New England Patriots: 5 Things to Watch in Matchup Against Jacksonville Jaguars

#4 Running Back Rotation

Bill Belichick has mastered the running back by committee approach in New England. Opposing coaches know to prepare for every ball carrier on the roster and fantasy football owners know not to draft a Patriots running back. With new names to go along with some familiar faces, don’t expect one back to get the bulk of the carries week in and week out.

Over the past 15 seasons, the Patriots have only had four 1,000-yard rushers. The most recent was last season by LeGarrette Blount, but he’s now with the Philadelphia Eagles. Blount accounted for 62 percent of the rushing attempts by New England last year, production that won’t be replaced with just one player.

Mike Gillislee and Rex Burkhead were added during the offseason, and ran for a total of 921 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2016 with the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals respectively. Add those two to a position group already featuring Super Bowl hero James White and a healthy Dion Lewis, and the Patriots are all of a sudden extremely deep at running back. Brandon Bolden is a part of that group as well and should make the roster for his contributions on special teams.

The only question left is how do the Patriots utilize this group. White and Lewis are the top options in the passing game with Gillislee and Burkhead more likely to see action on early downs and around the goal line. At least that’s what logic would lead you to believe.

Then again, this is a Belichick-coached team and he’ll ride with whoever presents the biggest matchup nightmare for the opponent. With D.J. Foster and LeShun Daniels, Jr. potential practice squad additions, there’s no reason to believe either one of them can’t pull a Jonas Gray and rush for 200 yards and four scores on a Sunday night in November.