Some thoughts on James White and his future here:
1) White was a nice addition, but there's also a reason why they don't involve him enough in the gameplanning, particularly in games down the stretch when we were hampered with injuries. Obviously, I'm not talking about a bunch of invisible targets that occurred from throws of desperation. I'm speaking of actually involving him in the gameplanning in the months of Dec/Jan, and that simply didn't happen, outside of the PHI comeback attempt, which obviously was as far from design as one can get. There has to be something behind the scenes as in not feeling comfortable enough with his blocking, knowledge of the playbook, etc. Either way, the writing is on the wall for how they view White, unless he really shows improvement over the offseason.
2) When you take out the clear outlier of the comeback attempt during the PHI game (which should've proven his worth to the team), he had 15/18 games with only four catches or less, most of which had 2 catches or less. In the NYJ game at the end of the year, he had 28 yds receiving. In the MIA game, he caught 2 balls. In the KC playoff game he caught 2 balls. In the previous DEN game where the idea was to take advantage of mismatches on the LBs, he had a total of FIVE yards.
3) White had 16/18 games where he finished with single digit rushing yards, so obviously he isn't seen as anything close to a rushing threat. He makes Shane Vereen look like Walter Payton. In the 2 games where he saw double digit rushing yardage, those games saw totals of 11 and 14. Yes, fourteen yards was his rushing high in an 18 game season, many of which saw us with a completely decimated RB committee, and that was when Brandon Bolden was basically a ST only player. The coaching staff basically decided that it would be more beneficial to the team to not run at all, than to use White.
He had a season high rush of 8 yards, and ended up with an average of 2.5 yards per carry. I'd have to say that anytime you finish a season in the "twos" in terms of YPC, you aren't going to be seen as much of a threat to run the ball.
4) When Dion Lewis returns and/or we actually have a real rushing attack, James White may fall right back to where he was when the season began. Again, this could change if he has a good offseason, but no matter what, he's going to be seen as at least the 3rd best option in terms of running backs, and that's if we don't take a rookie in the draft. That isn't likely to leave him a lot of looks or opportunities.
