Why Mike Gillislee is the Patriots’ breakout player this season

Update: Gillislee lived up to the billing in the Patriots season opener, scoring two touchdowns through a quarter and a half of play.

LeSean McCoy and Mike Gillislee were backfield mates the past two seasons in Buffalo, but they couldn’t have been more divergent when it comes to their running styles.

You aren’t likely to see Gillislee do a lot of jump cuts or see him juking guys out of their jocks out in the open field like Shady McCoy. Gillislee also isn’t likely to have as many long touchdowns as Shady either.

What Gillislee will do is consistently hit the hole like 40 going north. That’s not to say that Gillislee doesn’t have good patience as a runner, because he does. But once he sees an open lane, he sticks his foot in the ground and goes downhill.

He always runs behind his pads, which I love, and that enables him to run through would-be arm tackles while always falling forward when he finally does go to the ground. You won’t see him losing yardage on many plays unless multiple blockers just whiff on the same play. Gillislee is also usually going to get every single inch that he can out of every play.

I was just marveling at the all-22 of Gillislee running the ball against the Browns on a play last year where it looks like he is going to be held to maybe 2 yards, but suddenly blasts forward for another 4.

It doesn’t sound like much, but a running back who can consistently turn a 2-yard gain into 4 yards or more is a guy who is going to be moving the chains a lot.

He’s the perfect fit at running back in New England. Bill Belichick is the kind of coach who values consistency above almost anything else. Belichick also believes in his ability and his staff’s ability to game plan the team into wins. For that reason, he treasures players who will do exactly what they are coached to do on every play.

Gillislee is going to make plays within the confines of any scheme, maximizing his production with his running style. No frills, no flash, but he is an all-around good back who gets the job done.

I know that you may be skeptical about how much Gillislee can improve on his stats with the way the Patriots tend to use a lot of different running backs in defined roles. I’ll just point out that their lead back last season, LeGarrette Blount, rushed for over 1,100 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also rushed for over 700 yards twice prior to that in New England. Gillislee isn’t quite as big as Blount, but their running styles are similar in that they are both more power than finesse backs. Oh, and because Gillislee doesn’t hurdle would-be tacklers much either.

I’m not saying that it means Gillislee will definitely end up with over 1,000 yards, like Blount. What I am saying is that if he stays healthy, Gillislee has a great opportunity to get at least the 700 yards that Blount was able to rush for in previous years. That would be a step up from the 577 yards Gillislee rushed for last season.

Blount scored 18 touchdowns last season, which was nuts. I don’t think Gillislee will match that, but considering the fact that he had eight touchdowns as a backup last season in Buffalo, he certainly could get over 10.

The only statistic I don’t think Gillislee will be able to improve on from last season is yards per carry: a ridiculous 5.7 per. However, I do think 5 yards per carry is attainable, and that wouldn’t be anything to sniff at either.

I know Gillislee missed time this preseason with a hamstring injury, which means he isn’t guaranteed a starting spot when the regular season rolls around. What I also know, however, is that Belichick tends to play the best player week in and week out, and Gillislee is the best overall back the Patriots have on the roster.

I do believe that Mike Gillislee will be the starter this season, and I think he’s going to have one helluva year. That’s why I chose him as New England’s breakout player of 2017.