Patriots should use James White, Dion Lewis at same time

Opposing defenses would have their heads spinning if the New England Patriots used James White and Dion Lewis in two-running back sets.

One stands at 5-foot-9 and weighs in at about 200 pounds. The other is a hair shorter at 5-foot-8 and a five-pound dumbbell lighter. James White and Dion Lewis are two of the NFL’s most threatening diminutive freaks of nature, and the Patriots are lucky enough to have them both on their roster.

To maximize the value of these prized offensive assets, the Patriots should devise a few plays that feature White and Lewis in the backfield together on both sides of Tom Brady.

Keep in mind that the Patriots use White and Lewis interchangeably. Through the first half of the 2015 season, it was Lewis who filled the role of a receiver out of the backfield; upon his injured reserve placement, White stepped up and offered a dependable pair of hands for Brady in the flat and on screen plays.

So far this year, White has been up to the job once again. In fact, only Julian Edelman (24.5 percent) has been targeted more by Patriots quarterbacks than White (17.26 percent).

To illustrate the parallel between the production of Lewis and White, let’s do a quick case study of Lewis through the first eight games of 2015 and White over the past four weeks since Brady’s return.

In the action before his ACL tear in Week 8 last year, Lewis was targeted 17.3 percent of the time by Brady; compare that to White’s 18.6 percent target rate since Week 5. Lewis averaged 4.5 receptions and 48.5 receiving yards in the first eight games of 2015; White averaged four receptions and 39 yards per game against the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills this year.

The point here is that Brady loves to use Lewis and White out of the backfield, and the nature of the Patriots’ aerial attack treats them virtually the same way. Since the dependability of both these spark plugs has been proven so well, the Patriots should consider spicing things up in the backfield and putting White and Lewis on the field at the same time.

As noted by the Boston Herald, the Patriots are expecting to have Lewis when the Seattle Seahawks come to town in Week 10. You can bet that the Patriots’ brass used the bye week to cook up a slew of new offensive plays to keep the competition on edge, and maybe, just maybe, some of that strategizing has involved White and Lewis in the backfield together.

What would make this scheme so effective is the sheer speed of the formation. Brady could have White split out one direction and Lewis zip to the other sideline. Or, he could send one of them out for a quick flat route while the other stays put at his side, delays, and then cuts out himself. The possibilities are endless.

And it’s not like Lewis and White can’t run the ball; Lewis averaged 4.8 yards per carry last year and White is currently averaging 4.1 yards per handoff. So yet another option Brady would have is simply handing the ball off to one of these elusive pairs of cleats.

Of course, using two diminutive running backs would mean the Patriots could only field three other skill players. That could be any three of Edelman, Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola, Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett. Take your pick.

Ideally, Brady would have at least one of these running backs open when he drops back to pass. Defenses would struggle mightily to keep both of those guys covered, and even if they did, it would almost certainly mean Edelman, Hogan, Gronk, or Bennett would be open. You get the idea.

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The Patriots are always good because they are always evolving. Putting forth this unique formation would be a great way to keep reinventing on the offensive side of the ball in the second half of the regular season.