Gillislee appears to be the Patriots' running back most likely to fill the void created by the departure of LeGarrette Blount, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss.
The Patriots have some depth at running back, with James White and Dion Lewis set to reprise their change-of-pace duties and fellow newcomer Rex Burkhead bringing valuable versatility to the mix. From a fantasy perspective, week-to-week touches out of the team's backfield could be difficult to predict and game-flow dependent, but we suspect that Blount's goal-line duties are likely to be absorbed primarily by Gillislee. Considering Blount's league-leading 18 rushing TDs last season, Gillislee is in a good position to better the mark of nine total scores he logged in 2016 while with the Bills. In the process, he averaged 5.7 yards over 101 carries, a rate that he also recorded on 47 rushing attempts in 2015.