen has always looked good when given the opportunities.

In the playoffs against Houston (top 5 D last season), Vereen torn them up:

 

7 Carries

41 rushing yards

1 rushing TD

 

5 Receptions

83 rec yards

2 Rec TD

 

I doubt Ridley can EVER put up 5 receptions for 83 yards and 2 TD against Houston.

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No, Vereen has always looked good when given the opportunities.

In the playoffs against Houston (top 5 D last season), Vereen torn them up:

 

7 Carries

41 rushing yards

1 rushing TD

 

5 Receptions

83 rec yards

2 Rec TD

 

I doubt Ridley can EVER put up 5 receptions for 83 yards and 2 TD against Houston.

There's no question that Vereen is the better receiver of the two. His value for this season was projected mostly as a receiver in that offense.

 

As a runner though, he has looked mostly ordinary and certainly not the kind of tough, physical runner New England seems to prefer to wear defenses down.

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Don't discount Vereen as a runner. Dude is 5'10" and 205 lbs. Not small by any means.

14 carries for 101 yards is still a solid stat line regardless.

 

The pats get Jets, Bucs, Falcons, Bengals, Saints, Jets over the next 6 weeks, which is quite soft against the run. If Vereen continues to get that 10+ carries a game, it'll impact Ridley no matter what.

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it just seems stupid to me. a guy fumbles once, and you pull him for 3 quarters? do you know how much of a factor luck plays in fumbles? if you don't trust him to not fumble in those 3 ensuing quarters, are you going to suddenly trust him for the next 15 games? just shouldn't be in this mess, sucks.

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it just seems stupid to me. a guy fumbles once, and you pull him for 3 quarters?

 

Ridley has a history of fumbling with NE.

He fumbled already in pre-seaon. He has fumbled in the past, once or twice in very critical situations (playoffs).

Fumbling is a big problem with Ridley, this isn't a one-time mistake.

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As a runner though, he has looked mostly ordinary and certainly not the kind of tough, physical runner New England seems to prefer to wear defenses down.

WR Guru - I see where you're going with this thinking... I get it... I don't know that Vereen has looked "pedestrian" - he's looked pretty good to me - but he does still have to prove that he can run consistently between the tackles and stay healthy doing so.

This is why I hesitate to believe Vereen will ever be a "one man show" in NE.

He's terrific running outside.

He's terrific receiving - even explosive.

Can he run up the middle? for tough yards?

Can he stay healthy doing so?

:dunno:

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Dude still can't hang onto the ball. I'm sure the coaches are smart enough to realize Buffalo has a terrible defense, but Vereen is muscling in on Ridley's touches from now on. Ridley needs to do something big next week to get back on top of things.

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Ridley needs to do something big next week to get back on top of things.

it's not NEXT WEEK really - it's Thrs. night vs. NYJ.

 

I think this favors Ridley getting back in the lineup - NE simply doesn't have enough time to adjust to life without him.

 

Fumbling aside - Ridley has looked great - he knifes/slashes right up the field - he very efficient and decisive. His one flaw is lack of break away speed - even if he gets thru the secondary, he will get caught from behind.

 

Vereen is very different, and scared me a bit on Sunday b/c of it - Vereen ran "backwards" a few times to get around the edge and (fortunately) wasn't hit for the big loss - but it's scary watching him do it. You would NEVER see Ridley do that - Ridley hits the hole immediately and gets upfield, if the hole closes he maybe goes

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