Why Stevan Ridley Needs to Be the New England Patriots' Lead Running Back

Over the past two games, rookie Stevan Ridley has ran for 129 yards on just 24 carries which averages out to an impressive 5.4 yards per carry. From the naked eye, it certainly appears that Ridley is the New England Patriots' most dynamic running back, as he combines power and speed to beat opposing defenses and he has all the right stuff to be the team's leading running back moving forward.

In New England's two recent wins over the Denver Broncos and the Miami Dolphins, Ridley has carried the ball 24 times which is more than any other of the team's running backs—and he has definitely made the most out of it. 

The LSU product was selected in the third round of this year's draft has been gaining more and more confidence from the team's coaching staff as the season went on.

In a Monday conference call with New England's offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, he acknowledged Ridley's progression as an NFL running back thus far in 2011:

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"I think he's a guy that's been improving every week. Early in the season, in the Oakland game, he had some productive runs for us. We've just been trying every week to get him in there and it just seemed like in the flow of the game, and the way the game was going, we were trying to play at a fast pace and he happened to be the back that was in there. He had a couple good runs. Again, he was the guy we stayed with based on what was going on in that game." 

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The New England Patriots don't necessarily rely on their rushing attack as Tom Brady has playing as good as any quarterback in the league right now, but it's always beneficial to have an established running game in every game. With so many running backs on the team's roster, New England tends to just ride the hot hand—but Ridley needs to be getting his chances.

Ridley has the potential to be a 1,000-yard rusher in the upcoming seasons and the team needs to take advantage of that starting right now.

Entering the playoffs having a balanced offensive attack with a ground game that chews up the clock is something that can help you win football games and Ridley can be that guy.

Let's put it this way: Out of all of New England's running backs, Ridley is the most talented and well-rounded back. He's a slasher; he's a powerful runner that can find the holes and then explode through with the potential of breaking off a long run. 

New England is definitely trending to giving Ridley more touches, which is definitely the right idea as he can bring much more to the table than BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead, Kevin Faulk and Shane Vereen. 

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