New England Patriots Young Backfield Ready to Break Out?

The New England Patriots are about to have a complete makeover at the running back position, and it starts with two young guys they drafted in the second and third rounds last year. Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley saw limited action last year as rookies behind BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Ridley got 87 carries, but Vereen only saw 15 and both each had one touchdown.

Both backs have really contrasting styles, with Vereen as more of a bigger, speedier back and Ridley as the powerful back. With Danny Woodhead also still in the mix as the third down back, there will really be no featured back for New England unless someone emerges as a guy that needs more carries.

The Patriots also signed Joseph Addai, who is supposedly going to be taking a more reserve role, but he could emerge as the ‘lead’ back if the two young players are unable to take over and prove to be unreliable.

One thing the Patriots could look to do is something like what New Orleans did last year with Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles, and Chris Ivory. Interestingly enough, Ingram led the Saints in carries last year with 122. Pierre Thomas had 12 fewer carries and just under 100 more yards. The carry distribution between the four backs went 122, 110, 87, and 79. If I had to guess right now, I’d say that the players getting those touches in order would be Ridley, Vereen, Woodhead, and Addai, but Addai could certainly see more carries.

Ridley is certainly capable of being the powerful, goal line back that the Patriots lost when BenJarvus Green-Ellis left for Cincinnati, but they have to replace 11 touchdowns from the running game with his departure. Vereen and Ridley only had two combined all of last season, so they will need to do some quick growing up.

One thing the Patriots didn’t really do much last year was involve the backs in the passing game. Danny Woodhead led all backs with 18 receptions, and there are times when he lines up at receiver, so it will be interesting to see if the Patriots use their backs in the passing game a little bit more this year.

As to the question of who is ready to break out, I would have to think it’s Vereen. He basically didn’t play last year after receiving less than one carry per game, but he definitely has an intriguing skill set including size and speed. If he can come in and make a significant impact on the offense, the Patriots could be even more dangerous offensively than they were a year ago.