New England Patriots: Sony Michel enters a critical week

The New England Patriots have struggled to get Sony Michel going this season.

The New England Patriots are 1-1 and although the offense has looked completely different during the first two weeks, it is clear the team wants to lean on Cam Newton’s legs and an overall run-first approach while Newton still gets comfortable. When they do this, they need a solid if not strong performance from Sony Michel. Unfortunately from the team, Michel has looked average at best.

Michel is a former first-round pick by the Patriots, but he has yet to live up to the hype and expectations attached to his draft position. In his rookie season, he showed promise when he averaged 4.5 yards per carry and also had a total of 931 rushing yards.

He regressed last season with only 912 yards despite playing in more games with more carries than the year before. His average yards per carry dropped to 3.7 and he looked like he was unable to get anything other than what his offensive line would provide for him. During last season, he only averaged 2.1 yards after contact.

This season Michel is still recovering from offseason foot surgery. He started training camp on the PUP list and watched his backup Damien Harris become the media star of the training camp practices.

Fortunately for Michel, Harris is out after starting the season on IR with a pinky injury. This was his chance to take the job away from Harris, but thus far he has looked less than ready to do so.

Michel is only averaging 3.3 yards per carry and his yards after contact average has plummeted to 1.7. This past Sunday, Michel could barely see the field despite the Patriots being involved in a shootout with the Seattle Seahawks. He only managed seven carries on Sunday night only averaged 2.71 yards per carry.

His snap count dropped to 21 percent despite the fact that James White was inactive for the game. Michel has not been involved in the passing game this season or throughout his young career. He only has one target in the passing game this season and only 32 for his entire career. The team has never trusted him in the passing game and this has not improved in his third season.

Damien Harris’ return puts pressure on Sony Michel in New England Patriots backfield.

With Damien Harris eligible to return after the team’s next game, the time is now for Michel to get his season going.

With Harris eligible just before the Patriots play the Chiefs in Week 4, Michel does not have much more time to waste. If he cannot do better than his season-high of 37 yards against the Raiders this week, he may find himself at the bottom of the running back rotation when Harris returns.

The Raiders have given up 100 yards rushing to each team they have faced so far in the season. Christian McCaffery was able to get 97 yards on his own in Week 1 1 and Alvin Kamara had 79 yards on Monday night. Both averaged over four yards per carry and, even though Michel is not the same caliber of running back as those two, the statistics show the Raiders can be run on.

Michel needs a game of at least 60 to 70 yards running to continue to keep getting the bulk of the carries for the team. If not, his season may be lost if Harris can return and stay healthy and effective.