Bill Belichick: James White can be a three-down back
By Mike Dyce
The New England Patriots are looking to expand their offense and drafted running back James White out of Wisconsin in the fourth round. White joins a crowded backfield that already includes Stevan Ridley, Brandon Bolden and Shane Vereen.
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Despite the crowded backfield, White is still impressing and catching the eye of head coach Bill Belichick.
“It’s been good working with James White. He’s a very interesting and versatile player,” Belichick told Sirius XM NFL Radio this month, per ESPNBoston.com’s Mike Reiss.
“He does a good job in the passing game and in the running game — both inside and outside. Blitz pickup — we have a pretty extensive offense for him to learn, but he’s working hard at it. We’ll just let him go and see how it goes, but I think he has the ability to compete on all three downs, in both the running game and the passing game.”
If Belichick really sees him as a three-down back, then that could spell bad news for the other backs like Ridley and Vereen.