James White has had many detractors over his first two years as a Patriot, despite showing some promise. I’ve been one of those, as have other members of the staff here at PatsProp (yup me – Mike D). All offseason, we had been looking for more from him, or expecting him to go, especially with some of us expecting DJ Foster to take his spot if he didn’t step up.
As for the rest of Patriots Nation, we had observed two camps on this…the pro-James White crowd (as Mike D had dubbed, The White Boys , and the pro-DJ Foster crowd (uh…Foster Families?). Well, nearly one third of the way through the season, the White Boys have been correct here, and it has been a great sight to see.
First, we’ll start with a play versus the Browns that will NEVER show up on a stat sheet that anyone cares about, but I almost jumped out of my seat with excitement when I watched it live:
WHEW.
Look at that. James White is lined up at the snap on Brady’s left. White reads the overload blitz from the offense’s right, shifts across the formation, sees Cameron Fleming pick up the inside blitzing linebacker, and continues outside the tackle to pick up the blitzing defensive back. This play would be a film junkie’s DREAM if the pass didn’t end up incomplete on a great breakup by Brian Boddy-Calhoun…but the important thing here is that White showed the awareness to protect Tom Brady from an unabated shot to the chin from the blitzing corner.