Patriot ground game

[i_am_the_swammi]

Maroney has started each of the last two preseason games (not that it means a dime), Taylor has been worked in, Morris has a solid season last year before getting dinged, Faulk is there as the 3rd down back, and even Benjarvis is lurking.

 

I am guessing its a mess to stay away from, but any homers have the jump on who is worth a flyer? I can't see taking any of them as anything other than an RB3/bye-week filler materiel.

[Avernus]

I personally could look at Taylor and Morris as a late round flyer as Morris catches a bit out of the backfield and taylor could be used as Dillon was a couple years back...

[Sleeping King]

FWIW Maroney did not start game 2, Taylor did. Taylor makes decisions much quicker. Maroney still dances too much. In open space he can be very dangerous but he is always looking for a 50 yard run instead of taking 4. Morris' injury situation should be monitored. If he is healthy he will see a lot of carries. 3rd downs are going to Faulk. There is a real chance they keep 5 RB and 4 TE.

 

If I were ranking them right now on who scores the most total point this season I would say.

Taylor

Faulk

Morris-Maroney

BGE

 

It's not a complete disaster though. The Patriots should score plenty of rushing touchdowns. Someone is going to get the majority of the goal line work (Possibly Morris).

[Crazysight]

It would be Morris first as it has been the last couple years. He is a B.B. favorite and his rushing average has been much better over those years than Taylor's were in Jacksonville. It will be a committee however and with all four (excluding BGE) healthy right now I don't think it's worth playing any of those guys. 10 carries a game isn't going to cut it for me unless I'm really desperate, regardless of the goalline situation. If a guy or two goes down it's a different story, however.

Edited August 24, 2009 by Crazysight

[Caveman_Nick]

I think it will change from game to game. I wouldn't depend on a NE RB.

[Pip's Invitation]

They are who you think they are.

 

Taylor and Maroney will get the between-the-20s work. Maroney still dances around too much. Taylor is effective but old.

 

Faulk is the 3rd down back. Has value in PPR, but not in other formats.

 

Morris will get the goal-line carries. Has value in TD-heavy leagues, but not in other formats.

 

Green-Ellis will be plugged in to some sort of role if there are any injuries, and there will be.

[Bronco Billy]

It would be Morris first as it has been the last couple years. He is a B.B. favorite and his rushing average has been much better over those years than Taylor's were in Jacksonville.

 

 

I would put too much stock in ypc. Morris has benefitted from running againt nickel and dime D packages almost exclusively, unlike Taylor.

 

If someone can figure out who the predominant RB is going to be in NE, it would be well worth a late round pick. The problem is that no one can really get much of a handle on the situation until it actually occurs in the regular season - so it becomes a guessing game, and even then it could be such a CF RBBC that the predominant RB could have so few opportuntiies that he just won't help a FF team. Pip may have nailed it exactly.

Edited August 24, 2009 by Bronco Billy

[Dcat]

fredtaylorsammymorrislaurencemaroneykevinfaulkbenjarvusgreen-ellis

 

NE backfield is the biggest clusterf'ck in all of fantasy football. What works very well for Belichick in the NFL does not translate into a winning formula in FF. I'll stick with the NE passing game for anything related to fantasy. As for the NE running game, staying far far away.

[Patriots]

I have been hearing that it would not suprise many people if Maroney got cut.

Edited August 24, 2009 by Patriots

[tazinib1]

fredtaylorsammymorrislaurencemaroneykevinfaulkbenjarvusgreen-ellis

 

NE backfield is the biggest clusterf'ck in all of fantasy football. What works very well for Belichick in the NFL does not translate into a winning formula in FF. I'll stick with the NE passing game for anything related to fantasy. As for the NE running game, staying far far away.

 

 

I sure hope that is not you in your avatar.

[The Holy Roller]

fredtaylorsammymorrislaurencemaroneykevinfaulkbenjarvusgreen-ellis

 

NE backfield is the biggest clusterf'ck in all of fantasy football. What works very well for Belichick in the NFL does not translate into a winning formula in FF. I'll stick with the NE passing game for anything related to fantasy. As for the NE running game, staying far far away.

 

Nice avi. Great movie.

 

Dude.

[Caveman_Nick]

IMO, players in the NE offense are on some kind of a rotation when it comes to offensive focus.

 

There are a few things this accomplishes.

 

First, it spreads the glory around and plays to the Belichick "team" concept.

 

Second, it creates a situation where if a player goes down, there is always an experienced and skilled person ready to step in to just about any role.

 

Third, and I think this is a big part of the team's offensive success, I think that the players know a few weeks ahead of time that they need to study on on the defensive tendencies of certain opponents, because that is who they are going to have a larger role against. I have thought this for a few years, with the only real exceptions being Brady, Moss and Welker, who will figure prominently into any game plan.

[Bronco Billy]

IMO, players in the NE offense are on some kind of a rotation when it comes to offensive focus.

 

There are a few things this accomplishes.

 

First, it spreads the glory around and plays to the Belichick "team" concept.

 

Second, it creates a situation where if a player goes down, there is always an experienced and skilled person ready to step in to just about any role.

 

Third, and I think this is a big part of the team's offensive success, I think that the players know a few weeks ahead of time that they need to study on on the defensive tendencies of certain opponents, because that is who they are going to have a larger role against. I have thought this for a few years, with the only real exceptions being Brady, Moss and Welker, who will figure prominently into any game plan.

 

I think you missed one:

 

Fourthly, they can throw spaghetti aginst the wall and see what sticks, which allows them to optimize how much they spend on their backfield by paying the pieces significantly less than a whole featured RB with his backups, yet getting comparable production, and then spending cap dollars in other areas.

 

That's good business, but completely ignores the needs of we FFers. :mad:

[Caveman_Nick]

I think you missed one:

 

Fourthly, they can throw spaghetti aginst the wall and see what sticks, which allows them to optimize how much they spend on their backfield by paying the pieces significantly less than a whole featured RB with his backups, yet getting comparable production, and then spending cap dollars in other areas.

 

That's good business, but completely ignores the needs of we FFers. :mad:

 

Yup, And I think this plays as much of a part as the other factors.

[Dcat]

I sure hope that is not you in your avatar.

 

 

you never seen The Big Lebowski?

 

Dude!

[Dcat]

IMO, players in the NE offense are on some kind of a rotation when it comes to offensive focus.

 

There are a few things this accomplishes.

 

First, it spreads the glory around and plays to the Belichick "team" concept.

 

Second, it creates a situation where if a player goes down, there is always an experienced and skilled person ready to step in to just about any role.

 

Third, and I think this is a big part of the team's offensive success, I think that the players know a few weeks ahead of time that they need to study on on the defensive tendencies of certain opponents, because that is who they are going to have a larger role against. I have thought this for a few years, with the only real exceptions being Brady, Moss and Welker, who will figure prominently into any game plan.

 

agree 100%. Works great for Beli in the NFL. Sucks for fantasy (backfield, that is)

[Crazysight]

 

I would put too much stock in ypc. Morris has benefitted from running againt nickel and dime D packages almost exclusively, unlike Taylor.

 

If someone can figure out who the predominant RB is going to be in NE, it would be well worth a late round pick. The problem is that no one can really get much of a handle on the situation until it actually occurs in the regular season - so it becomes a guessing game, and even then it could be such a CF RBBC that the predominant RB could have so few opportuntiies that he just won't help a FF team. Pip may have nailed it exactly.

 

If by nickel and dime packages you mean "goal-line packages" than you'd be correct about Morris.. Although I don't think that was a benefit for his ypc average.

 

Taylor's ypc was only 3.9 last year, with only 1 TD out of 143 attempts. Morris average was 4.7 with 7 TDs out of 156 attempts (and yes he did get goal-line carries, which really makes the 4.7 look even better considering all the goal-line defenses he ran against).. And such a difference is noteworthy. As a lifelong New Englander who watches all the games I can say that Morris didn't run against "nickel and dime D packages almost exclusively" last year with Matt Cassell behind center, who had no ability to to stretch defenses the way Brady had. In fact the year prior when he would have seen more nickel and dime packages (according to your theory) his average was actually slightly less at 4.5 yards a carry, and the year before that in Miami it was 4.3 (before Miami was any good).

And I can totally flip your argument by stating that Taylor played on an offense that was built for and centered around running the ball, whereas Morris did not.

 

Taylor's ypc dropped from 5.4 to 3.9 last year. He's still decent with some gas left in the tank, but no doubt beyond his prime at this point. Unless the 33 year old Taylor can revert back to where he was prior to last year (which I doubt) or a lasting injury happens to morris, it will be Morris who will be the predominant force in New England once again, as it has been the last 2 years. Unfortunately with the entire committee healthy that still won't likely result in any more than 10 carries per game for him, which I will pass on for better options.

Edited August 24, 2009 by Crazysight