Gillislee addition would bolster Patriots RB stable

After extending an offer sheet to Bills restricted free agent RB Mike Gillislee, the Patriots (assuming the Bills don’t match the offer) have added another solid player to their stable of running backs.

• Compared to the other RBs under contract for New England, Gillislee had the best overall grade for 2016 at 76.4. Newcomer Rex Burkhead finished at 74.5, James White at 69.8 and Dion Lewis at 68.0. Gillislee’s overall grade last season also bested LeGarrette Blount, who also finished at 68.0.
• Gillislee ranked third out of 53 qualified running backs last year with a breakaway percentage (percentage of yards on runs of 15 yards or more) of 43.3. That compares to 26.5 percent for Blount, 14.5 for Burkhead, 9.6 for White, and 5.3 for Lewis.
• One area where Gillislee did struggle in was pass protection. He received a pass-blocking grade of only 43.1 last season, 55th out of 59 qualified RBs.

Fantasy Slant: Gillislee finished a solid 27th in fantasy scoring among running backs last year despite serving as second-fiddle to LeSean McCoy. This was largely due to his high touchdown rate with nine scores on 110 touches. We expect that number to regress, but Gillislee could be a very appealing fantasy option if he emerges as the Patriots' lead back.