ADF Player Spotlight – James White

James White – Running Back #28

New England Patriots

Height: 5-10   Weight: 205   Age: 27

Born: 2/3/1992 Fort Lauderdale, FL

College: Wisconsin

Experience: 6th season

High School: St. Thomas Aquinas HS [Fort Lauderdale, FL]

The Past

It’s no secret in how the New England Patriots operate in terms of their roster, specifically with the running back position. More often than not, the Patriots treat their runners as expendable pieces to help aid the salary cap and create multi-back systems to keep the opposition guessing. While that mantra has been in place for many years, James White may be the exception to the rule.

Now entering his sixth season in the NFL (all with the Patriots) White has become a fixture on this offense. With Tom Brady continuously losing the threat of his deep ball, New England has employed that short pass game for many years making White a primary target out of the backfield. With exclusion of his rookie campaign, White hasn’t seen anything less than 40 receptions with last season’s explosion of a whopping 87 passes caught. Clearly White was given more responsibility and continued to flourish.

The key for running backs in the Bill Belichick system has always been trust to receive greater playing time. Throughout his career in Boston, White has earned that conviction to remain a steadfast piece with sure hands and ball security.

Typically White has made the most damage in the receiving game, but in 2018, Josh McDaniels attempted to create a tandem rushing approach with teammate Sony Michel which led to career highs in rushing yards for White. Having bolstered a healthy 1176 total yards from scrimmage and 12 total touchdowns, it’s difficult to envision the Patriots moving away from this success.

The Future

Historically as the Patriots are keen to stock pile talent at the running back position, White hasn’t wavered and remains the most reliable of all backs in the room. Yet again seeing an offseason of added depth to cloud the situation, many circles already discussing White’s future have slimmer outlooks.

While we can agree it’s extremely difficult to decipher what the New England backfield will look like from season-to-season, it’s important to note that White was given a contract extension before last year began, keeping him a Patriot until 2021. This offense has been predicated on having a pounding runner with a clear third down pass catcher to help assist Tom Brady in those short dump-offs. Even with the talents of Sony Michel viewing similar in traits as a receiver, White in our eyes still holds the edge in that department. With rookie Damien Harris added to the fold via the 2019 NFL draft, questions are swirling around potential usage and specific roles.

Undoubtedly the masses have already commenced in writing off White as a heavy contributor for the upcoming season, but we can’t get on board with that notion just yet. Even with possessing a potential three-headed monster in Michel, White, and Harris, the importance in what White brings to the table shouldn’t go overlooked. Perhaps when his contract finalizes its completion, we will see a changing of the guard with the youthful look of Michel and Harris.

Plainly, the time isn’t right to remove or limit one of the most productive pieces the Patriots had on offense simply to cater to players that hold high draft pick evaluations.

The Outlook & Fantasy Impact

Basically as it stands right now from the running back position, White should have the upper hand on touches for the upcoming campaign as once again this offensive approach will be adjusted. With all-world tight-end Rob Gronkowski electing to move toward early retirement, those targets must disperse elsewhere and who better to take on more of those duties then James White.

We’ve witnessed many transitions occur in New England with new additions holding extreme expectations. When those prospects don’t come to fruition early, Belichick is always forced to amend his plan and go back to what works best – that being James White.

Heading into 2019, we can’t comprehend the disrespect White is receiving in terms of average draft position holding firm as the 27^th running back on the board. While his ranking has fluctuated over the last month, we truly feel he could continue to rise as fantasy drafts begin to take place. White finished the season as the seventh best running back in point per reception formats, falling 52.7 points shy of overtaking the Cowboys Ezekiel Elliott for fifth position, truly incredible.

Though our evaluation is here to paint a picture of how great 2018 was, it’s possible we could see a slight regression to these numbers in the new year. While we always review the potential each roster has on the docket, we still believe White will be given every opportunity to succeed and continue that statistical prowess from a season ago.

Based on circumstance, New England can’t move away from the nickel and dime approach which has made them so effective in the past. Being able to secure his services in the early fifth to early sixth rounds, the potential for a top 10-15 player on your roster at that price tag provides unquestioned value. Training camp should provide enough to confirm our speculation but at this point we fully endorse White for 2019 for where he can be selected.