Bill Belichick told Sirius XM Monday that he believes the Pats backfield will "have a little more versatility than we have in the past."
"LeGarrette was a very good short-yardage, first down, second down type of guy," Belichick explained. "I think Rex Burkhead has ability on all four downs. I think Mike Gillislee has a little more overall versatility. Dion Lewis can play on all three downs. James White, as we saw later in the year last year, can play more on all three downs, although we used him more as a third down player, but I think he can do a little bit more of that. Brandon Bolden can play on all three downs. So it'll be interesting to see how all that competition unfolds, but hopefully we'll be a little bit less of a 'Blount on first down, second and short; Lewis on second down; White on third down.'"
For how unpredictable the Pats backfield was for fantasy owners, in the real world, the story pointed, out it was very predictable for opposing defenses. This year, the team seems to have more backs who can play a wider variety of downs. We have Gillislee as the favorite to get the early down work, but this could be a situation that stays fluid once again.
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