Routilla said:
Agree with most of the posts in this thread. What I don't get is why NE spent a 1st rd pick on a guy they had no intention of using more than 10 carries a game. They should have traded LM or the pick instead of essentially wasting a 1st rd pick.
I suspect they found out after they had him awhile that he wasn't the guy they thought they were getting (or they wouldn't have drafted him).In watching Maroney as a Pat (never saw him as a Golden Gopher), Maroney has usually been hesitent, dances around too much, and frequently does not lower his shoulder or try to move the pile. He normally is not a smash mouth kind of player like Dillon was.IMO, once the Pats realized this, they should have adjusted their playcalling to better suit Maroney's talent base. He is good in space, is very fast, and is not a between the tackles running back. Many times he will juke and dance around in the backfield to try to make a big play, but the team wants him to quickly identify that there's not much there and then simply move upfield into the pile for 2 yards. Instead, Maroney will look to escape, ultimately will go down behind the line, and take a 3 yard loss. That's a 5 yard swing, and that's not what they want. I also don't think Maroney has great blocking skills, so on passing downs they will put Faulk in who is exceptional and picking up blitzers and saving (formerly) Brady's behind.As I have mentioned in probably 20 threads by now, the Pats OL is built to pass protect, not run protect. I do not believe they have a lot of plays where linemen pull and move around very much to run block. They typically have a move the pile philosophy (for the OL) and will use TE and WR to help out (Welker is excellent at this).IMO, that goes against the things Maroney does well, and being soft and an injury risk only emphasizes the problem. I doubt the Pats will get rid of him anytime soon as he carries a low price tag and they can work within the system to be successful. Long story short, as far as the Pats are concerned, if it ain't beoke then don't fix it (they are winning). As far as the fantasy universe, people will say it's messed up, but I'm pretty sure BB could care less about your fantasy team.Morris and Jordan seem to fit the role better for running north and south instead of east and west. The combination of their backs will probably work well for the team, so I would expect they will leave that element of the team alone.