program to add a tough-nosed player to his team."WhitePatriots News Opinion and Analysis Contribute! FanPostsFanShotsAbout the Site List of Patriots Twitter AccountsWrite For Pats Pulpit!New User Welcome and Commenting GuideCommunity GuidelinesMastheadTopics Patriots Off-Season CoveragePatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots NewsPatriots Draft CoverageSportfolio ManagementNFL DraftPatriots Opinion/AnalysisNFL Draft GradesGrading the Damien Harris selection and how he fits the Patriots offenseNew White Andre Tippett Jerseys ,17commentsBelichick once again taps into Nick Saban’s program to add a tough-nosed player to his team. EDTShareTweetShareShareGrading the Damien Harris selection and how he fits the Patriots offenseMatthew Emmons-USA TODAY SportsThe Patriots entered the draft pretty much set at the RB position. Sony Michel became an emerging star after a strong postseason run while the versatile Rex Burkhead and elite pass receiver James White are also on the roster. The team brought back ST stalwart Brandon Bolden after a 1-year stint in Miami, which gave the Patriots four players at the position to work with. Apparently Bill Belichick doesn’t think that’s enough as the Patriots spent a 3rd round pick targeting Alabama RB Damien Harris.Strengths:Does everything at a solid level: runner, receiver, pass protectsRuns behinds his pads wellExcellent field visionNightmare to tackle in spaceWeaknesses:Not particularly great at any skillAverage athletic profileRookie Year ProjectionHarris is used to the split backfield situation that he had with Josh Jacobs (who went 24th overall). That would continue to be the case although he’ll be sharing with Sony Michel, James White, and Rex Burkhead. It seems to me the Patriots are shifting their offensive philosophy to running and playaction given there will likely be 5 RB locks on the roster unless the Patriots don’t think Burkhead can hold up any longer. Pats Pulpit reacts to the Damien Harris and Yodny Cajuste picksSubscribe to the Pats Pulpit podcast for more draft reactions!Long Term ProjectionNot much will change from Year 1 to Year 4 with Harris. He will be spelling Michel in order to keep him fresh for the postseason. His versatility as a RB makes him a perfect #2 back behind Michel, especially if he can contribute on special teams as well. Michel and Harris are under team control through the 2022 season and could very well be the 1-2 punch in the backfield over the next 4 years.How Many Downs Can He Impact: 3Basically he will be asked to do mostly running with the occasional passing and pass protect in this offense on play-action. Pick Grade: BI think the Patriots could addressed other needs, hence the low grade Andre Tippett Jerseys 2019 , but it looks like they’re going to be running the ball a lot in 2019. There are concerns with the backfield such as Rex Burkhead and Sony Michel’s long term health, so adding another player to the backfield certainly doesn’t hurt. The Patriots are certainly now set at the position with young talent combined with veteran leadership. EDIT: I’ve had a bit of time to think more about this selection and I’ve decided to improve the grade to B when factoring in the injury histories of the RBs on the roster. I think there’s more value with Harris after realizing that the Patriots are another Michel injury away from being screwed at the position. My original grade was a C because I didn’t think the Patriots needed a RB before Day 3. With Harris in the fold, that is much less of a concern. The (5-2) New England Patriots are on the road to face the (2-5) Buffalo Bills to close out week 8 of the NFL season. Kick off is at 8:15 PM ET on ESPN. Click here for all the game details. The two division, ahem, rivals are set to square off. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is 28-3 when facing the Bills, with one of those losses coming in the 2014 season finale as the team rested all of the starters and Brady only played the first half. He will look to extend his NFL record for most wins against a single team.Use this as the thread for game discussion. I will be updating this post as the game develops.Pregame NewsWhat the Patriots have to do to beat the Bills: Offense | DefensePatriots WR Josh Gordon will be disciplined for the first quarter of the game for tardiness.Six of the Patriots seven inactives were already known ahead of the gameday report. LB Dont’a Hightower is the seventh. Here’s the full inactives report.Q1The Bills won the opening coin toss and the Patriots received the opening kick. The Patriots failed to get anything going on the opening drive with Cordarrelle Patterson getting the start at running back (!!). Josh Gordon- who was not benched- let a big pass fall through his hands on third down and the Patriots punted after gaining 9 yards on 6 plays.Buffalo took over from the 32-yard line and LeSean McCoy gained 12 yards, followed by an 8-yard catch by Zay Jones. The Bills only gained 5 more yards on the drive and punted back to the Patriots.Tom Brady took over and dunked the ball to James White and Julian Edelman for 56 combined yards to move down the field, with Josh Gordon (8-yard catch) and Cordarrelle Patterson (7 yards on 2 rushes) to get to the Bills 4-yard line. Brady was sacked for a 6-yard loss on second down and he fumbled the ball and couldn’t connect with Rob Gronkowski on third down as the Patriots settled for a 25-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.The Bills tried to respond as Derek Anderson found LeSeaon McCoy for a 24-yard completion over linebacker Kyle Van Noy White John Hannah Jerseys , but that was all Buffalo could gain and they punted the ball back to the Patriots.Brady and company finished the first quarter on the 33-yard line with a second-and-8. The New England rushing attack is pretty lackluster and the passing attack is just dumping the ball to White and Edelman. The Patriots defense has been pretty good, holding Buffalo to 11 rushing yards on 5 carries, and outside of the 24-yard completion to McCoy, the Bills are 2 of 5 for 15 passing yards.Q2Brady opened up the second half by connecting with Chris Hogan for 29 yards to get into Buffalo territory. Brady and the Patriots were fortunate to avoid an intentional grounding penalty and Brady found Edelman for a mid-distance 18-yard gain. The Patriots failed to gain another first down and settled for a 40-yard field goal and a 6-0 lead.The Bills went three-and-out on their next drive, gaining only 4 yards. A weak 19-yard punt by former Patriots punter Corey Bojorquez was Patrick Chung almost blocked gave the Patriots the ball on the 38-yard line.Brady found James White for 15 yards and Rob Gronkowski for 11 yards to get to the 22-yard line, but a 6-yard sack on first down set up a weak dump-off pass to James Develin that fell incomplete. Brady hit Julian Edelman underneath for an 8-yard gain that was well shy of the first down and the Patriots settled yet again for a field goal. Stephen Gostkowski hit the 38-yarder for the 9-0 lead.The Bills wanted to use the rest of the time in the first half to set up a “double-whammy” since they get the ball after the half. Bill Belichick started to use his timeouts after the two-minute warning as Patrick Chung made back-to-back incredible open field tackles to force a fourth down field goal. The Bills hit the 47-yarder to make the score 9-3 with 93 left in the half.Tom Brady and company marched 43 yards on 7 plays, but Stephen Gostkowski didn’t connect on the 50-yard attempt and the Patriots took the 9-3 lead to the half.Neither team has a rushing attack and Tom Brady is on pace for 61 pass attempts. Brady already has 202 passing yards, with 68 to Julian Edelman and 60 to James White. This game is far from over and it’s a total snoozefest. Let’s hope the Patriots offense wakes up in the second half.The Bills get the ball after the half.Q3That felt like an extremely long drive that wound up with nothing. The Bills led a 7-play John Hannah Jerseys 2019 , 40-yard drive that included a 40-yard pass to Kelvin Benjamin over Stephon Gilmore where the ultimately punted back to the Patriots and pinned them at the 5-yard line.This is where the Patriots really need a running back. James White and Cordarrelle Patterson gained -1 yards on two carries and Brady found Josh Gordon for 7 yards and Ryan Allen had to punt the ball from deep in his end zone. Bills returnman Micah Hyde brought it back 31 yards to the Patriots 35-yard line. The Bills are already in field goal position.And Derek Anderson fumbled the snap and Patrick Chung broke up the dump-off pass to McCoy in the flat. Trey Flowers tackled McCoy for a 3-yard loss, and Anderson found Benjamin for 5 yards. The Bills gained just 2 yards on the drive, but connected on a 51-yard field goal to bring the score to 9-6.The Patriots led a 7-yard drive for only 29 yards and they punted back to the Bills, who start their next drive on the 20-yard line. This Patriots offense really misses a running game as Edelman and Patterson combine for 21 yards on 7 carries. White and Kenjon Barner have 16 yards on 7 carries. Brady has 8 yards on his one run.How about that? Kyle Van Noy came screaming around the edge to force a fumble that Patrick Chung recovered on the Bills 29-yard line.And then Gronkowski made an impossible, juggling catch around the defender and along the left sideline to get to the Bills 7-yard line. Gronkowski’s toe looked to be on the boundary, but the officials didn’t see enough to overturn it. James White gained zero on first down, Tom Brady threw an ugly ball on second down, and then threw it away on third down as the Bills defense held strong and forced yet another field goal. Gostkowski his the 25-yarder to make the score 12-6.The Bills are driving around midfield as we head to the fourth quarter.Q4Anderson threw an incomplete pass on third-and-3 and the Bills punted the ball to the Patriots.Tom Brady and company took over from their own 15-yard line and Brady overcame an offensive holding call against LaAdrian Waddle to lead an impressive drive. Brady found White for 19 yards and Edelman for 29 yards White Irving Fryar Jerseys , before Patterson scampered around the end for 22 yards to get to the 22-yard line. Brady connected with Hogan for 20 yards to the goal line and White ran up the middle for the 1-yard score. The Patriots tried to go for two-points, but Brady threw an interception and the score remained 18-6.Edelman has 117 yards from scrimmage; White has 94 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown; Chris Hogan, Rob Gronkowski, and Josh Gordon all have between 42-49 yards. This is an incredibly balanced day for the Patriots offense, even if they’ve disappointed in the red zone.Devin McCourty just called game. Derek Anderson and the Bills were trying to draw the game to within a field goal, with Anderson spreading the ball around the offense completing 5 of 6 to five different targets for 60 yards to the New England 25-yard line. Jason McCourty made an excellent break-up in the corner of the end zone on first down and the officials called the next play incomplete after a review. A false start set the Bills up for a third-and-15 from the 30-yard line and McCourty intercepted the next pass and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown, giving New England a 25-6 lead.Anderson and the Bills tried to mount another late comeback drive with 24 yards to Andre Holmes, 11 yards to Chris Ivory Irving Fryar Jerseys 2019 , and 8 yards to Charles Clay to the get to the Patriots 32-yard line. Stephon Gilmore broke up the fourth down pass to force a turnover on downs to give the ball back to the offense.Patterson carried the ball three times for 7 yards and forced Buffalo to use up all their time outs before Ryan Allen punted back to the Bills.The Bills made it to Patriots territory, but a 12-yard sack from Adrian Clayborn and a 10-yard sack by Kyle Van Noy effectively ended the game.The Patriots win with a final score of 25-6 and move on to 6-2.