New England Patriots: 3 surprising stars from preseason opener
By Sam Minton
In the New England Patriots preseason opener, some surprising stars emerged. These no-names will be hoping to make a name for themselves in the regular season.
Preseason football can be a mixed bag. You may see some players who will blossom into stars, or you may see players who will be out of the league in a few weeks. On Thursday the New England Patriots played their first preseason game and had some impressive performances.
Patriots fans didn’t get to see Tom Brady or Rob Gronkowski, but they got to see Julian Edelman for the first time since his knee injury last preseason. Also, some rather surprising stars emerged in the 26-17 victory over the Washington Redskins.
Who is Ralph Webb?
Before Thursday’s game, I would have thought that Ralph Webb was one of those generic players on Madden, but Webb is quite the opposite.
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Webb started the preseason with a bang. Besides Jeremy Hill, Webb was the star back on Thursday night.
Webb helped carry the Patriots to a win on Thursday by scoring two touchdowns in the second half. He ran the ball great and was very effective coming out of the backfield.
In his college days, Webb was one of the best college backs in SEC history. At Vanderbilt, he had 931 carries for 4,178 yards and 32 touchdowns.
Webb is the 6th best rusher in SEC history ahead of some all-time greats like Emmitt Smith, and Shaun Alexander, as well as New England’s first-round draft pick Sony Michel.
Before Thursday’s game, Webb was listed as the 9th running back on the Patriots depth chart. I think it’s safe to say he should be a bit higher up by the Patriots next preseason game.