Patriots Rumors: LeGarrette Blount, Shane Vereen Make Jonas Gray Fantasy Bust, Tom Brady Pushes RB as Danny Amendola, Aaron Dobson Risk Release in 2015

Dec 02, 2014 02:19 PM EST
LeGarrette Blount
New England Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount rushes past the Indianapolis Colts in 2013."

Jonas Gray became a breakout star in Week 11 after he put up four touchdowns and 201 yards against the Indianapolis Colts. He was deemed the next big star for the New England Patriots as many remained hopeful that he would be the running back to push the team to the Super Bowl. However, Gray's 15 minutes of fame came to an end when he was benched in Week 12 and LeGarrette Blount carved out his place in the offense, something that will likely continue for the rest of the season.

Anyone that drank the Gray kool aid is likely very upset right now. Since that breakout game, Gray has put up one carry for four yards. His fall from grace started after he was reportedly late to practice and head coach Bill Belichick opted to bench him for the entire Week 12 game. That opened the door for Blount who had just signed with the team earlier in the week to have a solid game, rushing for 78 yards on 12 carries for two touchdowns. He followed that up with 58 yards on 10 carries against the Green Bay Packers in the loss. The trend is building and Blount could be the starting running back for the remainder of the year.

Going forward, the Patriots will operate with Blount as their starting back and likely their biggest red zone rusher while Shane Vereen and Brandon Bolden will split backup duties. Gray will come in as a change-of-pace type of back. After the Packers loss, the Patriots are prepared to bounce back and face off against the San Diego Chargers. The team took off for California to have a full week of practice prior to the game. The Patriots failed to get the run game moving against the Packers, but aim for different results against the Chargers.

"We do everything we can to win," Brady said, via ESPN.com. "You can always look back and say, 'I wish we did this.' We were running on them the last drive of the game. That's what we were trying to do, trying to stay balanced. Early in the game, they weren't giving up a lot of rushes. Certainly, when we did run it, we ran it effectively. And when we threw it, we threw it somewhat effectively. It could have been better in certain situations, which would have allowed us to run the ball even better."

Fantasy owners will be wise to pick up Blount for the rest of the season. Tim Wright and Vereen could be breakout stars as well. Anyone still holding on to Danny Amendola should give up.

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