2017 Patriots Off-season

Did you even read what I said??? If you did then it's clear he's going to have a big role in offense when players like Bolden and Slater have none.

No I'm not saying he's just a backup, he'll get good playing time. Did you miss the 5-10 to half the carries?

Yes it makes sense to pay Burkhead more than let's say they bring back Blount. He's a very good special teams player that can help your offense. He can do more than Blount and he is a massive upgrade over Bolden who did nothing more than special teams and yet made almost double what Blount made last year.

He will allow us to have two early down RBs on roster which is huge. Something we haven't had in years.

Doesn't the fact that Slater and Bolden both made almost double what Blount did last year tell you something? All they did was play special teams. A player that can do more than that is a massive upgrade on game day roster.

Like I said before Bolden is a classic depth more, nothing more. He is a long shot to make roster unless an injury happens.

If the Patriots bring back Blount, get an AP or draft a RB early, it will show you the teams true plans. Everyone expects them to do one of those things.

This is what I said, you just keep taking one thing I say and acting like I didn't say the rest.

Guys he got the money for both but I'd say mainly because they think he can be a productive back. But his downside of being able to contribute as a core special teamer was important too.

If you asked Belichick he would say "because he's a good football player that can help the team in a lot of different ways"

Hahaha I said he's Bolden but a much better runner. Man you just like to make things up!

Bolden is making under a million dollars. His signing bonus was only 50k and his cap his is $695,000.... base salary if he makes the team is $775,000.

It can easily be viewed as a depth signing for camp and security purposes. They will bring in a veteran and/or some rookies and see if one of them can be better but feel comfortable they have a guy like
Bolden who knows the system and can fit on special teams or as an emergency back if necessary. I put the odds of him making the roster a little better than 50/50. My guess is they hope he doesn't but are comfortable if he has to be.

Edit clarity: I say hope he doesn't but I should probably say - they hope someone else pushes him off. They know his ceiling and hope he continues to show that but that someone else more valuable bumps him. I don't want it to sound like they want him to play his way off.

1+1=2

1. You don't pay a RB that much money without expecting a lot out of him on offense.
1. If you expect a lot out of a RB on offense you cant also have him be a CORE special teamer.
=2 If he does contribute a lot on offense then he won't on special teams. Maybe some but not
a lot. As in he wont be out there covering kickoffs and punts.

Just seems like common sense to me but you never know. He isn't that big a guy to begin with to not expect wear and tear to be an issue.

Patriots have an offer on table for Blount to return. I think that says everything in regards to Burkhead. They are not expecting him to lead team in carries like a bunch of you think for some reason. It just makes no sense. A guy with a 100 career carries, was not brought in to replace Blount. He was brought in to help him or another RB and improve overall RB depth.

You guys are all hung up on the money. It's like whatever Mike Reiss says is 100% true. It was just his opinion, he said just that, not something that came from team. They paid Hogan more than Edleman last year, it didn't mean Hogan got more snaps. They paid Bolden more than Blount last year how many carries did he get?

How about we discuss what he -could- do instead?

Burkhead is basically the Danny Amendola signing. He's the highest paid RB, they'll give him the shot at being a starter, but the fallback is if he doesn't live up to it, he can be either the 3rd down back, or he can play special team.

He's basically a RB swiss army knife, the way Amendola can start outside, be the 3rd down WR, or play special teams.

*edit* Illustration of versatility:  www.csnne.com/new-england-patriots/film-review-rex-burkhead-provides-new-england-patriots-combination-power-quickness


The best feature is this:

Since they had him line up in the -slot- in Cincinnati, the Patriots could exploit him in audibles by having him line up there while Cooks goes to the outside, and Edelman shifts to the intermediate routes.

www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/173758/bengals-call-rex-burkhead-a-running-back-but-keep-using-him-as-a-slot-receiver

Or just line him wide, and switch up Cooks or Edelman at the slot, and really force defenders to try and figure out who to cover.

This could be done on first, second, or third down, since he's able to catch the ball, and has enough wriggle to run the ball as a threat if they catch defenses in a nickel or dime situation - this will be really exploitable if they manage to find a defense they can run the no-huddle against - just exploit the mismatches whether in the spread offense, or the two-TE offense.

He'd be basically a bigger version of Super Bowl James White. With more power running capability than White or Lewis, though Lewis is a more dynamic runner.

With guys like him I don't think they go in with a set plan. They certainly have an idea of what they'd like to do
With him and where he can help then go from there and see how it plays out.
The Patriots interest in Blount is real but I also think it's very limited. If I had to guess, they feel they had to rely on him too much and in situations where he's not good. Blount is only good in very specific spots and is really easy for an opponent to shut down when they want to shut down the running game. Judging by the contract I think they hope that Burkhead can take a lot of early down and early game running away from Blount. It will keep things more balanced.

Honestly, if you think about it. In an idea work Burkhead would replace Blount as the main back. Then Blount is the closer late in games when the defense is tired and the Patriots have the lead. Maybe Blount would get carries in certain situational spots as well but replacing him in first and second down in close game situations would be a nice upgrade.

There is something to be said about a groove from repeated carries, but in order to do that, you'd have to commit to it for a whole game.

And sometimes, you just end up with slow starts against strong defenses because you've limited your playbook to run and play action passes with him in there.

Note his postseason stats, with strong run defenses:

www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BlouLe00/gamelog/post/

Over the regular season, Blount's great because he can pretty much carry the load against weaker run defenses, but in the playoffs against strong run defenses (And no, the Colts D is NOT a strong run defense), he's a liability because he limits your offense, and why NE turned to Shane Vereen and James White in the Super Bowls.