The Ascension of James White!!!

We had woodhead and Vereen on the same team, so we can definitely have white and Lewis.

Off The Grid said:

Those ****ers. Sorry, man.

I heard that the same thing happened to White.

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Lol... Posting from my phone is always an interesting result..

Earlier in the year there was abundant criticism about White and how we wasted another draft pick, was not as expected or how his college game did not translate well to the pro game.. guess he got coached up quick.

His catch and run that was called back for the bogus PI call was beautiful. The spin move was very Dion like.

VrabelJr said:

Cool thread yo but I'mma have to bump your Shane Vereen/Woodhead thread.

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Bump it all you want: I said my piece, I pointed and laughed at the initial page or so of responses, and then I put all of you on Time Out and blocked it: Y'all've been barking at each other ever since.

VrabelJr said:

Cool thread yo but I'mma have to bump your Shane Vereen/Woodhead thread.

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*And if you think that my praise of White ~ which ironically started the whole Vereen nonsense a few weeks ago ~ is in any way in conflict with my philosophical stance that we should pack Talent heavily into the BackField, then you've misunderstood me: Given my druthers, I would not only keep Lewis and White, but would also seek out a Late Rounder or UFA to add to the SpeedBack mix and I would also seek out a couple of Later Rounder/UFA PowerBacks to compete with Bolden and maybe Blount.

If it was up to me, we'd have 2 High Caliber PowerBacks and 2 High Caliber SpeedBacks when we break Camp: 4 guys either proven to be exceptional or with undeniably huge Potential.

My reasoning for taking this approach is well-documented, but to recap: I consider HalfBack a Job that is highly susceptible to Injury, and that therefore warrants aggressively investing in and seeking out deep Depth of Talent. Both Lewis and White have proven shockingly excellent when pressed into substantial Roles, but I believe that we got really, really lucky, and that History, by and large, supports me.

Others disagree, and are well-supported indeed in producing Lewis and White's Production as Supporting Evidence that I place too much Emphasis on the BackField. Fair enough.

I just hope that this Thread, at least, can be about White's Ascension.

White has been increasingly effective when he gets the ball quickly in space. Still not using him much as a runner though, which has fallen to Bolden and Iosefa (for the moment).

At the time of his injury, Lewis had a 10.8 ypc on 34 catches.

If White's 60yd catch and run had counted, he would have had a 11.5ypc on 34 catches.

Talk about next man up.

If white can be as productive as lewis, I would take white.......lewis seems destined to never play a full season

Taking two years and some roster situations to develop isn't unprecedented vis, Vereen, Edelman.

IllegalContact said:

If white can be as productive as lewis, I would take white.......lewis seems destined to never play a full season

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He certainly isn't the runner Lewis is but I agree. With the exception of his rookie year, he has not stayed healthy an entire year.

IllegalContact said:

If white can be as productive as lewis, I would take white.......lewis seems destined to never play a full season

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You have to wonder though, who the starting status will go to. It may fall towards White if Lewis isn't 100% - a scenario which I would be fine with. Lewis might need time to heal after all.

IllegalContact said:

If white can be as productive as lewis, I would take white.......lewis seems destined to never play a full season

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I'm thinking running style has something to do with that. White has a basic, no frills, straight ahead running style, while Lewis seems like he's making a violent change of direction with every step. It's what makes Lewis much more dynamic, but I guess that explosiveness comes with a price. Why does everything have to have strings attached?


Also I just read Reiss' article about Brady's opinion of the bogus OPI on White's long catch and run. Went back and watched it, and yup, absolutely bogus call. The ref that threw the flag is standing right there, looking straight down the freaking line of scrimmage. He should have been able to see clearly that Quiche was exactly at 1 yard past the LOS when he made the block, so it should have been a no call. White got robbed.

IllegalContact said:

If white can be as productive as lewis, I would take white.......lewis seems destined to never play a full season

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Understood, but Dion Lewis was an actual rusher who ran well with the ball in his hands. In comparison, White, while continuing to surprise and impress, is nothing more than another glorified receiver who's lined up in the backfield.

They aren't even attempting to give White the ball on handoffs, so I think I'd rather have Lewis for 12 games every year than White playing a whole season. Hopefully, White continues to improve in both aspects of his game, because he can be a very important piece next month, as we saw with Vereen last postseason.

Mack Herron said:

White has been increasingly effective when he gets the ball quickly in space. Still not using him much as a runner though, which has fallen to Bolden and Iosefa (for the moment).

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Hard to say if that's due to injury/durability concerns, his importance in catching the ball out of the backfield, or the fact that he's just completely ineffective as an actual rushing RB.

Any way you look at it, White can help to take us far in the playoffs if they give him more reps and opportunities. I just don't think that will be via the running game very often, although again--knowing the first part of my statement could help us to understand that better.

He's been a terrific receiver but we still haven't seen much of him as a runner yet. Fair play to Patchick who liked him a fair bit pre-draft.

supafly said:

Understood, but Dion Lewis was an actual rusher who ran well with the ball in his hands. In comparison, White, while continuing to surprise and impress, is nothing more than another glorified receiver who's lined up in the backfield.

They aren't even attempting to give White the ball on handoffs, so I think I'd rather have Lewis for 12 games every year than White playing a whole season. Hopefully, White continues to improve in both aspects of his game, because he can be a very important piece next month, as we saw with Vereen last postseason.

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and that lasted all of 7 games

you could argue that Lewis had the benefit of a more complete offense.......james white has been dealing with half of a deck

it really doesn't matter what you are if you can't finish the season

James White has definitely moved into the much improved territory great for him. He has also done most of his damage on limited snaps hope they trust him more running the football especially on draws which should be there knowing the Defense is thinking pass. White has proven to be sure handed and in recent weeks I am sure Defenses are taking notice which should open things up for some of our lesser Offensive players.

IllegalContact said:

and that lasted all of 7 games

you could argue that Lewis had the benefit of a more complete offense.......james white has been dealing with half of a deck

it really doesn't matter what you are if you can't finish the season

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Good points on Lewis who is definitely in fragile territory as you mentioned James White has emerged in an injured Offense minus Edelman coupled with a hobbled Gronk and Amendola. That says more about White's ability with the likes of LaFell and Martin struggling. With a healthy Gronk - Edelman - Amendola and now White this Offense is going to cause Defenses some problems going foward. Real happy James White proved me wrong, with White and Lewis locked up we are set at the Third Down RB position for the next two years.

White is not as fast a Lewis but is stronger and has pretty good wiggle, hands are reliable and has been effective near the goal line. The Patriots have also developed effective game plans to match their various RBs.

Unless Jackson really shines I hope he doesn't take snaps away from White.