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Well yeah . . . several key OL guys haven't been practicing. So sure, I 100% agree that if guys like Brown, Onwenu, Reiff, and McDermott aren't playing and the two late round rookies are playing instead, then yes, they are in trouble.
Was just trying to ask if you think it's within the realm of possibilities Montgomery shows out and ascends to the 3rd receiving option behind JuJu and Parker (I don't think much on Bourne or Thorton; sounds like Bourne is a potential cut candidate especially if they add Hopkins). Could result in some interesting 21/22 personnel groupings as they attempt to keep the best play makers on the field.
Highly doubtful Montgomery will be their third receiving option. He's a 30-year-old, oft-injured back that's had more than 25 receptions only once in his career . . . and that was in 2016.
Gangbusters in OTAs?
Reports on Montgomery are as follows. Lit things up as a receiving back in camp last year, then got hurt in Week 1. Was healthy by the end of the season, but there was no point in trying to bring him back. This preseason, he apparently has picked up right where he was last training camp. Looks the same, takes the right angles, good foot work, doesn't look any different than he did last preseason. Said to be moving, running, cutting fine and catching everything thrown his direction. He's earned praise from reports and BB. Feel free to breakdown that information and add a description as you so choose. I'm still not convinced he is the next James White . . . but there are those out there that suggest he could be.
I thought you were talking about Thorton going "gangbusters"
Oh. Missed who we were talking about. In limited action, Thornton has been lining up all over the field, has been getting separation, and has made some great catches on passes that weren't that great. He was getting rave reviews before he tweaked something. He was their most productive receiver. But as I said at the time, it's easy to look good in shorts and t-shirts. I am still not sold on him, but they appear to have been trying to get him a lot more involved than last year. As of now, if I had to pick a NE WR, I'd probably want Thornton for essentially free (vs. having to draft JuJu or Parker).
Fekger and Bedard should get married. The are the two biggest naysayers to ever grace Boston's airwaves. The two of them would predict an 0-17 season if they could. They crapped all over the team when they were winning SBs. Just curious . . . when guys like Curran / Perry / Callahan are on and suggest the team is a playoff team and they beg people to find every penny they could possibly find and lay it on NE over 7.5 wins, do those guys opinions count?
Their tackle situation could be an issue . . . 3 months from now. My issue with Bedard is to him the QB, the RBs, the TEs, the WRs, the OL, the DL, the LB, the secondary, the coaching staff, and the entirety of special teams is always a hot mess. He never has anything positive to say about anything. I brought up Felger because he's a more football educated version of Felger. Bedard and I have interacted multiple times directly over the years, and I supported my position with facts, links to videos, statistical breakdowns, etc. and he essentially told me I was full of ca-ca and I had no idea what I was talking about (even though I outlined 10 things that directly refuted what he had written, tweeted, or said on the air). He exists only to dump on the team. I get it. Hot takes get views or clicks, and that's his schtick. But he's been bashing the team when they were winning titles and to him the sky was always falling.
So "in Bill we Trust" devolves into "in Bill we Trust as long as we are still on the mountaintop". Fail. That's not how trust works.
Seems like the perfect alignment of talent and situation. I don't think he has a long incredible career but it seems like the stars have aligned for him to payoff round 2 value.
Nice post. I'd personally attribute a large portion of this BB fired nonsense to people's overall disdain for the organization in general. The public likes rooting for underdogs and similarly likes rooting against players/teams who dominate. Patriots we so good for so long, this irrational hate will probably last for at least a few more season. And also the media loving to parrot the coldest hot takes they can, a la "Lebron isn't/wasn't that good". Once they see one source get a lot of clicks making a stupid claim like that, they all try to jump on the bandwagon. Even in the highly unlikely event BB got fired, he'd probably not last a day without multiple other job offers from the rest of the league. I'm sure Kraft knows that as well.
Until BB does what BB does and makes it a RB nightmare. I can keep him for a 6th rounder and I’m scared as hell.
That seems like a great deal even if BB plays around too much. There’s just not many reliable guys in the backfield there.
I feel like a lot of the concerns about RS stem from what folks are worried *might* happen, rather than how BB actually uses RS.
Hands down better option than keeping a Dobbins a round later?
That's the one I can't wrap my head around. People act as though last year never happened. Or try to write the whole thing off as a series of spectacular events. Sure some things broke his way, that happens every year for players. What RS did with that opportunity doesn't happen with everyone though. And everything BB has said last season till now, and what they did in the draft and FA (nothing really at RB) only reinforces the belief that they will do something similar this season. Only with a (hopefully) better offensive coordinator and scheme. Even without any improvement anywhere, and some regression in the passing looks, I'll gladly take a low end RB1 season from him as a late 2nd/early 3rd round pick. I'm betting he'll more than return on his current investment.
I'd say yes (and I'm also a Dobbins owner). Higher floor and, IMO, higher ceiling. Not saying it's miles of difference, but for one round, more than worth the added risks and questions that come with Dobbins.
Agreed. Not to mention that RS should be the focal point of the Pats offense, while Dobbins is arguably behind Lamar Jackson for rushing TD & maybe rushing in general.
People can decide whatever they want and project players however they like. I have followed the Patriots before Brady and Bill ever got there. I covered the Patriots for over 10 years for this very website. I have given my opinion on how things will play out. People can do with that what they want. But the same beat guys I used to interact with are still saying that NE is trying to take some stuff off of Stevenson's plate and limit his workload to keep him fresh and healthy throughout the season. They are also suggesting they may be exploring bringing in another RB.
That doesn't seem as big of a hill as you're trying to make it. I actually see that stat as encouraging.
Yeah . . . sort of. Most of the times were in the early to mid Brady era . . . when their philosophy was much more geared toward a using a heavy workload, work horse back. Since then, BB has pivoted to a very defined way of using his RBs, typically a heavy usage rushing back for downs 1 + 2, a jack of all trades back that would get some work every week (think Burkhead), and a third down / receiving back (in the vein of James White). The big back usually has a backup that won't play much most weeks (but would start if the lead dog got hurt).
I don’t think anyone thinks Stevenson will get all of the work in the backfield - just that he’s by far the best back on the team. He should see most the the GL carries so not sure the other backs matter so much in that regard.
As I mentioned, the team has gone in a different direction usage wise. Here are the other BB seasons.
Once again - not sure this shows what you want it to - for one thing it doesn't account for injuries or what RBs were on the team - plus there's a few high numbers sprinkled in there.
Others (and likely people internally to the team) share concerns about Montgomery and depth behind RS. There's been multiple articles this week out there about who NE may approach and bring in as potentially a RB1A, a RB2, or a more legit receiving back than Montgomery. IMO, the chances they add someone else are pretty good.
Kareem Abdul Stevenson…new name same player…
Sheik Yerbouti
I still stand by my assessment that based on history, NE will give more work to and trust Harris and Strong. They drafted 3 backs in 2 drafts. Not really sure they needed to layer on another guy to redshirt this year again. Since this came up a few weeks ago, I have seen plenty of people suggesting they are looking to limit RS to some extent and that they are potentially looking at adding someone else. That makes more sense to me than if they took a RB in the 5th round. And BB will always look to add a veteran if that player is willing to play for below market pay. All this leads me to think RS won't get a bigger workload (some people have argued that), and depending upon who they add, he could see some touches shaved off his total.
Considering they're arguably not even a top 10 team in the AFC (on paper) it would be an interesting strategy.
Last week when the Pats had Deandre in town, there were plenty of national folks suggesting that with Hopkins they would be a serious contender for the AFC East and the AFC as a whole. Don't shoot me, I am only the messenger. I get it that all these people are looking for clicks, views, and followers and who knows how serious they take their own hot takes. Curran still says they will be competing for a bye, and he's never struck me as the type to just throw crazy gibberish out there that he didn't believe.
This exactly.
Strong has some potential. Harris is a poor man’s Damien Harris at his ceiling.
