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Sports Q: Was Sony Michel a bust with the Patriots?
It's complicated.
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First-round pick, gone after three seasons, never ran for 1,000 yards, but played a big part in the Patriots winning a Super Bowl. Was Sony Michel a bust? Or is it more complicated than that? – Liz P.
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Oh, it’s definitely more complicated than that. Of course it is, like with most players. A bust is a player drafted high – at least in the first round – and does absolutely nothing.
Vernon Gholston was a bust. JaMarcus Russell was a bust. Ryan Leaf: Bust. On a lesser Patriots-centric scale, N’Keal Harry seems to be running a route toward being one, although there’s still a little hope.
Ken Sims, the No. 1 overall pick by the Patriots in ’82 who was just sort of mediocre, was a lesser kind of bust, one who certainly didn’t warrant his draft position.
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Michel, traded by the ballcarrier-rich Patriots to the Rams on Tuesday for conditional draft picks, was an enigma with the Patriots. He seemed to be a dangerous receiver at Georgia, but that didn’t translate to the NFL for some reason. He had a hard time staying on the field, missing 10 games in three seasons.
It clearly was a mistake to take him in front of his Georgia teammate, Nick Chubb. Michel, who ran for 2,292 yards and 14 touchdowns as a Patriots, went 31st overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, while Chubb — who has 3,557 yards and 28 touchdowns in three seasons – went four picks later to the Browns.
But a bust? No. Not a bust. Michel’s postseason performance in his rookie season should have eliminated all of that talk. Here are his stats during the champion Patriots three postseason wins in ’18.
AFC Divisional Round: 24 carries, 129 yards, 3 touchdowns in a 41-27 win over the Chargers.
AFC Championship: 29 carries, 113 yards, 2 touchdowns in a 37-31 overtime win at Kansas City.
Super Bowl LIII: 18 carries, 94 yards, and the game’s lone touchdown in a 13-3 win over the Rams.
That is a postseason run any running back in NFL history would love to have on his pro-football-reference.com page. Yes, the Patriot had a monster line that season. But if you’re going to dock Michel points for that, you have to give him credit for running for 912 yards and seven touchdowns the following season when the Patriots were without James Develin, Rob Gronkowski. David Andrews, and for eight games, Isaiah Wynn.
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Michel wasn’t an All-Pro. He wasn’t a spectacular first-round pick. But he came through in some huge moments. Patriots fans should remember him well. Bet he does pretty well for the Rams.
What does everyone else think? Was Sony Michel a bust? I’ll hear you in the comments.
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