I'm Getting Excited About Dion Lewis

RB/FB (5) Blount, Gray, Bolden, Lewis/White, Develin
WR (6) Edelman, LaFell, Amendola, Gibson, Dobson, Slater

Froob said:

...What's the deal with James White though? Nobody knows anything about him it seems.

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I know one thing about him, and that is: he wasn't worthy of a 4th-round pick, and I said so at the time.
Gaffney & Lewis have better chances to contribute than Jimmy does, and I hope that neither of them
loses their jobs just so this guy is kept.

mgteich said:

It seems that we have three players who will take one of the backfield jobs because of their versatility: Bolden, Cadet and Develin. Even if you pencil these three and Blount to the roster, there is still a serious battle for the positions of RB4 and WR5, if both of these positions exist.

To put this another way, how many RB/WR do we need to add to these eight?

RB/FB (4) Blount, Bolden, Cadet, Develin
WR (4) Edelman, LaFell, Amendola, Dobson/Gibson

The competitors are Dobson/Gibson, Boyce, Tyms, Lewis, Gray, Gaffney, White and a free agent RB. This roster decision seems to be the biggest one on the offense.

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Very real possibility that both Dobson and Gibson do not make this team.

I'd be surprised, and very disappointed, if neither Dropson nor Gibson make the team.
That would mean that the WR position has not improved at all from one year to the next.

captain stone said:

I'd be surprised, and very disappointed, if neither Dropson nor Gibson make the team.
That would mean that the WR position has not improved at all from one year to the next.

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In this offense, Dobson and Gibson would only see about 50 targets anyway.

JE11 and LaFell are one of the top duos in the league. Add a more confident DA to that mix and you have and outstanding trio that is hard to improve upon. Add Gronk and Chandler and you have 450 or so out of approx 550 targets right there.

captain stone said:

I know one thing about him, and that is: he wasn't worthy of a 4th-round pick, and I said so at the time.
Gaffney & Lewis have better chances to contribute than Jimmy does, and I hope that neither of them
loses their jobs just so this guy is kept.

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Vereen hadn't done much more than White at this point in his career.

i still see cadet completely taking over vereens role. lewis will probably end up on the psquad

robertweathers said:

In this offense, Dobson and Gibson would only see about 50 targets anyway.

JE11 and LaFell are one of the top duos in the league. Add a more confident DA to that mix and you have and outstanding trio that is hard to improve upon. Add Gronk and Chandler and you have 450 or so out of approx 550 targets right there.

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I agree that, absent injury, the #4 WR won't contribute much. The #4 WR should be the #7 target after the 3 WR's, 2 TE's and a RB.

There's lots of competition for the #4 WR position, and the #5 position if there is one. I think that Dobson and Gibson are at the top of the group and that one of them is very likely to make the team. I suppose Boyce or Tyms could beat them both out, but I think that to be unlikely. Dobson is a very inexpensive #4 WR, and he has experience with Brady. Gibson MAY be good enough to take major reps if there is an injury.

To me, the emergency WR should have some experience, as Dobson and Gibson do. The #5 WR, if there is one, can be a developmental player, expected to be inactive in almost all games.

The potential 5th WR position is not really necessary and can be used for another position. On the other hand, the team may want to continue to develop a player like Tyms (or Dobson or Boyce) without risk of someone else signing him.

BOTTOM LINE
Personally, I will be disappointed if Gibson doesn't make the team. I think that having both Dobson and Gibson would give a good bench if there are injuries.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if Gibson or Dobson is waived this week. We never know the status of Belichick's evaluation process.

I'm high on both Gaffney and Lewis.

Froob said:

Vereen hadn't done much more than White at this point in his career.

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Accurate. Gotta see what White can do before saying he can't play...

mgteich said:

I agree that, absent injury, the #4 WR won't contribute much. The #4 WR should be the #7 target after the 3 WR's, 2 TE's and a RB.

There's lots of competition for the #4 WR position, and the #5 position if there is one. I think that Dobson and Gibson are at the top of the group and that one of them is very likely to make the team. I suppose Boyce or Tyms could beat them both out, but I think that to be unlikely. Dobson is a very inexpensive #4 WR, and he has experience with Brady. Gibson MAY be good enough to take major reps if there is an injury.

To me, the emergency WR should have some experience, as Dobson and Gibson do. The #5 WR, if there is one, can be a developmental player, expected to be inactive in almost all games.

The potential 5th WR position is not really necessary and can be used for another position. On the other hand, the team may want to continue to develop a player like Tyms (or Dobson or Boyce) without risk of someone else signing him.

BOTTOM LINE
Personally, I will be disappointed if Gibson doesn't make the team. I think that having both Dobson and Gibson would give a good bench if there are injuries.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if Gibson or Dobson is waived this week. We never know the status of Belichick's evaluation process.

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I agree. I'm gonna use a crystal ball for a second...

For the past 3 years, TB12 has averaged about 600+ throws a year. I also don't see that going down.

Gronk, Je11 and LaFell accounted for 384 targets last year. Barring injury that will not go down, with a healthy Gronk to start the year and LaFell more comfortable in the offense, that trio might approach ~400+ targets them. Without Vereen and his 77 targets Wrights 33, opens the door for a player or two to see a decent number of balls thrown their way. Those people seem to be...

1. Chandler- He has a catch % of around 66%. In theory, if he sees 70 throws, he's catching 46 of them. I don't see him getting more than AH (who over a 16 game season would have seen 100+ targets)
2. Amendola- Hes a 65% catch guy. I think he's also seeing more than the 43 he saw last year. 60 or so targets seems to be about right.
3. Approx 70+ targets remain for WR4, WR5 and RBs. Seems that the best "receivers" of the bunch remaining are Dobson, Cadet, Gibson, White, Lewis and Bolden.

IMO Cadet is a lock b/c he is your WR4/5 and best receiving RB. He'll see 40 targets.

The other 30...maybe Dobson for some deep balls and the winner of the White/Lewis battle pick up 15 or so catches. Hooman, Bolden, Develin and bottom of the roster guys get the scraps.

robertweathers said:

In this offense, Dobson and Gibson would only see about 50 targets anyway.

JE11 and LaFell are one of the top duos in the league. Add a more confident DA to that mix and you have and outstanding trio that is hard to improve upon. Add Gronk and Chandler and you have 450 or so out of approx 550 targets right there.

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Quality depth is also needed, and with the WR group losing nobody to FA, there's no excuse not to improve the bottom of the depth chart.

Froob said:

Vereen hadn't done much more than White at this point in his career.

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Vereen was much, much more highly-regarded out of college than White was, as were Gaffney & Lewis.

Froob said:

Vereen hadn't done much more than White at this point in his career.

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Vereen was injured.

captain stone said:

Quality depth is also needed, and with the WR group losing nobody to FA, there's no excuse not to improve the bottom of the depth chart.

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I agree. I think Dobson is 3/4WR and Cadet provides depth at 4/5WR, Slot WR and RB.

I also think LaFell and DA will be better in 2015 as well.

Not question the WR position in 2015 will be better than 2014.

RayClay said:

Vereen was injured.

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Still, White hasn't been given much of a shot yet. Not much reason he would have played last year.

Schmo said:

Good thread. Thanks for putting a spotlight on this guy.

Pats fans seem to be comparing our options at 3rd down back to Faulk (pats legend) or vereen (most recent), but to be honest, my favorite was Woodhead. He was a shifty back who could catch, and he knew how to throw his weight around and get dirty to keep Brady clean. Lewis seems like a close comparison to DW on paper and on tape....

DL 5'8" 195
DW 5'8" 200

Both had minimal previous NFL experience, are shifty and like contact (but can hide behind linemen). I think there's a big difference between 195 in college and in the pros, but if the kid can stay healthy, expect things from him.

From what I've seen, I still think that Cadet is completely unimpressive. The door is wide open.

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I was getting frustrated because everybody except Woodhead was being mentioned in this thread.

He was the really the one who seemed like a great all-around RB, only smaller.

The spirit of "St Lewis". I like it. Could make a good nickname, should he live up to the hype.

RayClay said:

First off, Reiss puts him at the top of his player's to learn more about column running today.


http://espn.go.com/blog/new-england...ers-to-learn-more-about-after-offseason-camps

So, Brady's praising his receiving. But wait, the bonus is...this guy is a real running back. Heisman trophy consideration, Barry Sanders clone[lol, Millen's a meathead, but still], Out lifting his linemen at Pitt.

A ways to go to compare to Faulk or vereen receiving, but he's competing against sluggish White and non runner Cadet. Imagine, draws and runs against a sub defense with this guy.

This is one game, not a highlight film, please watch the end. that's how hard he's running after 40+ carries [47].

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Daddy likes!

He's from Albany, so I've been rooting for him his entire career. I hope he sticks with the Patriots. I'm no big fan of Travaris Cadet and I have no hope that a Wisconsin running back will amount to anything, so I think he's got a better shot than most expect.