The New England Patriots play the Redskins in Week 9 and Dion Lewis is a strong fantasy start option for owners over LeGarrette Blount after how he has played this season. Tom Brady has raved about Lewis and he is the best starting option along with LeGarrette Blount, Rob Gronkowski, Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman for Brady on Sunday.
Lewis has been dealing with an abdomen injury, but it is not expected to keep him off the field for Week 9. According to ESPN.com, Lewis was questionable for last week and was able to play and while he was limited in practice on Wednesday, the Patriots are expecting to have Lewis against the Redskins. Lewis played 42 snaps last week against the Dolphins and had another strong game with over 100 total yards. Lewis has been one of the biggest surprises in the league and he has emerged as the starter for the Patriots.
LeGarrette Blount is still a viable fantasy option in deeper leagues, but he has not been getting as many touches as Lewis has been getting (apart from last week). Blount has been used in goal line situations and he is good for a touchdown here and there, but he is no longer an RB1 or even RB2 option for fantasy owners. Lewis has been solid as a running back rushing the ball, but he has been even better as a receiver out of the backfield for Brady this season. Blount had 17 carries for 72 yards last week, but the week before that against the Jets he had a terrible game, so he is basically boom-bust at this point.
Lewis has 32 receptions for 349 yards this season and he has also added 220 yards rushing on 45 carries, which has him at 4.9 yards per attempt. Lewis has four total touchdowns and he leads the team in touches and he is expected to be a major part of the game plan again on Sunday. Lewis has scored a TD in two of his last three games, while Blount has four on the season and has also scored two times in the past three games. Blount has 69 rushes for 318 yards this season, but he is not a threat out of the backfield like Lewis is with just three catches for 27 yards.
Tom Brady has been putting up some historic passing numbers and with the way the Redskins defense has played, expect him to have another strong game on Sunday. Getting Brandon LaFell back adds another target on offense and helps open up the defense a bit for Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski. LaFell had four catches for 47 yards last week and he appears to be back on track after a rough start in his first game of the season against the Jets in which he dropped six passes.
Gronkowski has been having another dominating season, while Edelman is the clear number one for Brady with 52 catches for 584 yards this year. Brady has been putting up some crazy numbers and he is on pace for a record season with 2410 yards, 20 touchdowns and just one interception in seven games.
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