So ... We've Got People Calling Sony Michel a Bust Already?

Source - [When Tom Brady] was asked about James White, he gave a strange answer which may have been either calling out Sony Michel for his lack of production — 50 yards on 14 carries and one catch on three targets — or offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for calling Michel’s number so much.

“He had a great catch and some good runs there at the end,” Brady said. “He’s just a great player for us. You’re right. He’s got to be involved. Guys who can make plays, those are the ones that should be involved, and James is definitely one of them.”

Source – With the 23rd pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Patriots select Sony Michel running back Georgia. So far in the last two games, Michel can’t get in sync with Brady along with the entire offense. Michel was supposed to be this explosive running back and replace Dion Lewis. From the last two games, I would rather have Dion Lewis back. At least he would get a first down on third and one.

Well, that escalated quickly.

I guess this is … what? Football in the age of social media? The 24-hour news cycle? The Hot Takez World of 2018? It seems like it wasn’t all that long ago that we waited a good three years or so before we considered somebody to be a total draft bust. Lawrence Maroney had his detractors, God knows. But he made it all the way to the final year of his rookie deal before the townsfolk chased the monster Slo-Mo out of the village with torches and pitchforks. Sony Michel touched the ball 26 times while playing in a rotation in two games in which his team was trailing by double digits, which is seldom the optimal time to establish a rookie running back. But there are people saying he’s overhyped, sucks, blows, the offense is not good with him and that Tom Brady is angered by his very existence in the offense. We’ve even got one slappie saying Michel was the 23rd pick in the draft in one terrible, factual and grammatically incorrect sentence.

I guess it’s “Situation: Normal” then. Why let an occasion like the Patriots losing two straight games go by without spraying suppressing machine gun fire in all directions? At the head coach/GM. At the offensive coordinator. The entire defense. So why spare the rookie who missed most of camp with an injury and wasn’t cleared to play until two weeks ago?

Yup. Sony Michel is the biggest failure in the long, depressing history of failures. He’s beyond redemption. It’s been two dozen carries but we’ve seen enough. We’ve seen him at his best and his best just ain’t good enough. There’s no reason to try to bring him along, coach him up, get his feet under him. Because if a running back doesn’t tear it up every game in the first month of his career, there is no hope he ever will. I mean, look at how consistently productive  Curtis Martin, the best RB in the Super Bowl era for two franchises, the Patriots and the Jets, was right from the start:

Upon further review, strike that. Bad example. With Michel it will be different. Once a 3.5 yards per attempt guy, always a 3.5 yards per attempt guy.

I mean, there’s no excuse for him picking up huge yards on this crushing block from Shaq Mason:

Or not gaining chunks with all these holes:

And it’s not like we’ve seen him show anything in blitz pickup:

Or be able to truck a physical safety like Tashaun Gipson:

Nope. We’ve seen enough. Sorry Patriots. You can’t fool the anti-Patriots jihadists and the guys who take Brady’s praise of James White as his total hatred of the rookie. Sony Michel’s presence is an affront to all that is pure and right on this good Earth and if you don’t release him now, the Dynasty will be over. If he hasn’t ruined it already.

But what the hell. Just for laughs before they do give him his outright release in order to appease the mob, let’s get a look at one of Michel’s draft profiles to see what the “experts” saw in him that made him a first round pick:

The USA Today Florida Player of the Year as a senior, Michel was rated among the top 20 recruits in the country. He got work as a true freshman (64 rush, 410 yards, five TD; 7 receptions, 106 yards, TD), playing in eight games and gaining a start in the Belk Bowl against Louisville. Michel was the team’s Offensive MVP and earned the Charley Trippi Most Versatile Player Award as a sophomore by running for 1,161 yards and eight scores on 219 rushes and 270 yards and three touchdowns on 26 receptions. The hits kept coming in 2016, as the team captain ran behind his pads, broke ankles and accelerated into the open field on his way to 840 yards and four scores on 152 carries (22 receptions, 149 yards, one TD). Michel won Offensive MVP award in the Liberty Bowl win over TCU by gaining 87 rushing yards and 39 receiving yards while scoring twice. Though he started only two games in 2017, scouts saw his immense potential in 14 contests; Michel ran for 1,227 yards on just 156 totes, an outstanding 7.9 yards per attempt, and scored 16 times on the ground. He also showed his wiggle and power on nine receptions covering 96 yards and a touchdown for the SEC champions.

Sounds like a guy who’ll never produce to me. I’m glad we’re all out ahead of the curve on this bust out.