In early November, midway through the 2016 NFL season, the Pats Pulpit staff handed out its New England Patriots midseason awards. Three months later and coming off a Patriots Super Bowl victory, it is time to reflect once again and hand out trophies to those, who have earned them.
Today’s installment honors the team’s offensive player of the year.
Patriots Offensive Player of the Year 2016: RB LeGarrette Blount
Midseason winner: QB Tom Brady
SlotMachinePlayer: RB James White
Some severe recency bias going on here as I'm still have a buzz from Super Bowl success and his MVP worthy contributions.
Ryan Keiran (@Ryan_Keiran): RB LeGarrette Blount
Going off of best offensive non-MVP, Blount set the franchise record in touchdowns, was well over 1,000 yards, and brought back a run game that was desperately missed last year in the playoffs.
Brian Phillips (@b7phillips): RB LeGarrette Blount
18 TDs has to count for something, so I'll give him the nod just barely over Edelman and his 98-catch performance.
Rich Hill (@pp_rich_hill): WR Julian Edelman
I was considering LeGarrette Blount, but Edelman shifted gears in the second half of the season once Rob Gronkowski was lost for injury. From the bye week through the Super Bowl (11 games), Edelman outgained Blount 1,122 yards to 676.
MichaelMcD831993 (@MichaelMcD8393): QB Tom Brady
Brady breaking the TD/INT ratio in the regular season is another record he takes back.
Oliver Thomas (@OliverBThomas): RB LeGarrette Blount
The 30-year-old eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing for the first time since his rookie season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and surpassed Hall of Famer Curtis Martin for the most rushing touchdowns in franchise history with 18.
Matthew Rewinski (@SomeCallMeGoose): RB LeGarrette Blount
Have to go LeGarrette Blount here, even though Brady's the general that makes everyone better. Without LG on the ground, teams do exactly what they did last season, and stack the deck against the pass. The whole "leading the league in rush TDs at 30 years old" thing when some ex-Patriots backs can't find work at 25 years old is just a bonus.
DMooreNFL (@DMooreNFL): WR Julian Edelman
Edelman came on in a big way after the bye week and was a key chain-mover for the team. He was able to stay healthy all season and be flexible in where he played and what his role was. Plus, not to mention THAT catch!
Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39): QB Tom Brady
Again, Brady had one of the best seasons for a quarterback the NFL has ever seen. He absolutely deserves to be the Patriots' Offensive Player of the Year. But for the sake of spicing things up, I really wanted to give this award to LeGarrette Blount. He put the team on his back in the first quarter of the season, leading the NFL in rushing yards during that span. The Oregon product also had some truly dominant performances against the Rams, Jets, and 49ers in the second half of the season. Unfortunately, he was too inconsistent in 2016 to be a serious candidate for this award. This wasn't completely his fault, as the offensive line had some rough outings in terms of run blocking. However, Blount had a number of games where his vision and decisiveness simply didn't cut it.
Kirk von Kreisler (@KirkNFL): WR Julian Edelman
Brady was the best player on offense this season, but with his being awarded MVP, I decided to give this award to another player. Edelman racked up over 1,100 yards during the regular season and became a consistent option for Brady. While Edelman had his struggles with drops, as seen in the first half of Super Bowl LI, he still ran away with the most receptions (98) and receiving yards on the team.
Bernd Buchmasser (@BerndBuchmasser): QB Tom Brady
LeGarrette Blount and Julian Edelman both had really good seasons, deserving of recognition. When the lights were brightest, though, the Patriots biggest star once again outshone them both. With the Super Bowl (at least the final 30ish minutes), Brady ended the season on a high note, but it was far from the only time he displayed his brilliancy in 2016. Time and again, he put the team on his back and elevated those around him, showing why he is still the engine that powers New England’s offensive attack.
What do you think about LeGarrette Blount as the Patriots’ 2016 Offensive Player of the Year? Let us know in the comments.