Running Backs Depth Projection | Patriots Daily - video Dailymotion

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CLNS Media’s Taylor Kyles and Mike Kadlick take a look at New England’s running back group and determine sleepers, surprise cuts, trade candidates, and more.    ************************************************ Patriots Content Brought to you by....  Prize Picks - PrizePicks.com/CLNS Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100!  Gametime - https://gametime.co Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.  Merch Store - https://shop.clnsmedia.com  Social Media!!!!  Patriots Twitter- https://twitter.com/patriotsclns  Patriots Instagram-  https://www.instagram.com/patriotsclns/  Facebook- https://facebook.com/clnsmedia  LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/clnsmedia/about/  Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@clnsmedia *********************************************************  ABOUT PATRIOTS COVERAGE ON CLNS:   Welcome to the CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for New England Patriots  football.  CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the 6X Super Bowl Champions.  Get complete inside access to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and everywhere on the road. CLNS Patriots credentialed insiders Greg Bedard, Andrew Callahan, Tayler Kyles, John Zannis, Alex Barth and Mike Kadlick provide instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else inside Patriots Place.  If you enjoy CLNS’ Celtics  All Access and are craving more Boston sports content, you head over to CLNS’ Patriots  Press Pass at   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqX7G3pEDTseNxtoDU27PEg?sub_confirmations=1   __________________________________________________________________________  For Celtics Content:    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmp3kivpOg3lzoJC7yV7VjQ?sub_confirmations=1   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmp3kivpOg3lzoJC7yV7VjQ?sub_confirmations=1    Celtics Twitter - https://twitter.com/CelticsCLNS   Celtics Instagram - https://instagram.com/celticsCLNS  Twitter Main- - https://twitter.com/clnsmediaCLNS  Main Instagram - https://instagram.com/clnsmedia ******************************************************* Check out over dozens of sports podcasts from CLNS Media here: https://clnsmedia.com/ OR for all 200 shows, go to https://northstationmedia.com

Transcript

00:00What's going on, everyone? Taylor Kyles and Mike Cavlik here for CLNS Media, coming at

00:16you with another episode of Pat's Daily, brought to you by our good friends at GameTime. Today,

00:21we are going to be taking a look at running backs as we continue our position preview

00:26series. Mike, you broke this down, put it on the website. Before we get into all the

00:30different topics, what do you think about this position group overall?

00:34Yeah, so we did safeties the other day, and as I was writing this note line in the room,

00:39it kind of reminds me of the safety room a little bit, just as far as a guy at the top

00:43just got a hefty extension with Kyle Duggar, and then a reminder of Stevenson here, and

00:47then three to four other guys who are kind of in the mix. Obviously, Peppers is different

00:51on a different scale, but you know, you got Antonio Gibson, who you signed this offseason

00:56as a three-year deal worth up to $12 million, somewhere in that range. So, an affordable

01:01running back who we'll get to more in a second, but he's a guy who I think will play a big role

01:06in the offense. And then you have your Kevin Harris to Sean Fenwick and to Ralph Jennings.

01:10Andrew Michael Hasey as well. We can't forget him. He had a really solid camp. We'll get to

01:13him later as well. So, it's really Ramond Dre and then the rest of them, and I think Gibson

01:19is pretty much a lock to make this team. The other three, four, are kind of vying for that

01:24third spot, maybe a fourth, depending on how it goes. Kevin Harris, obviously. Kevin

01:29Harris reminds me of, like, he's like the Josh Bledsoe of the offense, where practice

01:33squatter, you know, bring him up sometimes. He's kind of there. Those two came in, I think,

01:37around the same year and have kind of lived on the practice squad. So, that's kind of

01:40my comp for him on the offensive and defensive sides. But yeah, it's Ramond Dre's room, signed

01:46his extension this offseason, and he's going to be basically the bell cow and who they're

01:48going to try and run the offense through.

01:51Yeah, this is one of the toughest position groups to talk about because, one, like, just

01:54the way the depth chart kind of shapes up. And also, we didn't really get to see them

01:59do much of anything. You know, we saw, like, Michael Hastie catch passes during OTAs. He

02:04did have a couple standout days. We saw Antonio Gibson and, you know, how he's going to factor

02:09in with Ramond Dre Stevenson. But running backs, by nature of their position, can't

02:12really do a whole lot when you don't have padded practices. So, I feel like especially

02:16the guys towards the back of this position group are going to give us a little more to

02:21talk about once we actually get to see them really play to their strengths and get in

02:25action. But yeah, without further ado, let's get into sleepers. So, who do you think people

02:30are not talking enough about from this position?

02:33So, I just mentioned him a little bit as far as he was there at one of their top, really,

02:37rage and acquisitions this offseason. But it's Antonio Gibson. And I think, you know,

02:41I think with the deal he signed and kind of how he comes in here, he's the running back

02:45to, we expect him to have a role on the team. I don't think anyone thinks he's going to

02:49get cut. I think he's going to make the roster. He's 26. He's, you know, he's a veteran now.

02:55But I think we're sleeping on just how much of an impact he's actually going to have in

02:58the offense. Because not only is he just a, he's not just a backup running back to Ramond

03:04Dre Stevenson. He's going to do so much more. He's a very experienced pass catcher. He's

03:09a guy who played wide receiver in college. He was also a kick return specialist in college.

03:13He had one kick return touchdown, but he had almost 1,200 yards over four season that excuse

03:18me in four seasons as a returner. And then as a receiver, he caught 94 passes for 1,700 yards

03:25and 23 touchdowns. So he's not just a running back. He has that receiver experience. And he

03:30showed that in four years in Washington, he he ended up kind of getting phased out for Brian

03:34Robinson towards the end of his tenure there. But, you know, he was really a dual threat,

03:39if you will, for that Washington offense. And I think he's going to bring that here.

03:42And I think, you know, we talked about it on our Patriots beat Patriots daily crossover Q and A the

03:48other day about the kick return game and how the you know, how that's going to be impacted by the

03:53new rules. And I think Antonio Gibson, someone who we saw him work in with their specialists a

03:57little bit in the, in the spring program. I think he can have a real impact there too. So I just

04:02think that his versatility, not just as a running a backup running back, but a guy who can catch

04:07passes be used in that and then be a kick return specialist too. I think we're really sleeping on

04:11the impact he can have on this team.

04:12A hundred percent. I think the dual threat part of that is really what people aren't focusing

04:16enough on. I think one is a receiver. Like I think he could do even more than James White was able

04:21to do really just because of his size and his background. Now with James White, the key was

04:25consistency and you could always rely on him. So I don't necessarily want to make it seem like

04:29it's, you know, apples to apples there, of course, but the fact that Gibson can split out, play in

04:34the slot and run an actual route tree as a guy who's almost from Andre size, like they're both

04:39bigger backs, very unique skillset, but he's also a good runner. Obviously he's going to be more of

04:44the third down back, maybe change your pace, get some touches here and there. But like you said, he

04:48got phased out for Brian Robinson, which wasn't anything against a Gibson Brian Robinson's next

04:53one running back. But when you look at his numbers as a rusher, especially early on in his

04:57career, he was still really good. And he fits in this wide zone kind of rushing scheme. So I agree.

05:02I think I have him as my sleeper as well, just because the impact that he's going to have. And

05:06the fact that he's not just a receiver or just a rusher, he can legitimately give you both and ask

05:11him diversity. I think we're going to see his role kind of be like what the Patriots wanted to do

05:15last year with Ezekiel Elliott, Andre Stevenson, where you start getting these guys on the field at

05:20the same time. And with Elliott, as exciting as the idea of pony personnel is, it's like, Oh, two

05:25running backs, what are you going to do? I think it can be one of the most overhyped things in

05:28football, just like, Oh, a running back is going to catch passes. But because of Gibson's dynamic

05:33skill set, whereas, you know, Zeke was, we saw it just physically as a rudder, he did a lot for this

05:39team. And as a receiver, there was only so much he really could do. But I think that what Gibson

05:43gives you makes it much more exciting to have maybe him in the slot with her Mondrian in the

05:47backfield, both in the backfield, you don't know what they're going to do. I think that's really

05:51going to be entertaining and fun to watch that sort of yin and yang running back combo that, you

05:55know, the Cleveland used with Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb for the last couple years. And it was

05:59unbelievable. They had some of the best running games in football. That was Alex van Pelt in

06:03Kevin Savansky's offense. So that's something to get excited about with with remandering Gibson for

06:07sure. 100% All right, we got more for you guys. But first quick word from our friends over at

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07:36All right, this is where things get tricky. Like you said, it's kind of like the safety position,

07:40but we're going to take the best when we possibly can. Who do you have as a surprise cut among the

07:46Patriots?

07:47Yeah, so we just talked about receiving backs and that impact you can have. My surprise cut here is a

07:53receiving back Mr. Michael Hasey. And right now I consider him RB3. I think he sort of over the

08:00spring program established himself as that guy. But he really established himself as that guy

08:06because basically OTS is a passing camp and you're not really running the football that much. Like,

08:11you can't really develop run plays, you can't see it really happen. It's basically walkthrough

08:16whenever you run the football, because it just doesn't you know, you can't you can't block it up

08:20like you wouldn't a game because you're not really there's no pads, you're not really banging around.

08:23So, Hasey shined because that's been his MO as a receiving back in the NFL. Him and Jagoe Brissett

08:28showed a great rapport. I think there was a day where Hasey had a couple touchdowns. He showed off

08:32his speed, he showed off his hands like he looked really good. So I think we got you know, high on

08:37him this spring. And I think once sort of you realize that, okay, we don't really know how he is

08:42as a runner yet. He didn't really play much with the Patriots at all last season. If one of the

08:47young guys in Fenwick or Jennings, or even Kevin Harris can have a good camp, they might they might

08:52sort of opt to keep a more of a burly bulldozer running back, instead of a guy who can just catch

08:57passes, especially when you have Antonio Gibson, who is really going to take over that receiving

09:01back role. So right now, if I had to guess on July 3, and we'll get to the we'll get to the roster

09:07projection, I think Hasty will make the team. But it also wouldn't shock me at all if he sort of gets

09:11phased out. Once we get down to business is kind of sort of need to get you know, you're you're

09:15banging running backs down there.

09:17Yeah, I agree. Like on my roster projection, I did have to Michael Hasty and it's kind of default

09:21because like you said, he's the only one. I mean, his impact was greater than what we saw from

09:25Stevenson and Gibson. And again, that's not really against them. It's just kind of how things went

09:29with the way that the script was in practice and who actually got opportunities. And Hasty is

09:34someone who was on the roster last year, we saw him actually make an impact on special teams. That

09:39was really where he got all his playing time. It sounded like he had trouble picking up the pass

09:43protection schemes. And that's why he didn't actually get playing time. Anytime we asked about

09:46him, Bill would kind of be like, yeah, it's tough, you know, when a running back comes in, and they

09:50have to pick all that up. And it's like, okay, that's why he's probably not playing. Yeah, right.

09:54But I do believe he's, you know, a willing pass blocker, we'll see when these guys can separate

09:58themselves. I'll talk more about some guys that I think actually do have a chance to make the

10:03roster. Because if I'm being totally honest, just based on skill set, I could see Hasty, you know,

10:08not being on the roster. He's already been in the league a few years, it makes sense. But given what

10:12we know about the group right now, I would agree he has to be the surprise cut because Montrey ain't

10:16going anywhere. And Antonio Gibson is not going anywhere. Both guys got fresh new contracts.

10:21Well, that's why and I was reading back through some of these that I did last offseason, some

10:26rooms that made a little more sense to have like a trade candidate surprise cut, like I'm working on

10:30specialists later in the week. But there is a lot of cop outs here. Like again, Hasty, is it really

10:35a surprise if Jermichael Hasty gets cut? Not really, like, I think I'll make the team. So that's

10:40kind of why I did it there. We'll get into it with trade candidates in a second. But sometimes

10:46it's just difficult to you know, it's like you're putting a square peg in a round hole here. So

10:50we talked about trade candidates. So give it to me. Who do you have potentially being dealt away

10:55from the Patriots? Drumroll, please.

11:00None. There's nobody you can't do it. It's it's it's like the safeties the other day. There really

11:05is no trade candidate here in the room. You can't even make one up because again, you just look

11:10through the roster. You're not going to trade reminder Stevenson after just extending them.

11:14You're not going to trade Antonio Gibson after just giving him a three year deal. And the rest of

11:18the room doesn't have any trade value. You're not going to get anything for Jermichael Hasty unless

11:21he I shouldn't even say that because you're not going to get anything for him. And then the two

11:25undrafted rookies, it just doesn't make sense. So if anything, you should you should look to maybe

11:30trade for a running back, you could still use some, you know, backup potential there. If you

11:34don't like what you see in Kevin Harris throughout the first couple weeks, if you don't like what you

11:37see in the undrafted rookies over the first couple weeks, again, I don't know who's going to be

11:41available, but it would make a lot more sense to see this team trade for a running back on the open

11:46market to give themselves even more depth of position than it would be to see them trade any of

11:50these guys. So sometimes you can squeeze one in, you can squeeze in a Jermichael Hasty as a

11:54surprise cut. But in this room, there's not even someone you can talk about as a trade candidate, I

11:58don't think.

11:59Yeah, with a position like running back where there isn't a lot of value around the league,

12:02everybody thinks that running backs are replaceable. It's a very hard time getting any

12:06value trying to treat somebody who doesn't have a real track record of success in the league. So

12:11let's just wrap this one up. Not going to try to add too much filler into this one. Give me your

12:15grade and your projection for what this position looks like as it currently stands.

12:20Yeah. So right now I'm keeping just three guys in Antonio Gibson, Jermichael Hasty, and of course,

12:25from Andre Stevenson. And on the outside looking in Deshaun Fenwick, Kevin Harris, Terrell

12:30Jennings. I think Kevin Harris would be the next guy in. I feel like if you're doing it, I talked

12:36about this with, you know, Barth, I think on on one of our shows last week on Patriot's Daily

12:40where if you think about it like March Madness and kind of like, you know, your first four in

12:44last four out, I think Kevin Harris would be one of the last people out. Like he's right on the

12:48fringe there. You might want to keep him. But at the end of the day, I mentioned him as the

12:52Joss Bledsoe of the offense. He's probably not going to get picked up on waivers. You're

12:56probably going to, you know, be able to get him back on the practice squad. Unless of course he

13:00thinks he has other options in the league. And you know, we talked about it with like JJ Taylor

13:03last year was one of those guys where he was a candidate, but he wanted to see what he had

13:06elsewhere. He never, you know, he never returned. So ultimately I think it's three guys, Kevin

13:11Harris, and maybe one of the other two in Fenwick and Jennings, excuse me, come back on practice

13:16squad. As far as the grade, I'm giving them a B-minus. I think the room is top heavy with

13:21Romandre. We'll see what Gibson has. I'm bullish on him. I think he's going to be successful. I

13:27think it makes a lot of sense in the room, but beyond that, don't know what you have in Hasty.

13:31Don't know what you have in, you know, what you have in Kevin Harris, and it hasn't been

13:35spectacular. And then you're working with two undrafted free agents. So it's a room that can

13:39still improve. But when you have Romandre Stevenson, a guy who, in my opinion, is a

13:43franchise running back, just got paid like one. And it's going to shine in this run heavy

13:48offense with Alex Van Pelt. You can't give him a C. I think B-minus makes a ton of sense. You

13:53could maybe even go B, but to me, I think I'm giving the room a B-minus.

13:58I think that's fair. So I have the same roster projection at the position I got, obviously

14:03Mondre, Gibson, Ninja Michael Hasty. But I will say my dark horse is Deshaun Fenwick. He was

14:09someone who, during the pre-draft process, I kind of looked into him briefly. I'm kicking

14:13myself that I didn't post any clips of him because it would have been great to be able to

14:16refer to. But watching him, I was just like, yeah, this dude's solid. Like he's a well-rounded

14:21player. He's a disciplined runner. Honestly, he's got some overlap with Kevin Harris in terms of

14:25like, they can catch passes, they can pass block. They're, you know, no-nonsense runners. We're

14:30really like one cut and go. They're not going to lose yards. They'll get what's there and then

14:34maybe one or two extra because they're so physical. I also think that Fenwick has good vision, but

14:39unlike Harris, who had a lot of mileage on because he got a lot of carries out of South Carolina.

14:44Also, I believe he had a pretty significant injury that he was coming off of once he got to the

14:48NFL. Fenwick is an older guy. I think he's like 23 or something like that, maybe 24. That might be,

14:54I know he's an older guy, but he doesn't have a ton of mileage actually. He didn't get a ton of

14:59work at Oregon State. So, unlike Harris, he may be giving you a little bit more juice.

15:05And I also do think like just in terms of play style, he's got a bit more explosiveness,

15:09nothing crazy, but you know, a little more to work with there. So, I really liked Deshaun Fenwick.

15:14Also really affordable guy. Kevin Harris probably is going to end up back on the practice squad

15:18just because that's where he's been for so long. Unless he decides, like what we saw last year,

15:22a lot of guys who had been on the practice squad for a while were like, I'm out of here. I'm going

15:26to go see if I can get more work elsewhere. So, I think that's very fair. And in terms of grade,

15:31I gave him a straight B. Andre Stevenson, I think is a top 10 running back in the NFL.

15:35Antonio Gibson is one of the best receiving backs in the NFL. When you look at statistically,

15:43I kind of like what you have on the younger side with guys who can at least just be

15:46solid compliments. Obviously, you know, you'd love to have a great RB3, but at the end of the day,

15:51because it's a position where you can pretty easily find somebody to kind of come in,

15:55even if it's mid-season, like it's one of the positions where a rookie can come in,

15:58and there's very little learning curve because there's so much carryover,

16:02really depends more on the offensive line. So, I think it is a solid position group, like you said,

16:06top heavy, but there's not a whole lot of running back rooms in the NFL where there are three deep

16:10with guys who really do scary. So, exactly. I can't give an A necessarily because they don't

16:14have that, but I feel like, you know, the B range is pretty fair. Yeah. And it's a room that you have

16:18to get excited about. You know, we've heard Romandre talk about it, but we also heard Alex

16:21Van Pelt say it. They want to run the football. They want to give these guys the ball. They want

16:25to let them, you know, sort of be the center of the offense. And so, when you have a guy like

16:29Stevenson, who, you know, four years, three years in, just gets extended, coming off an injury,

16:34but a guy who I think is really going to be the focal point of the offense, again,

16:39it's something to be excited about. I think they're going to really, they're going to show

16:42their stuff. And I really like what they have in Antonio Gibson. So, that B minus can easily bring

16:46itself up to even a B plus in my opinion. So, it's just a lot of potential that you want to

16:50see happen, again, with this new scheme coming in. Yes, sir. All right. Before we sign off,

16:55we already kind of touched on it, but let people know which position preview we've got coming up

16:58next. Yeah, we're going with the specialists. This was a room in the Patriots that was always

17:03filled with guys who, you know, Jordan Healy and Matthew Slater, Brendan Schooler, Cody Davis,

17:09all those guys. And now, it's kind of dwindled down to punters and kickers, and one specialist

17:13in Brendan Schooler, and a couple guys who are kind of fringe, but play other positions. So,

17:18want to take a look at that. We'll talk about the kicker dilemma and all that stuff. So,

17:21that's going to be up on the website Friday, and we're going to record it and have it on Patriot

17:24PressFast Friday as well. So, you can go and check that out. Yeah, special teams actually

17:29matter now. I understood where, you know, they were kind of devalued because no one was returning

17:33kicks. Now, you kind of have to, unless you're willing to give the other team the ball. Was it

17:37a 30, 35 yard line? Yeah, 35. You're giving up significant yardage. So, I've seen sometimes in

17:42the comments, people are like, oh, special teams don't matter. They may matter more now than they

17:47have in a very long time. So, that's going to be a fun one. Watch out for it. But until then,

17:52take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. We will see you next time. Peace, y'all.

18:17Bye.

Running Backs Depth Projection | Patriots Daily

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