Experts figure Michel fits
Laud Pats’ debated pick
There’s nothing like having a draft pick ignite a debate storm across a region. What’s one of the best ways to make that happen?
Select a running back in the first round.
The Patriots did this year, going against type by grabbing
Sony Michel with the 31st pick. The second-guessing occurred immediately.
Couldn’t they have snagged Michel, or a reasonable facsimile of the Georgia back, in any round? Couldn’t they have picked up a similar all-purpose back off the scrap heap, just as they did with
Dion Lewis?
On the surface, there doesn’t seem much logic behind Bill Belichick using a first-round asset on a position that’s been devalued, especially when the Patriots coach had so many other needs. He hadn’t drafted a running back in the first round since Laurence Maroney in 2006. Plus, with Rex Burkhead, James White, Mike Gillislee and new addition Jeremy Hill, they already seem locked and loaded at the position.
Asked about the selection of Michel, director of player personnel Nick Caserio chalked it up to picking “good football players.”
Watching his tape, Michel is certainly impressive. Some fumbling issues, yes, but it’s still easy to come away with a good feeling about him. He’s an explosive back. There’s no doubt about it.
There’s probably more to it than just adding another good football player to the mix. Former NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker tossed out one theory when contacted by the Herald last week. At first, he thought the Michel pick was “strange,” but having spent 2005-06 in Foxboro, he also has an idea how the Patriots think.
“They’re making sure injuries are not an excuse,” said the host of the Ross Tucker Football Podcast. “That’s why Belichick’s loading up.”
Let’s consider this notion for a moment. Tom Brady turns 41 in August. Why load up at running back? Because it’s a position that cost them at the end of the 2015 season.
That year, the reigning champs were looking great on offense with LeGarrette Blount, Lewis and White. Belichick wasn’t paying them much either — the typical approach with running backs. Lewis, signed as a free agent, was new to the equation, but soon became a difference maker.
Then he tore his ACL and Blount was lost for the season with a hip injury. That left White to carry the load along with Brandon Bolden. An over-the-hill Steven Jackson was brought in to try and provide some semblance of a running game.
A dynamic offense essentially became one dimensional. Brady, with 13 yards, was the team’s leading rusher in the AFC Championship Game in Denver. The Broncos hit him 20 times, Brady far more vulnerable to the pass rush without a legitimate back to carry the ball.
Since then, the Patriots have made it essential to have multiple backs, all of whom are capable of carrying the rock as a starter. And, they actually pay them, too. Last year, they added Gillislee and Burkhead, and extended White.
While they lost Lewis to the Titans and a four-year, $20 million deal in free agency, they signed Hill (one year, $1.5 million), a former starter for the Bengals. And, for the cherry on top, they added a top draft pick in Michel.
“They don’t mess around. They don’t take chances,” said Tucker. “They’re going to have backups for the backups if the role is important enough.”
Grabbing the Georgia star where they did also makes perfect sense to former NFL head coach Brian Billick. The NFL Network analyst just believes from a talent standpoint, and how the Patriots employ running backs in their offense, Michel isn’t a stretch. It’s more about arming Brady with another top-shelf weapon.
“I didn’t see a problem taking him at 31. I think (Michel) fits into what they want to do offensively. They tend to be very position specific,” Billick said last week. “This is an all-around back who I think is pretty darn good. He gives them another weapon. Very few teams use their backs better than New England. So I think he fits right in.”
There have been comparisons made to New Orleans star Alvin Kamara, who the Saints drafted in the third round last year.
“If he’s anywhere close to Alvin Kamara, they did pretty darn good,” said Billick.
Former NFL defensive back Charles Davis, an NFL Network analyst, pointed toward the resurgence of running games. Yes, the league remains pass happy, but teams still have to run the football to be successful.
“The running back renaissance is real. Whether we want to admit it or not, because we throw the ball like crazy in the NFL, those teams who can damn well run the football are going to win championships, and they continue to do so,” said Davis. “That doesn’t mean every team’s got a 1,500-yard back. But the last time New England won a championship, LeGarrette was hot down the stretch, and they were just pounding people, and he just set a tone and they just ran the heck out of the ball and got things done.
“They have to have guys who are equipped to do all the things you need to do depending on the game plan. That’s who they are.”
The Patriots committee approach has been very effective as long as those players remain healthy.
“You have Burkhead and White, this kid is in their mold,” Davis said of Michel. “And guess who Jeremy Hill is? At his best, he’s LeGarrette Blount. When Jeremy Hill is running the football at the top of his game, he’s LeGarrette Blount. Big, thick thumper. So there you go, another assembly. Big surprise.”
Big surprise, and plenty of food for debate.
Big deal after big deal?
Last month, Robert Kraft told The Athletic’s Jeff Howe neither side had an issue with Brady’s current contract, which runs for this season and next.
“If it becomes an issue,” the owner said, “we’ll deal with it.”
Might Matt Ryan just have made it an issue?
On Thursday, Ryan agreed to a five-year, $150 million contract extension with $100 million guaranteed, becoming the NFL’s first player to agree to a contract worth $30 million annually.
Brady signed a two-year, $41 million extension in March 2016 that restructured his existing deal. While paying him a guaranteed rate of $14 million for the next two seasons, it allowed for an average rate of $20.5 million.
That places Brady, a five-time Super Bowl winner, as the 16th highest-paid quarterback. The top five are Ryan, Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo, Matthew Stafford and Derek Carr, none of whom have won a championship.
Consider what Falcons owner Arthur Blank told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen about Ryan’s deal: “Matt is getting what he has earned and we all know the marketplace for a great quarterback. League revenues are up, club revenues are up, new stadiums and the players are the heart of the game.”
Well, we now know what the marketplace is for quarterbacks with great stats who haven’t won. Brady has never needed to be the highest paid quarterback, working with the team to allow room for others to be paid. But the gap here is ridiculous.
After Belichick’s recent get-together with Rob Gronkowski and agent Drew Rosenhaus, we’re told the sides are continuing to work on tweaking Gronk’s deal in some fashion to assuage that situation.
Maybe Brady should be up next. After all, isn’t he looking for a little more appreciation?