Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
To be fair, Stevan Ridley has never played in an NFL game in which Tom Brady was not the starting quarterback, so the jury is still out on whether or not the highly-praised running back will perform if Brady is forced to miss a bulk of the 2013 season. Therefore, the New England Patriots will really be heading into the great unknown if indeed No. 12′s left knee requires surgery once again.
However, Ridley showed his durability in 2013 when he ran for 1,263 yards in just his second season. Although the Pats’ offense is supposedly passing heavy, Ridley reached the end zone 12 times last year and even finished the season with over four yards per carry. Due to Shane Vereen‘s ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, Ridley wasn’t used much in the passing game as he only caught six passes all of last season.
Thus, the argument that Ridley’s receiving numbers would decrease without Brady is irrelevant because that’s not what Ridley does, anyway.
Instead, a Brady injury would force the Pats to give the third-year back a massive increase in carries and likely make Ridley an even more powerful fantasy running back.
Moreover, we could see the opposition stack the box against the Pats, which would make Ridley’s life much more difficult. You see, No 22 has excelled when defenses have game planned for “Tom Terrific” and if Brady is on the sidelines, the sole objective of the defense will be to keep the running game at bay.
While the details of Brady’s injury have not yet surfaced, it’s going to be interesting to see how New England’s entire offense responds and Ridley in particular.
Devin O’Barr is the Content Commentator for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DevinOBarrRS, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
