Ridley Me This, and Ridley Me That

Shows us how much we know.

By season’s end, it was obvious the Patriots had to re-stock the backfield. Veterans Kevin Faulk, Sammy Morris, Fred Taylor, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis were all free agents with Green-Ellis, the leading rusher, expected to be back.

I thought through the options. I wanted a veteran to lend his wisdom to Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead. Forget injury-prone Morris and Taylor. Go get Miami’s Ricky Wiliams. The Pats need a good north-south thumper as a compliment.

With the lockout freezing all player movement, I turned towards the draft. Illinois’ Mikel Leshoure was the most appealing running back to me, even ahead of top rated Mark Ingram.

That didn’t stop me from projecting Ingram as a Patriots first round selection.

Instead New England drafts Stevan Ridley out of LSU in the third round.

Who?

I look him up. Solid production, ideal size. One NFL Draft publication questions Ridley’s hands and pass protection because he didn’t play on third down in college. They rate him a fifth round prospect with his future as a career special teams coverage player.

I search for his LSU highlights on YouTube. There isn’t much out there, but I find enough to get an idea.

Ridley has a no-nonsense style. He spots a crease, plants his foot then goes straight ahead. Nothing fancy, but effective. Doesn’t shy away from contact and he finishes his runs. Nice nose for the endzone. I see signs of good balance as he runs behind his shoulder pads and breaks a lot of tackles. Sounds like a decent player that should fit in with the Patriots. It’s not like he’s gonna get a lot of touches backing up Green-Ellis and Woodhead anyway.

Preseason game one. Shows us what we know.

His first carry goes for only six yards, but how Ridley got it surprised me. With a defender coming, Ridley stops and skips outside to the right. I knew he had good feet, but quick feet too? That’s a bonus.

Moving on to the third quarter. Ridley goes off tackle and down the sideline. Along the way he stiff-arms a tackler Marshawn Lynch style before attacking the tackling defender instead of running out of bounds. Gotta love that.

Same drive, inside the redzone. QB Ryan Mallett drops back to pass. After processing the field, Mallett spots Ridley from out of the backfield. The pass is on target and Ridley easily catches the ball with his hands. Ridley trots into the endzone untouched. Looks like the kid has hands after all.

Ridley finished with seven receptions for 47 yards and averaged four yards per carry en route to 64 yards. The nose for the endzone is confirmed with two one yard plunges and the receiving score.

Preseason is preseason so I won’t make too much of Ridley’s performance. But it’s a heck of a debut. Not bad for a no-better-than-the-fifth-round-career-special-teamer-running back-that-won’t-play-much.

Shows us what we know.