Patriots Replace Brandon Bolden On Paper.

After the 2021 season the Patriots needed a receiving back. Both James White and Brandon Bolden were becoming free agents come March. And there was and is uncertainty about the health of James White, plus J.J.Taylor offers little to no help on third down as a blocker. So today the Patriots signed Ty Montgomery to a two year contract.

Back when he was drafted, NFL.com's Lance Zierlein compared Montgomery in 2015 to "Cordarrelle Patterson", a former Patriots player, who although filled in at running back, was a bust for them. The good thing from Zierlein's scouting report was he described Montgomery as a prototypical Patriots receiving back. The bad was he was barely a depth piece.

Bleacher Report's scouting report on Montgomery wasn't any better than what the NFL.com had listed. They start with, "A return man specialist with yards-after-catch potential, Ty Montgomery will make an immediate impact on special teams." And then they went on to say, "It's almost unfair to call Montgomery a receiver, as he isn't a natural catcher and had more drops than any player charted this year."

Over his career, Montgomery has averaged 4.6 yards on 258 carries with 61 first downs and 7 touchdowns. He also has 57 first downs on 139 catches. He also hasn't fumbled the football since 2018. And when he returns kickoffs (18), he averages 20.2 yards. Oh and in college, Montgomery averaged over 18 yards a punt on returns. 

People are pointing to the fact that in 2021, Montgomery had a down year. He was playing for a saints team that just had their hall of fame worthy quarterback retire in 2020 and had Jamieson Winston ad their quarterback.

I'm not saying that Montgomery is the answer be all in the Patriots offense but he makes it so the Patriots don't have to look at a running back until the UDFA period. Which is good for Hawaii's Calvin Turner who can do everything Montgomery can do but that's besides the point. Montgomery replaces the value lost by Brandon Bolden, at least on paper. And if there's anything untapped, the Patriots will get that out of him.

As a depth piece, this is a decent signing for a rebuild. Seeing as there was nobody supposedly on White's level in free agency according to Patriots media, this signing was a win because it replaces White's backup. Patriots fans should be happy that the running back room didn't lose it's talent level heading into the 2022 season.