Pats sign Harrison

[Slapstick]

It's not the total rushing yards that bothers me. It's the average yards per carry. We gave up 4.4 yards per carry which ties us for 27th which certainly is "very weak".

Well, I was looking at rush yards per game, but potato/tomato...

YpC has been skewed by giving up a few big runs...Leonard Fournette had 91 yards on 27 carries, until he broke that big run at the end when the defense was gassed after 5 INTs...The Chicago game also harmed the YpC average...

[WB Tarleton]

This is a solid analysis. The only thing I would add as sort of a 'Rebuttal'... is JH's statement about not getting any reps in camp. If this is the case, he wasn't given much of an opportunity to compete for the job.

Two things. James historically (well, historically the last few seasons) has not had a ton of snaps in camp. Tomlin used to call it, "A contusion to the birth certificate." You know what you are getting from James anyway.

Also, you have a rookie OLB in that spot who you want to ready for the season. It makes perfect sense to me that he gets the snaps, especially with how good he looked right off the bat.

[Ernie]

Two things. James historically (well, historically the last few seasons) has not had a ton of snaps in camp. Tomlin used to call it, "A contusion to the birth certificate." You know what you are getting from James anyway.

Also, you have a rookie OLB in that spot who you want to ready for the season. It makes perfect sense to me that he gets the snaps, especially with how good he looked right off the bat.

Good points. According to James though... he had asked for the snaps, but wasn't getting them. He wanted to do what he felt it took to get his body right (football shape). I agree that TJ needed the lion's share of the reps, but it looks to me like JH got pretty well shut out.

and lets be honest. James knew TJ was drafted to start. I think a big part of JH wanting reps... was to compete for playing time.

[WB Tarleton]

Here is the problem. Some of us still think Harrison can still play in which I am one. Others think he is done. I think your number 1 is silly. Of course he could and would play special teams. I'm not saying JH is what he once was but the 22 or so snaps he played this past Sunday showed he can still be a force in the game. Read the *'s forums and you will see what they are saying about the open field tackle he made. Evidently he made the guy look like a tackling dummy. Now those of us who think he can still play wonder why he couldn't have gotten some snaps each week the same way Tuitt and Heyward were rested with Alualu and Walton.

As for your No. 3 I agree that we need to develop younger players but we also need to shore up team weakness and we are very weak against the run. JH is very strong against the run. Developing younger players doesn't mean we start Connor when Bell is on the bench. Actually running back is a good position to look at. If we want to develop younger players then why aren't Watson and Fitz doing all the playing instead of Ridley, and older/slower player, starting?

As for No. 5 it's the only one I can agree with you on. If they really think JH didn't add anything to the position more than the other linebackers then they played it right although I'd still rather hang on to him than give him to our competitor. But that's just my personal preference.

No.6 is ludicrous. So your boss gives you nothing to do for a year but still pays you and you don't complain? Now after that year your boss decides to get rid of you so you show up at my place for an interview. I see from your resume that you didn't do anything for a year so the interview ends and you are out the door. That's what you want out of your job? Give me Harrison's attitude any day of the week.

Now I will say I hate that he had such a bad attitude about his situation. He certainly should have handled that better. I think both sides should have handled it better.

1) He would be behind the kicker on kick coverage. James, at this point in his career, is all strength.
2) I never said or implied he was "done." I said it is more important to keep and develop young depth, those who may still be here come next August.
3) It's an "all things being equal" situation. Fitz and Watson are not nearly equal or superior to Ridley.
4) James purposely became a headache in the locker room. If I was demanding that my boss use me or fire me, I would expect to be fired. If I slept in a meeting with a client, I would expect to be fired. My guess (and it is a guess) is that the coaching staff was more than willing to put up with the complaining as part of him being a competitor UNTIL he started becoming a poor example to the younger players by doing things like sleeping in meetings.

[ikestops85]

1) He would be behind the kicker on kick coverage. James, at this point in his career, is all strength.
2) I never said or implied he was "done." I said it is more important to keep and develop young depth, those who may still be here come next August.
3) It's an "all things being equal" situation. Fitz and Watson are not nearly equal or superior to Ridley.
4) James purposely became a headache in the locker room. If I was demanding that my boss use me or fire me, I would expect to be fired. If I slept in a meeting with a client, I would expect to be fired. My guess (and it is a guess) is that the coaching staff was more than willing to put up with the complaining as part of him being a competitor UNTIL he started becoming a poor example to the younger players by doing things like sleeping in meetings.

You are making this too easy. In No. 1 you state that JH would be behind the kicker on kick coverage. Yet in No.2 you state you never said or implied he was "done". Which is it? Is he worse than the kicker as a football player or is he "not done"? You can't have it both ways. Face it, JH is still a solid football player. No, he's not the Defensive MVP that he once was. Nobody is saying that. You act like he can't run anymore. While I agree he isn't fast he is still fast enough to play the game. Just watch his 20 some plays in his last game to see that ... and that's without even knowing the system.

As for your No. 4 I agree with you. JH should have never acted that way. I do have a "However". The Steelers could have mitigated the situation just by giving him a few plays which wouldn't hurt the team and might have helped the team. Just sayin'

[Slapstick]

But, we don’t know if it would have hurt the team or not...