New England Patriots 2016 Player Grade: Dion Lewis
By Nick Ziegler
In the next edition of our 2016 player grades for the New England Patriots, we take a look at running back Dion Lewis.
It has not been an easy road for New England Patriots running back Dion Lewis. Injuries have been a major issue in his career, but he continues to try and overcome them.
Coming into the 2016 season, Lewis was out for the first half of the season, as he was recovering from a knee injury. Lewis finally made it back on the field for the Patriots against the San Francisco 49ers at the end of November.
In his first game back from injury, Lewis played pretty well. He was able to total 23 rushing yards, three receptions, and 26 receiving yards. Considering it was his first game back, Lewis totaling nearly 50 total yards on eight touches was pretty impressive.
Lewis’ best game of the regular season came on the road against the Denver Broncos. In the win for New England, Lewis was able to total a season-high 95 yards on the ground, as he helped lead a strong rushing attack against Denver.
Coming into the playoffs, Lewis’ role on the Patriots was clearly growing. In the AFC Divisional Round against the Houston Texans, Lewis had a very puzzling game. While he did both run and catch a touchdown, he put the ball on the ground twice, one of which was a lost fumble.
After touching the ball 15 times in the win against the Texans, Lewis only totaled eight touches the following week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even though he scored twice, Bill Belichick was clearly not happy with the fumbles. Considering he missed more than half of the regular season, Lewis ended up playing pretty well for the Patriots in 2016.
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Moving forward, Lewis will likely find himself in a similar role in 2017, as the Patriots are going to be using some sort of running back by committee it appears. Even though the numbers weren’t massive, it was a solid season for Lewis in 2016.