Lewis' role when Blount returns

SalemPats said:

I think Vereen was an exceptional back for us and i think he's as good as Faulk. We lost him not because we didn't want him, but because his salary was too high for a 3rd down back.

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Vereen was fine. I don't think he was close to as good as Faulk. He got paid based on his Super Bowl, not his body of work.

JMC00 said:

I think Lewis could be as good or better

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I hope so, but Vereen was a very good pass blocker and had great hands. He's not as dynamic or quick as Lewis so hopefully Lewis can get more big plays.

We had 2 elite 3rd down back in Faulk and Vereen. Faulk was a better runner and i probably give him a bit of a better grade in blocking (close), but Vereen's hands are awesome, he made some huge downfield streak catches.

chasa said:

no thanks.

I like blount as the main back, pound the defense, and then bring lewis in when they are too tired to let his shiftiness really shine.

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With a quarterback who is near perfect, I don't expect the Patriots to become a pound it out offense.

Another part of Lewis' game I like is he is a big play waiting to happen. Wouldn't be surprised if he rips off a couple of 50 yard+ plays this season. Faulk/Woodhead/Vereen didn't have that aspect to their game.

Lewis had a very good game. Blocked well, but that fumble was bad! When three defenders are on you, use both arms to hold the ball!
I cant wait to see Lewis and White both in the backfield on third down!

I thought Lewis looked very good. Especially so when you consider he hasn't played in a couple of years. I am very excited at the matchup possibilities Lewis presents when out there. Especially when in jumbo TE package.

I thought the RB experience will lead to Bolden relegated to ST.

Blount and Lewis will form a pair like Ridley and Vareen. But Blount with less running ability than Ridley; and Lewis showing more than Vareen, but perhaps less receiving ability.

Although the singular experiment with Mason as a FB didn't work, I like the idea of continuing to do so while Develin is unavailable.

Lewis needs to be on the field A LOT. He has special talent that none of the other RBs come close to matching. Tell me I'm not the only one that saw Danny Woodhead 2.0 out there?

patsinthesnow said:

Obviously we can't have a 5'6 RB seeing 15-20 carries a game, but could he become our "main" RB with Blount as the fill in?

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I think Blount will be the main back, but it's not obvious at all that we couldn't use Lewis 15 times a game. He ran 47 times one game in college.

Have Le'Veon Bell and Arian Foster both unavailable in a PPR fantasy league this week. Rolled the dice and started Dion Lewis. It worked out. 16 pts

Blount will still be the power back but give way to a 3rd down back. Lewis can be out there for all 3 downs. Bolden was a non factor last night, 1 yard on 5 carries. Just guessing but Blount starts, White/Cadet will see some third down action when Blount comes out. Lewis will spell Blount as lead RB and stay out there for all 3 downs. Probably when it's the two minute or hurry-up offense, Lewis will be out there.

Edit: Not ruling out the possibility that Lewis could be the lead back. I was impressed last night.

Doug Kyed ‏@DougKyedNESN 6m6 minutes ago
Tom Brady told Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth that "Dion Lewis could become a cult hero" in New England.

Lewis dropped an easy catch, and then fumbled near the goal line. There is a lot of room for improvement. He needs a dose of Belichick to fix those mental errors.

Cantabrigian said:

We can all at least agree on ending the Bolden as the heavy back experiment?

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5 carries. 1 yard gained.

MrNathanDrake said:

Lewis dropped an easy catch, and then fumbled near the goal line. There is a lot of room for improvement. He needs a dose of Belichick to fix those mental errors.

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I don't know if the ball ever got in his hands. It seemed kinda overthrown a bit. But Lewis might've made an error on the route. Brady seemed a little angry after he didn't catch that

SalemPats said:

I hope so, but Vereen was a very good pass blocker and had great hands. He's not as dynamic or quick as Lewis so hopefully Lewis can get more big plays.

We had 2 elite 3rd down back in Faulk and Vereen. Faulk was a better runner and i probably give him a bit of a better grade in blocking (close), but Vereen's hands are awesome, he made some huge downfield streak catches.

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I remember a lot of complaints about Vereen dropping clutch passes. No question he was a standout in the superbowl, but people on this board used to complain about his hands all the time.

As for Lewis, I'm cautiously optimistic. He looked good in preseason (as did Patrick Pass) and he had one real game where he surprised people expecting a poor performance by a small back running between the tackles. He had some good blocks on rushers, showed nice hands, and good open-field elusiveness. Let's see some more of that before declaring him better than guys that have been in the league and performed well in many games.

I think the way Brady threw that ball he thought Dion Lewis was 6'6 and not 5'8.

Chiuba E. Obele said:

I don't know if the ball ever got in his hands. It seemed kinda overthrown a bit. But Lewis might've made an error on the route. Brady seemed a little angry after he didn't catch that

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Not a big issue, but just realize that Lewis isn't a finished product yet.

As long as he doesn't make a habit out of those mistakes, he will get tons of playing time. Remember, Belichick doesn't mind errors… what he hates is "error repeaters".

MrNathanDrake said:

Lewis dropped an easy catch, and then fumbled near the goal line. There is a lot of room for improvement. He needs a dose of Belichick to fix those mental errors.

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Looked like a bad throw to me.

https://twitter.com/steelersdepot/status/642220148171128832

Great job by Lewis finding Shazier and stopping him in his tracks.

@DougKyedNESN: Tom Brady told Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth that "Dion Lewis could become a cult hero" in New England.