Sony Michel R1 #31 RB Georgia

RedOctober3829

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Overview
Michel is a well-built, no-nonsense runner who is able to combine vision, burst, and physicality. While he can make open field cuts to find additional yardage, his running style is more angular in nature and he thrives when playing north-south. He's not the most creative runner and he lacks some finesse, but his size, pass protection and ability to create yardage make him a natural fit as a future NFL starter.
 

vadertime

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The medical reports are scary though. I'm skittish on the pick. RB is a position where you can get by without a star in today's NFL.
 
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Always dangerous to judge a guy off a highlight reel, but let's!

He seems to catch the ball better than I expected from the little I've heard and read about him. Pretty natural receiver, if not James White-like. Runs with authority and not a lot of dancing - this ain't Lawrence Maloney. Very North South, but with some slash to his game. If he can stay healthy, this Sony Michel guy has me pretty psyched. Hope TB12 feels the same.
 

SMU_Sox

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He was the best offensive weapon on the board. He's your future RB in 11 personnel and I think that's valuable. He is a home-run threat and has great burst. He has a lot of potential as a receiver. Gets lots of YAC. He's 2 inches taller and almost 20 pounds heavier than Lewis (granted Lewis played bigger than he was) is. I can't speak to the validity of the comp. Good vision too.
 

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I dunno anything about this guy, but a three down back is the one of the scariest things I think you can give Belichick.

I mean, it offers the kind of stuff Gronk (and AH) give/gave Belichick in terms of creating uncertainty in the defense.
I was wondering why he took an RB, but if there was a legit three down back, I get it.

Just everyone remember how long it took White to get the offense, yeah? ;)
 

SMU_Sox

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Michel is going to destroy the league in New England. He’s explosive, versatile and can easily be a feature running back there. It would not surprise me if he led the league in yards per carry. Michel is everything Bill Belichick values at the position and can stay on the field all three downs. Bad news for the rest of the league.
Jon Ledyard weeps that we took his boy.

What a haul so far in terms of overall talent.

On a personal level I had the good fortune of watching a ton of Georgia football this year and last (SO did her undergrad there). Sony Michel was my favorite of the two backs and I can't wait to see him and Wynn together.

Enjoy his whole game performance against Alabama (National Championship Game - Classic). Remember this is against Alabama.

 

SMU_Sox

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I dunno anything about this guy, but a three down back is the one of the scariest things I think you can give Belichick.

I mean, it offers the kind of stuff Gronk (and AH) give/gave Belichick in terms of creating uncertainty in the defense.
I was wondering why he took an RB, but if there was a legit three down back, I get it.

Just everyone remember how long it took White to get the offense, yeah? ;)
He definitely needs some work on his blocking technique. He doesn't lack the effort and hits hard. I think he has at least a limited role year 1. He has all the tools of a 3-down back with balance through contact, vision, strength, speed, burst, COD ability. Hayden Hurst was a 3-down TE prospect. Michel is a 3-down RB prospect. I think SuperNomario has a point and it is a good one. I would rather have a phenom like Michel as a 3-down guy.
 

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He definitely needs some work on his blocking technique. He doesn't lack the effort and hits hard. I think he has at least a limited role year 1. He has all the tools of a 3-down back with balance through contact, vision, strength, speed, burst, COD ability. Hayden Hurst was a 3-down TE prospect. Michel is a 3-down RB prospect. I think SuperNomario has a point and it is a good one. I would rather have a phenom like Michel as a 3-down guy.
How long did they hold on to White for him to get it?

I'm hopeful. Thanks for all the info!
 

mascho

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Was on with Waldman and Bloom tonight for the back half of the first round, and Waldman in particular though this pick basically wasn't fair for New England. You're getting a three-down back in Michel who can contribute in two facets of the passing game, both as a receiver and as a blocker. Very willing in pass pro.

I actually studied him for the ITP draft guide and did write up a report on him in the cross-checking process. Runs through smoke very well. Very adept at finding and exploiting creases. Can set up defenders at the second- and third-levels with his hips and feet. As a receiver he's solid, sometimes has a false step or two with his routes, but that's ok. Might tend to be slow in getting his hips parallel on running plays, but he can improve there. Fairly scheme-diverse, can fit well on both power and zone plays. It's odd to see them go RB, but I think they're getting a guy who can play early and often as a rookie.
 

SMU_Sox

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How long did they hold on to White for him to get it?

I'm hopeful. Thanks for all the info!
2-3 years. My rule of thumb is not to expect much out of rookies. I have slightly higher expectations for guys drafted higher up but I like the 1-3 year development time-table and thought process. Pats have so much depth at RB he can have a limited role in year one. And if he gets up to speed quicker even better.
 

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2-3 years. My rule of thumb is not to expect much out of rookies. I have slightly higher expectations for guys drafted higher up but I like the 1-3 year development time-table and thought process. Pats have so much depth at RB he can have a limited role in year one. And if he gets up to speed quicker even better.
Word. But isn't it fascinating that, whatever he decides to do with his own life, Belichick took a guy that we should all understand will take a couple years to develop?

It could suggest either that he's either staying, or refusing to mess the future of the franchise to GFIN. Both are good, yes?
 

Kull

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Unless I'm missing something, 1st Round RBs don't sit on the bench developing for 2 years. Maybe he isn't a 3 down beast right from the start, but a guy who is a "north-south" runner and "gashes the line", well, he's playing right away.
 

SMU_Sox

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Word. But isn't it fascinating that, whatever he decides to do with his own life, Belichick took a guy that we should all understand will take a couple years to develop?

It could suggest either that he's either staying, or refusing to mess the future of the franchise to GFIN. Both are good, yes?
I think it is very much not messing with the future of the franchise to GFIN. I also hope he stays to see it out. Wynn you could argue was either a short or long term need pick depending on where he ends up. Michel... well, I think they wanted to add a weapon on offense through the draft (obviously a plus if he is a 3-down player) and RB is the position where the draft is very deep including at the top. I don't see it as a luxury pick - they looked at WR and RB a lot pre-draft. At 31 either he or Guice is that guy and if Guice has character concerns that take him off your board then Michel is the guy.

I am a little puzzled they didn't go defense at that pick even but hey, day 2, right? I mean right?
 

SMU_Sox

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A whole lotta UGA/Falcons fans have to be feeling really conflicted toward the Pats this morning.
They might not be done either... Lorenzo Carter makes a lot of sense for them because of his positional flexibility on defense. He's a divisive prospect.
 

Royal Reader

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Jon Ledyard weeps that we took his boy.

What a haul so far in terms of overall talent.

On a personal level I had the good fortune of watching a ton of Georgia football this year and last (SO did her undergrad there). Sony Michel was my favorite of the two backs and I can't wait to see him and Wynn together.

Enjoy his whole game performance against Alabama (National Championship Game - Classic). Remember this is against Alabama.

How the hell is Frank Ragnow the "best interior OLine" in the draft and Nelson the "Best overall player" at the same time?
 

TheoShmeo

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From today's Globe:
Fumbles were a problem for Michel in college. The senior fumbled 12 times in four years at Georgia, something that had to concern the Patriots, who prioritize ball security.

Michel was upfront and said it was something he’d have to work on.

“It’s all about being aware of how I carry the football,” Michel said. “Ball placement. It’s a part of my game that I probably should focus on, work on. I’m sure, there’s great coaches at the Patriots that’s going to be right there emphasizing ball security, emphasizing on not putting the ball and that’s a very important aspect of this game.”

Caserio said that the Patriots “don’t think it’s an issue,” because they’re confident they can teach better ball security once they have a player in their building working with their coaches. He cited Kevin Faulk as an example.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/patriots/2018/04/26/patriots-dawgs-again-with-selection-georgia-sony-michel/dLAMK7SqkRKEGWWD4RjyiO/story.html

My answer: Yes, it IS concerning, but I think Caserio is right and the kid sounds coachable.
 

Toe Nash

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I don't watch college but I'll go on the record as not being a fan of this pick. RBs can be valuable, but they're so dependent on the OL, plus even if one is great (Zeke Elliott 2016) there's so much wear and tear on the position that it's hard to keep that up (Zeke Elliott 2017, or my prediction for a huge drop-off this year, Le'Veon "450 touches" Bell). You can also cobble together decent production from freely available guys or later round picks (even if you don't hit on a guy like Dion Lewis) and they've had good enough success with that strategy. It's a luxury that they don't need.

Obviously I'm just a guy but the Patriots have enough needs elsewhere (particularly front 7) that I would have never taken an RB there.
 

Super Nomario

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Doesn’t a strong running game help with TOP, which helps hide a weak D?
Not really. Both teams get the same number of possessions, plus or minus one. If you only give up 24 points because the other team only had seven possessions, that looks better but it's awful - plus your offense only gets seven possessions, too (or maybe eight if the timing plays out).

Was on with Waldman and Bloom tonight for the back half of the first round, and Waldman in particular though this pick basically wasn't fair for New England. You're getting a three-down back in Michel who can contribute in two facets of the passing game, both as a receiver and as a blocker. Very willing in pass pro.

I actually studied him for the ITP draft guide and did write up a report on him in the cross-checking process. Runs through smoke very well. Very adept at finding and exploiting creases. Can set up defenders at the second- and third-levels with his hips and feet. As a receiver he's solid, sometimes has a false step or two with his routes, but that's ok. Might tend to be slow in getting his hips parallel on running plays, but he can improve there. Fairly scheme-diverse, can fit well on both power and zone plays. It's odd to see them go RB, but I think they're getting a guy who can play early and often as a rookie.
I read through the ITP, NDT, and Waldman profiles last night and the scheme diversity came up over and over for Michel. The Patriots like to run a mixture of zone and gap running concepts and they can do it all with Michel on the field. Other team has big, slow guys? They can run outside zone and get them moving laterally. Other team has an athletic front but it's light up the middle? Michel can run man/power or inside zone. He's not as explosive as Barkley and he's not as much of a hammer as Chubb but he can do everything well ... assuming he can cut the fumbles.

Word. But isn't it fascinating that, whatever he decides to do with his own life, Belichick took a guy that we should all understand will take a couple years to develop?

It could suggest either that he's either staying, or refusing to mess the future of the franchise to GFIN. Both are good, yes?
I don't see Michel taking that long to make an impact. He probably will take some time to learn everything they want to do on third down (which is fine - they still have White and Burkhead) but as a runner he should be able to contribute early. Maroney had 175 carries for 745 yards as a rookie, for instance.
 

5dice

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It could be argued that the front 7 was well bolstered with Shelton, not an insignificant acquisition, DE Clayborn, and a return by Hightower, no?
 

Super Nomario

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It could be argued that the front 7 was well bolstered with Shelton, not an insignificant acquisition, DE Clayborn, and a return by Hightower, no?
Still need speed. None of those guys are fast (and Shelton might be the slowest front seven guy in the NFL). But they have three picks today - let's see what happens.
 

Toe Nash

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It could be argued that the front 7 was well bolstered with Shelton, not an insignificant acquisition, DE Clayborn, and a return by Hightower, no?
Sure, but not enough for my liking. LBs beyond Hightower are pretty bad and he's not exactly durable.

Three picks today, yes, but if an RB was the best they could do at 31 I'd have traded down. Happy to be wrong.
 

BaseballJones

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Lewis signed a 4-year deal with cap hits between $4.3m and $5.4m.
Solder signed a 4-year deal with a $10m cap hit in 2018, but then cap hits of $17-18m after that.

Long story short, basically $22 million/yr worth of Lewis and Solder was replaced in the draft by Michel and Wynn for what projects to be about $4 million/yr.
 

BigSoxFan

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The draft is so weird. A few weeks ago no one even had him dropping to like 23 let alone 43
Yup. You never know when a guy will slide. Sure he now regrets coming back for a final, injured season. This is a double digit sack guy in the NFL.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Nice thing about this is how all of Michel's highlight videos double as Wynn highlight videos. They specifically called out the latter for doing great things in several of the clips above.
 

Mooch

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Doesn’t a strong running game help with TOP, which helps hide a weak D?
I was thinking this exact same thing this AM. The stable of running backs, big bruising road-graders up front.... I think next year's Pats will be ground and pound with play-action out of the I-formation even more than the past few years.
 

Saints Rest

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Jon Ledyard weeps that we took his boy.

What a haul so far in terms of overall talent.

On a personal level I had the good fortune of watching a ton of Georgia football this year and last (SO did her undergrad there). Sony Michel was my favorite of the two backs and I can't wait to see him and Wynn together.

Enjoy his whole game performance against Alabama (National Championship Game - Classic). Remember this is against Alabama.

It's fun to watch that clip and pay attention solely to Wynn. Looks like a beast in that series of clips, even though it is not focusing on him per se.
 

BaseballJones

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I was thinking this exact same thing this AM. The stable of running backs, big bruising road-graders up front.... I think next year's Pats will be ground and pound with play-action out of the I-formation even more than the past few years.
I just love the thought of having formations that the defense can't discern whether it's run or pass. You have Brady behind center with LGBT at RB, as in years past, and it was 90% likely to be a run. MAYBE a play-action pass off that. But that's almost the extent of it. Likewise, you have White in the backfield out of the shotgun and it's 90% a pass.

But with Gronk at TE, Edelman, Hogan, and Matthews as receivers, and Michel at RB....it could literally be anything. Power run between the tackles. Jet sweep. Screen pass. Slant pattern. Short horizontal routes. 9 patterns. Seam to Gronk. Deep outs. Play-action. They can run anything off that. And that means they can go up-tempo even more. Defense gives them a look they can take advantage of, and with that personnel grouping, they're going to chew it up really quickly.

The offense, barring injury, isn't going to be any problem at all next year. They're going to score POINTS. Just have to make sure the defense gets shored up is all.
 

SMU_Sox

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I just love the thought of having formations that the defense can't discern whether it's run or pass.
But with Gronk at TE, Edelman, Hogan, and Matthews as receivers, and Michel at RB....it could literally be anything. Power run between the tackles. Jet sweep. Screen pass. Slant pattern. Short horizontal routes. 9 patterns. Seam to Gronk. Deep outs. Play-action. They can run anything off that. And that means they can go up-tempo even more. Defense gives them a look they can take advantage of, and with that personnel grouping, they're going to chew it up really quickly.
Yes, they still need WR and TE eventually but Gronk and Michel on the field at the same time is going to be devastating. This sets them up very nicely for 2018 and 2019. 11 personnel has the potential to be league best over the next 2 years. That's saying something too.

Now D-E-F-E-N-S-E.

Quick edit: look how Dallas transitioned at QB. Great O-Line, Witten, Zeke, they thought they had decent WRs but Dez dropped off a cliff. You want to make life easier for a new QB? Have a great O-line and a diverse set of skilled position players.
 

DJnVa

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Unless I'm missing something, 1st Round RBs don't sit on the bench developing for 2 years. Maybe he isn't a 3 down beast right from the start, but a guy who is a "north-south" runner and "gashes the line", well, he's playing right away.
Yeah, they're not waiting 2 or 3 years like with White, who was a 4th round pick. He's in the mix from day one.
 

RoDaddy

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I'm surprised at how dissatisfied BB must be with our current RBs to pick "fumbling and not much of a receiver with some injury history" Michel when the Pats are DESPERATE - as in they just lost a Super Bowl because of this - for defense! I mean, are White, Burkhead, Hill and Gilleslee that bad? It also feels like we gave away a draft pick because this pick wouldn't have been necessary if we signed Lewis, who didn't sign with the Titans for an unreasonable amount of money.
 

Eck'sSneakyCheese

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I'm surprised at how dissatisfied BB must be with our current RBs to pick "fumbling and not much of a receiver with some injury history" Michel when the Pats are DESPERATE - as in they just lost a Super Bowl because of this - for defense! I mean, are White, Burkhead, Hill and Gilleslee that bad? It also feels like we gave away a draft pick because this pick wouldn't have been necessary if we signed Lewis, who didn't sign with the Titans for an unreasonable amount of money.
They're getting Hightower, Rivers and Jonathan Jones back. Plus they added McCourty, Claiborne and Shelton. It's not that desperate. Plenty of Defensive playmakers left in Rd 2.
 

Marbleheader

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I don't think Lewis is going to age particularly well. The Pats pick the best players on their board, not for need. We should know this after 18 years. It's not a strong group of RB, they definitely could use an upgrade at pretty much every position but a select few.
 

RedOctober3829

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I don't think Lewis is going to age particularly well. The Pats pick the best players on their board, not for need. We should know this after 18 years. It's not a strong group of RB, they definitely could use an upgrade at pretty much every position but a select few.
Agreed on BPA. As Caserio and BB said, they don't draft for need. They got 2 players that can make an impact from Day 1.
 

lexrageorge

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I don't watch college but I'll go on the record as not being a fan of this pick. RBs can be valuable, but they're so dependent on the OL, plus even if one is great (Zeke Elliott 2016) there's so much wear and tear on the position that it's hard to keep that up (Zeke Elliott 2017, or my prediction for a huge drop-off this year, Le'Veon "450 touches" Bell). You can also cobble together decent production from freely available guys or later round picks (even if you don't hit on a guy like Dion Lewis) and they've had good enough success with that strategy. It's a luxury that they don't need.

Obviously I'm just a guy but the Patriots have enough needs elsewhere (particularly front 7) that I would have never taken an RB there.
I'm surprised at how dissatisfied BB must be with our current RBs to pick "fumbling and not much of a receiver with some injury history" Michel when the Pats are DESPERATE - as in they just lost a Super Bowl because of this - for defense! I mean, are White, Burkhead, Hill and Gilleslee that bad? It also feels like we gave away a draft pick because this pick wouldn't have been necessary if we signed Lewis, who didn't sign with the Titans for an unreasonable amount of money.
Drafting specifically for need does not always work out. The simplest explanation for this pick is that Bill liked Michel better than the defensive players that were still on the board, figuring that he could still pick up a defensive player they like 11 picks into the 2nd round.

Lewis had an injury history of his own, actually one far more serious than Michel's, and would be on the wrong side of 30 (a bad age for running backs). And it appears that Michel's injury history is being overplayed: it's unlikely he'll have another ATV accident. Fumbling can be coached out of a player in most cases, and Lewis was prone to inopportune fumbles as well. If Michel is really good out of the gate, then Gillislee could be gone, giving the team some extra cap space.

They have 3 chances coming up to bolster the defense; I'd say let's see what they do with those picks before jumping off the bridge.
 

Captaincoop

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Don't forget Jeremy Hill.

I feel like they set themselves up here for either this guy is a massive impact stud from day one, or they regret not going defense with this pick.

Will be very interested in seeing what defensive guys come off the board between now and the next Pats pick .

Edit: but at the end of the day, that 1st round prior to the Pats' picks went as poorly as it possibly could have from a New England perspective, right down to the Bama LB being snatched in trade one pick ahead of them.
 
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Mooch

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I'm surprised at how dissatisfied BB must be with our current RBs to pick "fumbling and not much of a receiver with some injury history" Michel when the Pats are DESPERATE - as in they just lost a Super Bowl because of this - for defense! I mean, are White, Burkhead, Hill and Gilleslee that bad? It also feels like we gave away a draft pick because this pick wouldn't have been necessary if we signed Lewis, who didn't sign with the Titans for an unreasonable amount of money.
As much as I like Lewis, Michel is a home-run hitter as a RB. He is far more explosive in a one-cut style and gains the edge faster than Dion. I think Pats fans are going to fall in love with Sony very quickly.
 

BigJimEd

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I agree with those that feel LB depth is weak but there just wasn't much if anyone worthwhile at that point.

I think Landry "slid" due to concerns about being one dimensional. Also probably has a little higher bust potential than the Patriots seem to prefer in the first.