After the surprising release of Cyrus Jones, the New England Patriots have been in talks with Mike Gillislee. The former Patriot may be able to help out the Patriots offense.
The New England Patriots seem to finally have fixed their running game. Sony Michel is a beast with the ball and James White has earned all of Tom Brady’s trust, but maybe one tweak could make it even better.
Since the Patriots have an open roster spot with Cyrus Jones leaving New England once again (hopefully for the final time), Mike Gillislee’s name has come up and apparently, the Patriots are interested.
The running back was recently released by the New Orleans Saints now that Mark Ingram is able to be with the team. Gillislee didn’t get a lot of opportunities with the Saints due to the fact that they have Alvin Kamara, one of the most talented running backs in the NFL.
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So here are 3 reasons the New England Patriots should bring Gillislee in.
1. A goal line threat
The New England Patriots haven’t been that succesful running the ball close to the end zone. It seems everytime that the Patriots give Sony Michel the ball at the goal line a force field appears because he seems incapable of scoring. Tom Brady has more luck close to the end zone.
If the Patriots brought Gillislee back they would have someone they could rely on the score in the red zone.
During his one season in New England, Gillislee had 383 yards and 5 touchdowns. Most of those touchdowns were close to the goal line.
So if Gillislee was back in New England he could immediately make an impact.
2. The Patriots need bodies
The New England Patriots are one injury away from being in a really rough spot. Currently, they only have two active running backs, last season they had five.
Even if the Patriots don’t use Mike Gillislee it would be smart to have him on the roster in case Sony Michel or James White got hurt. The Patriots offense could be in major trouble if New England doesn’t have a backup plan.
I wouldn’t be opposed to just having Gillislee sit on the bench. Sony Michel seems to be on a roll as of late and I think he could become a special back. There is no reason to take away some of his carries and give them to Gillislee.
The Patriots haven’t had any success finding a running back to bolster the team’s depth and Gillislee could help New England out in an area that they are struggling in. The two sides seem to be a match made in heaven.
3. Gillislee already knows the system
An advantage to bringing in Mike Gillislee is that he already knows the system. He wouldn’t take a lot of time to get in sync with the offense. Also since Gillislee is likely to be used in strictly goal line scenarios I don’t expect there to be a huge learning curve.
Every running back that the Patriots have brought in this season have just been unable to stay with the team. I think if Gillislee gets a second chance in New England he will at least last the season.
I don’t expect him to get a ton of carries and light up the stat sheet, but he could help the Patriots offense.
If you want to win a Super Bowl you need to always make adjustments. A team can never be perfect so there is always changes or tweaks that can be made.
Even though it may seem like the Patriots have finally figured out the running game, adding Gillislee would make them even better.