New England Patriots: J.J. Taylor being compared to Dion Lewis
By Sam Minton
The New England Patriots seem to have a possible star on her hands with J.J. Taylor securing some interesting comparisons.
When it comes to running backs, they can be hit or miss for the New England Patriots. For every James White and Corey Dillon, there is Jonas Gray and Laurence Maroney.
That’s what makes things interesting this offseason. New England signed J.J. Taylor as an undrafted free agent and he stood out as someone who could make an impact in 2020.
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Taylor had quite the season in 2018. He racked up over 1,400 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns.
So far in Training Camp, Taylor has been one of the Patriots best players. Whether it is the media, teammates, or his coaches, everyone has great things to say about the rookie out of Arizona.
The most interesting comparison came on Friday and it came from running backs coach Ivan Fears. He compared Taylor to a former Patriot running back.
Fears compared Taylor to Dion Lewis and that will surely get Patriots fans excited.
"“Little Dion, that’s what he is,” Fears said after Friday’s practice. “Little Dion. Exciting, fun. … He’s got some great hurdles to overcome, and the kid battles his butt off to try to get that done. We’re very pleased with what we’ve seen from him, we really are. We’ll see how far he can carry it.”"
Now everyone remembers how effective Lewis was. He is great at catching the ball out of the backfield and is dangerous in the open field. Lewis made defenders look silly trying to tacking him.
If Taylor can do the same thing, he definitley has a spot on the final roster. With the status of Sony Michel and Lamar Miller up in the air, New England needs reinforcements at the position.
Taylor has found success catching the ball out of the backfield, He even made a diving catch this past week that impressed media members who were watching practice.
With Newton at quarterback, Taylor could have a role in the offense. Newton enjoyed passing to Christian McCaffery so he will likely rely on his backs in the passing game. With Michel struggling in this part of the game, Taylor could find himself carving out a role for himself.
Taylor has been a major story since camp has started. Let’s see if that carries over into the regular season.