So what's up with James White?

Is he even real or just an urban legend like Slash and Paul Bunyan? Barely heard anything about this kid but he's suppose to be Vereen like maybe? Most seem to have him as a bust already.

Coach Fears hyped him, but nobody else has. Needs to stand and deliver with serious competition from 2 guys and maybe more. You need to show up when you're a smurf 3rd down back. Lots of competition from great college players who aren't NFL size.

No one really has any idea what White has to offer yet, camp and the Pre Season will determine what he has to offer. Hopefully they were right about him and the season to prepare himself has paid off.

I'm not sure why people have the negative perception of James White that they do. He had the same role his rookie year that Vereen had his rookie season.

Vereen's rookie season - 57 total yards on 15 touches
White's rookie season - 61 total yards on 14 touches

He ran behind a stacked OL in college and really isn't that special of a RB. He's getting outperformed by Dion Lewis currently.

KontradictioN said:

He ran behind a stacked OL in college and really isn't that special of a RB. He's getting outperformed by Dion Lewis currently.

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That's my impression based on limited views [and reports, obviously]

There was plenty of good stuff said about both White and Lewis over the past few weeks. As with any competition, expect the padded practices to tell us a lot more than any offseason practices.

KontradictioN said:

He ran behind a stacked OL in college and really isn't that special of a RB. He's getting outperformed by Dion Lewis currently.

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When I saw his college highlights my first question was "Where's the defense?". That being said I'll still wait until I get a better look at him in pre season games before judging where he's at.

Judging only by highlights he has more potential to bring the rock to the house than Vereen, but that doesn't say much, let's see if he can perform at the same level receiving

Danny Woodhead was a JAG that got cut by the jests. Shane Vereen was an injury prone 2nd round bust after his first season.

There should be some spirited competition at the position.

Being out performed before training camp is like having the best start getting in line for breakfast.

Brady6 said:

I'm not sure why people have the negative perception of James White that they do. He had the same role his rookie year that Vereen had his rookie season.

Vereen's rookie season - 57 total yards on 15 touches
White's rookie season - 61 total yards on 14 touches

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Sure look similar if you ignore that Vereen was a more highly touted player coming out of school, injured most of his rookie year and stuck behind a number of more proven/trusted players.

White was healthy and the RB corps was banged up and mediocre (at best) last year. That he couldn't get on the active game-day roster most weeks and that the team signed guys off the scrap heap and PS instead of giving him a
look is quite telling.

White might pan out, but he was - by all accounts - not a great prospect coming out of school. Having watched a good deal of him at Wisconsin, I don't see a guy with the type of skills Vereen had coming out of college. White gets touted as a pass down guy but he wasn't a great receiver in college (only one year of plus production as a receiver). He showed very little in training camp and preseason (after pretty glowing reviews in mini-camp) and was not given any opportunity to grab some playing time when Ridley went down.

Given how poor the Pats RB talent is this year, there should be no excuse for him not to make the roster. His only competition for the 3rd down job is Cadet who is terrible.

KontradictioN said:

He ran behind a stacked OL in college and really isn't that special of a RB. He's getting outperformed by Dion Lewis currently.

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This. I do not bash Patriots draft choices very much at all, as I learned a long time ago not to (thanks for the lesson Logan Mankins).

I was not happy with the James White choice, though. He was not a special player in college, I never saw anything of him that made me think he was a difference maker in the league.

That said, I hope I'm wrong and I'm pulling for the kid!

Jonas Gray out performed him in pre-season. That's what happened to James White. Gray got the power run snaps in the regular season instead of White. White was stuck behind Vereen as the third down back and saw little action. On a side note, Roy Finch did better in pre-season in both rushing and receiving but he was cut, so stats don't tell the whole story. With Vereen gone he has the opportunity to be the third down back but he has competition. If he doesn't win the job, he could be stuck in a back-up inactive role again this season or if 2 guys are better then him he could be cut.

mcmurtry86 said:

White was healthy and the RB corps was banged up and mediocre (at best) last year. That he couldn't get on the active game-day roster most weeks and that the team signed guys off the scrap heap and PS instead of giving him a
look is quite telling.

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Vereen carried the ball 102 times last year including the playoffs. How come BB and McDaniels turned to Jonas Gray and then Blount? Most carries Vereen got in a game was 11 and that was before Gray and before Blount came back.

Because Vereen isnt a cowbell back, he's a receiving back. James White was drafted to be a receiving back.

I don't expect anything from White, every snap he's played he looked like a dud.

Too early to hit the eject button just yet on White. Some players "get it" their rookie years. Some don't. Clearly White didn't get it. Not sure if it was playbook, physical or just that Vereen was ahead of him by a lot. Could be all three?

Based on the Youtube stuff I have seen on him (college and w/Philly) Lewis seems like an NFL caliber player to me.

It'll be a good camp battle no question.

I can't wait for camp and preseason to see how this all plays out

mcmurtry86 said:

Sure look similar if you ignore that Vereen was a more highly touted player coming out of school, injured most of his rookie year and stuck behind a number of more proven/trusted players.

White was healthy and the RB corps was banged up and mediocre (at best) last year. That he couldn't get on the active game-day roster most weeks and that the team signed guys off the scrap heap and PS instead of giving him a
look is quite telling.

White might pan out, but he was - by all accounts - not a great prospect coming out of school. Having watched a good deal of him at Wisconsin, I don't see a guy with the type of skills Vereen had coming out of college. White gets touted as a pass down guy but he wasn't a great receiver in college (only one year of plus production as a receiver). He showed very little in training camp and preseason (after pretty glowing reviews in mini-camp) and was not given any opportunity to grab some playing time when Ridley went down.

Given how poor the Pats RB talent is this year, there should be no excuse for him not to make the roster. His only competition for the 3rd down job is Cadet who is terrible.

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Vereens rookie year we had Green-Ellis and Woodhead. Last season we had Ridley/Blount and Vereen. I can say without question White had the more talented RBs in front of him.

As far as signing RBs off the practice squad we signed Gray who fit the need of a between the tackles runner. Vereen did not miss any games, and that would have been the player that would have impacted White's playing time the most.

All I know about White is there were rave reviews out of camp last year, he showed well as a receiver catching all 5 passes thrown his way during the season, and from what I have read this offseason he has once again shown well. I'm not sure what he has done to suggest he should be viewed negatively other than not get an opportunity to play more, which is not uncommon for a rookie RB on the Patriots.