BB Eating
Brandon Bolden is an unsung hero of the 2021-22 Patriots.
Before the 2021 NFL season, Brandon Bolden was a core special teamer at the bottom of the New England Patriots depth chart. As the expression goes, “an injury to one is an opportunity for another." Brandon Bolden is an eight-year NFL veteran that has spent all but one season with the New England Patriots. Yet nobody would expect what would come next from Bolden in the 2021 NFL season. He has emerged as the best pass-catching Running Back on the Patriots with the loss of James White to a season-ending injury. Bolden’s emergence mid-way through the Patriots season is another bright spot to a team that is still in the running for the AFC East divisional lead, especially after the Bills lost to the Jaguars in a Week 9 stunner. In New England, any given back can produce any week, leaving opposing defensive coordinators in the dust as teams try to scheme against the Patriots' weapons.
Damien Harris leads the Patriots backfield as their featured back and rightfully so. Harris is a good-to-great NFL Running Back and has seen his productivity rise with whoever complements him on a game-to-game basis. J.J. Taylor, Rhamondre Stevenson, and Bolden have all seen their stock increase thanks to the uncertainty that goes into figuring out the Patriots offense each week.
Brandon Bolden has slowly evolved into another passing option out of the backfield for Mac Jones and is having one of his best seasons since he entered the NFL. Through nine games, Bolden already has his best receiving year with 22 receptions and 189 receiving yards. Alongside his emerging pass-catching skills, BB has his 3rd highest Yards per Scrimmage season with 297 yards. Overall, Bolden adds an element to the Patriots' offense that many thought the team wouldn’t have when White went down.
On November 11th, Bolden had the best rushing game of his 2021 season, with eight carries for 54 yards against Carolina, a team many thought would be a sleeper team in the NFC South. Bolden continues to be one of the unsung heroes of the Patriots season and comes up clutch when they need him to most. That’s a recipe to enjoy success in the Patriots locker room that prides itself on rising to the occasion.
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