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RB Damien Harris, BUF (1 Viewer)

Harris was back at practice today (after coming out of the Bills game with a sore hammy). Not sure how much he did today. I am guessing he will be listed as limited this week and questionable for Saturday against the Colts. But it appears he avoided a multi week injury. 

 
Harris was back at practice today (after coming out of the Bills game with a sore hammy). Not sure how much he did today. I am guessing he will be listed as limited this week and questionable for Saturday against the Colts. But it appears he avoided a multi week injury. 
As a Harris and Stevenson owner during the FF playoffs, this is very frustrating news heading into a Saturday game. I'm sure we were all hoping to ride RS this week and having to make a choice in a week or two when DH was healthy. 

😐

 
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports Damien Harris (hamstring) "should be good to go" for Week 16 against the Bills.

It's good news for the Pats as they are already without Rhamondre Stevenson, who was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list earlier in the week. In Week 13, Harris torched the Bills for 111 yards and a score on 10 carries before exiting with a hamstring injury. The issue has kept him sidelined ever since but he should return to a heightened role sans Stevenson, making him a solid RB2 option this week.

SOURCE: Ian Rapoport on Twitter

Dec 26, 2021, 8:25 AM ET

 
Did I miss updated injury news on Harris? Any reason why Stevenson is ranked higher than him in non-ppr to start the week?

 
Did I miss updated injury news on Harris? Any reason why Stevenson is ranked higher than him in non-ppr to start the week?
Harris just had 100+ rushing yards and 3 TD while Stevenson was on the COVID list but actually sick. I don't see any reason for RS to be ranked higher in any format for this week.

 
Was worried he'd re-injure himself early in the game this week. Still managed to survive and make the finals despite the mistake.

Gonna have to make a decision again this week. Theoretically, I'm really deep at RB right now (Kamara, Jacobs, Harris, Rojo and Penny) but I can only start 3. 

I just know that if i play Harris, Bill will throw out some funky gameplan and screw me. But I'm not sure I'll survive leaving multiple TD's on the bench again.

Weird year.

 
Tough to bench if Stevenson is out. Jax is decent on D but I’m guessing they won’t have to throw a ton on them 

 
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Was worried he'd re-injure himself early in the game this week. Still managed to survive and make the finals despite the mistake.

Gonna have to make a decision again this week. Theoretically, I'm really deep at RB right now (Kamara, Jacobs, Harris, Rojo and Penny) but I can only start 3. 

I just know that if i play Harris, Bill will throw out some funky gameplan and screw me. But I'm not sure I'll survive leaving multiple TD's on the bench again.

Weird year.


Dealing with a similar situation and roster (except swap Kamara with Najee) but I can start 4. I think you gotta start Harris for sure if Rhamondre is out or doesn't get cleared by say, tomorrow.

 
Stephenson status upgraded to healthy and Harris remains with the questionable tag. Gonna have to follow this one out until kick off perhaps. I own both. 

 
Damien Harris rushed nine times for 35 yards and two TDs in the Patriots' Week 17 win over the Jaguars, adding one reception for 12 yards on one target.

Harris was reported as questionable to return with a hamstring injury, but it may have been preventative with the Patriots absolutely rolling the Jaguars. Harris scored his first TD from two yards out after making a nice 7-yard run to set up the score on the Patriots' first drive. Harris then scored from seven yards out on the Patriots' second drive. He could have had a huge game for the Patriots but his health wasn't worth risking with the Jaguars unable to play competitive football.

Jan 2, 2022, 3:45 PM ET

 
Any updates on Harris this week? Do you think he starts or does BB sit him and let Stephenson run wild?
Harris sat the end of the Jags game as a precaution. If the game was on the line and a playoff birth riding on the balance, he likely would have pressed on and played. I think NE will be scoreboard watching to see if the Jets can keep things close with the Bills. Not sure how committed NE will be if they can't get a home game out of winning.

 
I think they probably rest him this week, maybe even have him inactive and roll with Stevenson and Taylor. This is obviously just a guess as it's only Wednesday and we haven't even had a practice yet. 

 
I think they probably rest him this week, maybe even have him inactive and roll with Stevenson and Taylor. This is obviously just a guess as it's only Wednesday and we haven't even had a practice yet. 
If they wanted to rest Harris, they could have for the JAX game. From what I am hearing / seeing, NE is looking at the MIA game as a  keep the momentum rolling game. BB just said that in his presser, and he's not planning on resting players. My best guess is everyone plays and gets some work but no one gets overworked. It will be interesting to see how they play things if the game is close late and they see how other games are going. The league now has the Bills and Pats playing at the same time.

In the mathematically still a chance but never going to happen category, NE would end up with the #1 seed with a win and losses by TEN, KC, and BUF. They can earn a home playoff with a win and a Bills loss. It's also not out of the question that losing could get them a better first round playoff match up, so there are a lot of wild cards in the NE / MIA game.

 
With a week left in the season, Harris is PFF's #1 rated running back. Don't ask me why and I have no idea how Harris (88.0) could possibly be rated higher than Taylor (86.9). Stevenson is 15th (76.4).

 
With a week left in the season, Harris is PFF's #1 rated running back. Don't ask me why and I have no idea how Harris (88.0) could possibly be rated higher than Taylor (86.9). Stevenson is 15th (76.4).
Harris' pass blocking rating is more than twice Taylor's, who is the lowest rated among the top 50 RBs. Never realized he was such a liability there. I guess he makes up for it elsewhere.  :P

 
Any news heading into the game on how Harris will be used? Last week he was pulled as a precaution. I'm assuming if it was truly an injury, he would not be active today. 

 
The more I see what's happening with players today, I doubt Harris plays the whole game today. If you have Stevenson, he may be a safer play. 

 
JJ Taylor is inactive, so that most likely means NE will be using Harris like they normally would. Unless the game gets out of hand one way or the other, I don’t see the Pats opting to rest him unless he tweaks his injury again (at this stage always a potential issue).

 
Damien Harris rushed nine times for 30 yards in the Patriots' Wild Card loss to the Bills, adding a seven-yard reception. 

Despite a 1A/1B situation with rookie Rhamondre Stevenson, Harris finished 10th in the league in rushing (929) and second in rushing touchdowns (15). Both numbers would have been higher had hamstring issues not cost him two games and limited him in other contests. Harris took a modest step forward as a pass catcher, though nothing that suggested he is about to become a three-down back. Merely 21st in yards after contact, Harris spent much of 2021 getting sprung by excellent run blocking, though not every back can take advantage. He had 12 gains of 15-plus yards, good for sixth in the league. With the Pats still having a ways to go as a passing attack, Harris should easily return RB2 value in the final year of his rookie contract in 2022. RB1 isn't completely out of the question, but this backfield figures to remain a 2-3 back attack.  

Jan 16, 2022, 12:05 AM ET

 
This guy had a breakout year when he was on the field. Always crowded in NE but he is going into a contract year and appears to be the lead back. Anyone have any dynasty thoughts on where he ranks going forward? 

 
This guy had a breakout year when he was on the field. Always crowded in NE but he is going into a contract year and appears to be the lead back. Anyone have any dynasty thoughts on where he ranks going forward? 
assume the midpoint between bellcow and RBBC with RS.  I think Harris edged out RS in lead back role, but he had a bothersome hamstring which made it difficult to divine the split in 2022.

 
Field Yates

@FieldYates

The Patriots are hosting free agent RB Leonard Fournette on a visit today, per source. The 27-year old is coming off of the best all around season of his career with 812 rushing yards, 8 rushing TD and 69 catches for 454 yards in 2021.
As an owner of both Fournette and Harris, all I can say is UGH....... LOL

 
NE has looked into Fournette several times already across his career so far. This was to be expected. BB doesn't care about your fantasy team. If he can get 2,500 yards from 3 RB for the cost of half of one middle of the road receiver, he's going to do it. It makes good financial sense.

In a game built around 3 run home runs, he is still insistent on winning with pitching and defense. It appears he still thinks he can win with a strong run game and a decent defense. It remains to be seen if the defense can be decent, given that they went back-to-back games without forcing the Bills to punt even once.

These days, the best defense is a good offense. On paper, it doesn't look like NE has the horses to be competitive consistently. But I haven't won quite as many SB's as Bill has (fantasy league titles I probably have Bill beat).

 
They let their fullback go to the raiders because they don't plan to use the position anymore

Expect more two te sets with Jonnu blocking in line or at fullback and occasionally going out on routes, Henry playing more of a modern te role and lots of running and play action.  They tried to upgrade at receiver and may still draft someone but i expect them to go with defense and o line more than anything.  

Whoever the rbs are getting carries they will have value this year.  Might not be rb1 value for most of the year but by end of the season we should have a little more clarity on who the primary ball carriers will be and could get a monster game like Damien Harris put up in the fantasy playoffs last year.  Would be a good rb2bc

 
NE has looked into Fournette several times already across his career so far. This was to be expected. BB doesn't care about your fantasy team. If he can get 2,500 yards from 3 RB for the cost of half of one middle of the road receiver, he's going to do it. It makes good financial sense.

In a game built around 3 run home runs, he is still insistent on winning with pitching and defense. It appears he still thinks he can win with a strong run game and a decent defense. It remains to be seen if the defense can be decent, given that they went back-to-back games without forcing the Bills to punt even once.

These days, the best defense is a good offense. On paper, it doesn't look like NE has the horses to be competitive consistently. But I haven't won quite as many SB's as Bill has (fantasy league titles I probably have Bill beat).


Signing Fournette would be a waste of money since they are tight with the cap, they are strong at RB and have holes pretty much everywhere else.

 
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Signing Fournette would be a waste of money since they are tight with the cap, they are strong at RB and have holes pretty much everywhere else.
He played for $2M in 2020 and $3.25M in 2021. He had 1,266 YS last year for that $3.25M. Fournette had more YFS than Stefon Diggs did, who took home $15.1M last season.

I get that is comparing apples to oranges and Diggs is a big play receiver with more of an overall impact. But Fournette on a low dollar contract would be more valuable than adding another run of the mill free agent receiver for $10-12M like Agholor.

Their best bet to get a better WR is most likely by trade, but the question would be who of value would they be willing to part with (or what draft picks).

Would you roll the dice on OBJ? Sign Fuller, Julio, or Landry? Trade for someone like Cooks?

 
He played for $2M in 2020 and $3.25M in 2021. He had 1,266 YS last year for that $3.25M. Fournette had more YFS than Stefon Diggs did, who took home $15.1M last season.

I get that is comparing apples to oranges and Diggs is a big play receiver with more of an overall impact. But Fournette on a low dollar contract would be more valuable than adding another run of the mill free agent receiver for $10-12M like Agholor.

Their best bet to get a better WR is most likely by trade, but the question would be who of value would they be willing to part with (or what draft picks).

Would you roll the dice on OBJ? Sign Fuller, Julio, or Landry? Trade for someone like Cooks?


How does adding Fournette help the offense if you currently have Harris, Stevenson and White...if they needed a RB I would love to bring him onboard but with all the holes they have this is not the area to spend $.

 
How does adding Fournette help the offense if you currently have Harris, Stevenson and White...if they needed a RB I would love to bring him onboard but with all the holes they have this is not the area to spend $.
It helps if they want to play bully football, which worked great in the middle of the season last year when they completely ran over defenders. If they can rotate those guys, average 5 ypc, and let Mac succeed on play action, that is a recipe for winning football (if they have a decent defense). They could get 2,500-3,000 yards of offense from those 4 backs for around $5M combined.

The strategy would be to play keep away, run teams down, and dominate time of possession. That may not be the offense you want them to run, but Bill would look at that as a great success. To be clear, I don't want that style of offense either, and it's certainly open to debate if that is even a viable strategy given the way offenses operate these days.

 
It helps if they want to play bully football, which worked great in the middle of the season last year when they completely ran over defenders. If they can rotate those guys, average 5 ypc, and let Mac succeed on play action, that is a recipe for winning football (if they have a decent defense). They could get 2,500-3,000 yards of offense from those 4 backs for around $5M combined.

The strategy would be to play keep away, run teams down, and dominate time of possession. That may not be the offense you want them to run, but Bill would look at that as a great success. To be clear, I don't want that style of offense either, and it's certainly open to debate if that is even a viable strategy given the way offenses operate these days.


They already have Harris and Stevenson to do this...they do a good job drafting RBs so just use your 4th or 5th rounder on another RB and save the cap space for another position...also, with that D how much will they be able to get away doing this?  They do not have a #1 CB, lack CB depth, are a giant question mark at LB and the D line has questions as well...IMO they just don't have a D you can count on to keep games consistently low-scoring...if they did that would be one thing but they just don't.

 
They already have Harris and Stevenson to do this...they do a good job drafting RBs so just use your 4th or 5th rounder on another RB and save the cap space for another position...also, with that D how much will they be able to get away doing this?  They do not have a #1 CB, lack CB depth, are a giant question mark at LB and the D line has questions as well...IMO they just don't have a D you can count on to keep games consistently low-scoring...if they did that would be one thing but they just don't.
Which is why they will likely use the resources they have to upgrade the defense. We've seen what $15M gets you for a WR these days. Putting that money toward the defense will win them more games than adding an overpaid WR will.

How many times have we seen a NE RB get hurt? There are worse things than bringing in Fournette for $3-4M. I am sure they will add a veteran WR for low dollars over the next 6 months. Have Bourne as the WR1, Meyers as the WR2, sign someone with experience in the slot, get more out of Agholor, and draft someone in the middle of the draft. That would be a band aid / bridge solution until they can find a true go to receiver.

In his second season as a starter, Brady had two guys get over 500 receiving yards (Brown and Patten). I realize the game has changed in 20 years, but Bill didn't exactly load up the roster with receiving targets for Tom. In 2022 that's likely not the best strategy, but Bill is gonna be Bill.

 
Even with Fournette not coming to town, the media is still all over NE potentially signing another back and trading Harris, as they have traded guys with only a year left on rookie deals multiple times before.

 
Anarchy99 said:
Even with Fournette not coming to town, the media is still all over NE potentially signing another back and trading Harris, as they have traded guys with only a year left on rookie deals multiple times before.
Trading Harris would make Stevenson a hot commodity although I think it is very unlikely. The fact is that a good but not dynamic running back on his last year of contract is not going to fetch a ton in todays market. He is more valuable to have as another weapon to support their 2nd year quarterback than to try to get a middling pick out of, regardless if they intend to resign him or not.

 
Trading Harris would make Stevenson a hot commodity although I think it is very unlikely. The fact is that a good but not dynamic running back on his last year of contract is not going to fetch a ton in todays market. He is more valuable to have as another weapon to support their 2nd year quarterback than to try to get a middling pick out of, regardless if they intend to resign him or not.
Sony Michael says hi. NE could sign or draft another RB and move on from Harris. I agree it’s unlikely and probably ill advised, but there is always a chance. 

 
Trading Harris would make Stevenson a hot commodity although I think it is very unlikely. The fact is that a good but not dynamic running back on his last year of contract is not going to fetch a ton in todays market. He is more valuable to have as another weapon to support their 2nd year quarterback than to try to get a middling pick out of, regardless if they intend to resign him or not.


Could not agree more...Pats are leaking holes everywhere...RB is one of their strengths, if they deal Harris and Stevenson gets hurt they could be in contention for worst weapons in the league...ride him out, see what the market for him is and if it's too much let him walk.

 
Cross-posting from a different thread. My comments about Harris vs. Stevenson probably belong in the Harris thread. 

Posted 10 minutes ago

9 hours ago, TripItUp said:

Rhamondre clearly the stronger runner IMHO

rockaction said 

I disagree. Harris is the better athlete, per these measurements. 

https://www.playerprofiler.com/nfl/damien-harris/

https://www.playerprofiler.com/nfl/rhamondre-stevenson/

In addition, Harris's surprising power and leg drive translates into chunk gains. Harris is ridiculously underrated in FF and real football. I know people disagree with PFF grades all the time, but Harris's grades don't lie. He's actually got a ton of unrealized potential. He's not going to take eighty yarders to the house, but he is dynamic in other ways. If the Pats are smart, they'll offer some guaranteed money and lock him up. That's my two cents, and he's a guy I traded away last year, which hurts. 

 
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And to answer any questions, I do not think the Pats will lock Harris up. That's how they operate, and it's worked for them for years. It just seems that every back there essentially redshirts for a year, and Strong and Damien Harris are really the only RBs on the roster that demonstrably exhibit athletic prowess, so one would think...

But again, the Patriots are almost always content to let the carousel go around and around with different guys manning a different horse. It's just that in this case there's probably a happy medium with Harris. I know the horrors of second RB contracts, but he seems to be everything they want but for house calls. The last time they had a house call guy (and even then, he was more of a bull) was Corey Dillon back over a decade ago, so I'm not sure how much that matters to Belichick and co. Maybe it does. 

We shall see. I'm just issue spotting here.  

 
I've just never understood the Patriots 3-headed monster approach.  Also, as @rockaction stated - I don't think Stevenson can even be compared to Damien Harris.  

Damien Harris has significantly more breakaway ability than Stevenson.  

Stevenson is more of a plotter and Damien Harris is elusive and harbors a better skillset. 

 

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