THE PATRIOTS BACKFIELD

I’ve gotten a gazillion questions this week from folks wanting to add Dion Lewis. Let’s break down the Patriots backfield.

LeGarrette Blount is the goaline back. He’s scored 11 touchdowns his last 16 games with the Patriots. He has five rushing scores in five games this season. It’s his job, the goaline work. Period.

That leaves the following names in the Patriots backfield.

Brandon Bolden, D.J. Foster, Dion Lewis, James White

A few thoughts.

Bolden is a special player on special teams. He has failed to carry the ball 65 times in any of his four seasons. He has one carry this season.

Foster, an undrafted back from Arizona State, has carried the ball seven times this season for 24 yards.

Let’s talk about Lewis and White, the only two who will have value barring injuries to others.

White saw the field for 38 snaps last week, seven more than Blount. In the first game back for Tom Brady, White outsnapped Blount. The Patriots figure to throw the ball a lot with Brady back, right? That means we will likely see a whole lot of work for a pass catching back with the Patriots. According to a post on the Boston Herald, Jeff How expects White to be a steady contributor this season. White caught 40 passes for 410 yards and four scores last season, and look how hot he was at the end of the season. In the month of December White caught 26 passes for 252 yards and three scores. That’s a per game pace of 6.5 receptions, 63 yards and 0.75 scores. Do you really think the Patriots are going to bench White when Lewis returns? It’s at least fair to ask the question.

Lewis is eligible to return in Week 7 from his knee issue. A moment on that. It’s like no one is bothering to understand what is going on here. (1) Lewis had ACL surgery. This is a significant injury and surgery, even if the rate of success is very high. He returned to practice and was expected to be ready for Week 1. (2) Lewis had a setback and required a second surgery on his left knee. This second surgery out him on the PUP list for an additional two months. (3) The beat writers for the Patriots aren’t even sure what the second surgery was? Why is everyone so willing to just accept that Lewis will be the player he once was? Why are you all willing to accept that he will be 100 percent as soon as he returns? Why are you so willing to accept that the team will simply bench White? (4) Even before the second surgery was announced, as the team continued to mislead the beat writers, Mike Reiss (the Pats best beat writer), reported a conversation with OC Josh McDaniels who noted that the team wanted to conserve Lewis early in the year to make sure he was healthy all season long. Things change, but if the plan way back then was to slowly ease Lewis into things in 2016, why are you expecting things to be different now?

Let’s talk about Lewis returning. He is eligible to return in Week 7. Kevin Duffy, who covers the Patriots for Mass Live, stated it is currently unknown if Lewis “is healthy enough to practice.”

Players activated from the PUP list can practice for 21 days before they have to be activated. That means Lewis could start practicing, at the absolute earliest, next week and still be held out of games until Week 9.

However, it's also possible he could wait until as late as November 22nd to start praticiing which would allow him to wait until Week 14 to debut.

Speaking of weeks, the Patriots have a Bye in Week 9. Does it not stand to reason that the Patriots would hold Lewis out through at least the Bye week which would mean he wouldn’t be on the field until Week 10? Remember, the Patriots aren’t playing to win games at midseason. They are aiming for the playoffs. Think how cautious the team was with Rob Gronkowski this year. Not only did Gronk sit out games when he was hurt, but he saw limited work once he was active. Why wouldn’t the Pats have the same plan with Lewis?

Finally on Lewis. Is he really worth all the excitement anyway?

A 5th round selection in 2011, Lewis appeared in 24 games with the Eagles carrying the ball 36 times in 2011 and 2012. He caught three passes as well.

In 2013 he didn’t appear in an NFL game.

In 2014 he didn’t appear in an NFL game.

In 2015 he appeared in seven NFL games.

Folks, that’s seven games in three years and 31 outings out of a possible 85 games since he was drafted.

The Patriots are a different club, and their HC is the best ever, but really folks, really?

The Vikings defense isn't as good as you think.

FINALLY

Odell Beckham lined up in the slot last season on 19 percent of the Giants snaps catching 32 passes for 467 yards and two scores. The addition of Sterling Shepard, and the return of Victor Cruz, has limited ODB’s slot play to just eight percent of the snaps this season as he’s caught one pass for 14 yards. That is supposedly going to change moving forward with ODB getting some work inside starting this week. That should help Odell. Still, he and Eli Manning simply have to start hooking up more (nothing sexual here). ODB caught 70 percent of passes thrown his way as a rookie (130 targets). Last season he caught 61 percent of his 158 targets. This season he’s caught a mere 53 percent of his passes (27-of-51).

INJURIES

Dez Bryant (knee) may or may not play this week. How is that for clarity? What we know is that he won’t practice fully Friday, meaning that he hasn’t had a full practice since going down with the injury. He did return a punt at practice Friday. Don’t know how you can trust him this week.

Cam Newton still hasn’t been officially cleared to start this week. All signs point to him taking on the Saints, but just putting out there the facts.

Theo Riddick has an ankle issue. He missed practice all week. Be cautious with being insistent that he will perform at a high level this week. He might not even play. Dwayne Washington returned to practice Friday and Justin Forsett is obviously an option now too in Detroit.

EDITORS NOTE : Riddick has been officially ruled out this week.

Jordan Reed (concussion) isn’t going to play this week. I wouldn’t be surprised if he missed more than a week. Not at all. I’d lean Vernon Davis over Niles Paul if I had to make a call there, but you’re crazy starting either in Week 6. There is zero clarity with that situation. None. The best bet might be a ton of three wideout sets leading to a lot more work for Jamison Crowder.

EVERY WEEK 6 MATCHUP BROKEN DOWN.

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).