What Are The Patriots Options At Running Back Versus The Browns?

The Patriots maybe without both Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson on Sunday versus the Cleveland Browns. That leaves halfbacks Brandon Bolden and J.J. Taylor as the main rushers on the team. The question is, are those two up to the task?

Part of their success will depend on the blocking. With Trent Brown supposed to be ready, how good will the blocking be against the Browns front seven? The Browns are only giving up 3.5 yards a carry. The other question is how good can McDaniels scheme things up? McDaniels has taken some heat for his play calling and without his top two backs, he will need to be on point.

Brandon Bolden has done an okay job of replacing James White but can he handle the main back duties for a game? Bolden is averaging 4.9 yards a carry on 22 attempts. Bolden has evaded 14 tackles. And is averaging 3.4 yards per carry when they stack the box. However, Bolden has never been allowed to be a feature back.

J.J. Taylor on the other hand isn't the same spark plug the Patriots had in 2020. This season he is averaging 2 yards per carry on 13 attempts. He's not been very good when the box gets stacked, averaging only 1 yard per carry and he's only got 1 evaded tackle on the season. He also doesn't seem to be as good of a pass blocker which may be hindering his playing time.

Jonnu Smith is expected to get some carries versus Cleveland if neither of the two injured backs return. Smith has 4 carries for 20 yards. Smith is not a back and if he lines up in the backfield as the halfback, better believe Cleveland will be expecting the run. This means Josh will have to get creative if he puts him back there.

The name nobody is talking about is Jacob Johnson, the Patriots fullback. He's been okay as a pass catcher but the Patriots have not given him a carry since adding him to their team. Even in his German football days, Johnson is hard to take down and may want to mix it up with Smith, so not to get anyone hurt. Having Johnson run from the fullback spot could create issues for the defense and allow for misdirection.

How the Patriots approach the running game will effect the outcome of this game as the Patriots are a run first team. However, the Patriots like to use the screen and short pass as runs. If McDaniels can lure the defense in and hit the backs coming out of the backfield, they might not need worry about how well they can run in between the tackles. It's a big if and if the Patriots cannot work the play action, Mac Jones could be in for a long day.