New England Patriots: Opportunity there for James White this week
New England Patriots second-year running back James White became a hot, speculation add, particularly in deep fantasy football leagues where any potential contributor at the position is coveted, following Dion Lewis‘s ACL tear, but we didn’t get to see much of him last week.
Despite playing 28 snaps, as per the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin, White earned just one carry for five yards and one catch for six against the New York Giants defense.
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This week, White will go up against a defense that provides him with a much more favorable matchup, should he receive more targets from Tom Brady. According to Football Outsiders, the Buffalo Bills have the NFL’s worst DVOA against opposing running backs in pass coverage, which essentially means that they do a terrible job of defending players at that position.
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When watching Bills games, it’s quite evident that the duo of Ronald Darby and Stephon Gilmore on the outside is as talented as any team’s cornerback tandem, and they make plays on the ball at an astonishingly high rate.
Unfortunately for the Bills, they are porous in coverage over the middle of the field, and their vulnerability to the short-passing attack was notoriously exploited by Brady in Week 2 when he put up 466 passing yards on the Bills defense. That result would be later replicated by fellow MVP candidate Andy Dalton, who completed a crisp 22 of 33 passes for three TDs and no picks in a win over Buffalo.
Whereas the Bengals didn’t make much use of Giovani Bernard, who surprisingly has just 26 catches on the season after being a star third-down back in Cincinnati in his first two seasons, the Patriots spammed passes to Lewis in their first meeting against the Bills. Holes in Rex Ryan’s defense were embarrassingly torn wide open by the Patriots offense, and Lewis finished with the second-most receiving yards on the team, edging also-injured star Julian Edelman 98-97 in that department.
Barring anything absolutely shocking, White will not be the next Lewis, who has to be considered the NFL’s most agile back at this stage. He doesn’t have Lewis’s moves in tight space, nor is he as fast or as explosive as Lewis. That said, he has three-down traits and was talented enough to be a legitimate star running back at Wisconsin. Of course, even being a legendary Wisconsin RB doesn’t count for much, as evidenced by Montee Ball‘s complete lack of success ever since showing promise in the Denver Broncos juggernaut of an offense as a rookie backup to 1,000-yard rusher Knowshon Moreno.
Unlike Ball, White has a more well-rounded game, and his ability to catch passes and pass protect has intrigued Patriots fans ever since he was drafted in the fourth round of the 2014 draft.
On Monday Night Football against a fired-up, 5-4 Bills team that is coming off of a long week after an emotional, close win over the rival New York Jets, White could be an X-Factor. It seems like the stakes are high for him, because this could be his first real opportunity to show his stuff as the Patriots third-down back, which (as Shane Vereen, Danny Woodhead, and Lewis have illustrated) is a storyline many in the fantasy community will be watching.
Aug 28, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New England Patriots running back James White (28) against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim O
Again, White isn’t close to being as talented or versatile as Lewis, but it’s not like he’s a plodder a la Brandon Bolden.
White has quickness, burst, and agility, enough of quality in those traits to warrant a fourth-round selection and minor buzz in the first place. Some say he was over-drafted, so White has plenty to prove when he takes the field on Monday night.
Working in his favor is the fact that the Patriots targeted their RB heavily the first time they played the Bills, the fact that White did see the field for significant chunks of time last week, and the lack of prowess in coverage from Buffalo’s linebackers.
Preston Brown, Nigel Bradham, and Manny Lawson have been liabilities in pass defense this season, and if White can show enough tools out there, then he should be able to take advantage.
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Targets are king, and with Edelman out and Keshawn Martin at less than 100%, opportunities should be there, especially in a favorable matchup; we all know how much Bill Belichick, Brady, and the Pats love exploiting matchups they like.
Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola should be the stars of the offense, but with Brandon LaFell about to be locked up with two legitimate star corners (including the clearly elite Darby), White could be key.