QUICK SPIN: Stevan Ridley Favorite to Win Pats Feature RB Role…

Posted by Scott Pashley in SPIN News & Views No Comments »

NEWS

The Patriots let BJGE sign with the Bengals (where amazingly he has not committed any felonies, which means he has not assimilated yet…it’s early) and that has left them with a competition for carries between second year RBs Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen. The Boston Herald reports that it “makes sense” for Ridley to be the team’s feature back and to take the majority of the early down carries running between tackles.

FANTASY FOOTBALL SPIN

Shane Vereen shouldn’t be written off. He’s an athletic back who is coming off of a poor rookie season marred by a hamstring injury. We don’t like the RB situation in New England very much because we simply aren’t convinced that either one of these rushers is going to set themselves apart. This reeks of a hot-hand situation that will leave owners frustrated. As an example, the same Boston Herald article that endorses Ridley for the feature back role touts Vereen as a breakout candidate.

Only three other AFC teams had a heavier pass:run ration (59.5% : 40.5%) and that’s not likely to change very much, at least in a pro-run direction, with the addition of Brandon Lloyd to an already strong collection of pass catchers. Having said that, most people seem to view Ridley as a solid RB#3 candidate. We like him more as a high end RB#4, but with an ADP of 84 you may have to make him a RB3 to get him. If you do decide that Ridley is worth selecting in the 7th or 8th round it would be wise to spend a pick one round earlier than ADP dictates for Shane Vereen to assure that you have the lead back in NE, of one emerges that is. Vereen has ADP of 147 so you would probably have to spend a 12th or 13th round pick on him.