The year is 2025.

Josh McDaniels is back and has a new Ace at the helm.

We have some solid pieces on offense, and a rookie offensive left side of the line as well as a rookie RB as a RB2.

We start the year with a promising option potentially at fullback in Brock Lampe who we quickly lost at camp on July 29th to an undisclosed injury.

Our next best option was Jack Westover who would go on to post one of the worst FB seasons from a run-blocking perspective ever.

The team went on to be one of the most efficient offenses in 2025, and ultimately fell short in the Super Bowl because they couldn't establish a run game, they couldn't stop Kenneth Walker, and they couldn't protect Drake Maye. (Having no truly elite receiving talent didn't help either...)

2026 Off-season

In 2026, the Patriots have made a few things very apparent with their offensive overhaul:

1. The offensive line will be upgraded and have depth
2. We will replace Austin Hooper and add meaningful blocking TE talent
3. We will add a dominant fullback
4. We will add receivers who can both be elite receivers and are plus-to-elite level blockers

AVT, Julian Hill (IR), Eli Raridon, Reggie Gilliam, AJ Brown, and Romeo Doubs were the results.

Let's hop in the DeLorean for a minute and hit 88mph real quick...

The year is 2016...

Josh McDaniels has a literal swiss-army knife in James Develin and a complete MONSTER at the RB position in LeGarrette Blount.

JMD significantly increased James Develin’s usage and versatility that year, particularly as a lead blocker and multi-role contributor in heavier personnel packages, which helped revitalize the Patriots’ run game and overall toughness.

Blount had nearly 1200 yards rushing and 18 rushing touchdowns. Short yardage and goal-line situations were an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses.

The 2016 Patriots’ balanced offense—anchored by Develin’s lead blocking which was the best in the league according to PFF, Blount’s bruising runs, and McDaniels’ scheming created a highly effective run game that set up one of the NFL’s best play-action attacks. This combination made the offense click and fueled their 14-2 record and a historic Super Bowl LI win.
Play-action fakes (often off successful runs) froze linebackers/safeties, opening seams, digs, and deep shots. The Patriots were elite at this under McDaniels.

Players like Rob Gronkowski (8 games played), Martellus Bennett, Chris Hogan, James White, and Julian Edelman all ate heavily running deep seem patterns, digs, and flat dump offs which the successful run game contributed to heavily.

Enter the 2026 Season

The above mentioned players (AVT, Julian Hill (IR), Eli Raridon, Reggie Gilliam, AJ Brown, and Romeo Doubs) are now working into the JMD system in camp and throughout the off-season program.

Let's take a second to compare Reggie Gilliam and James Develin:

Gilliam: Compact, powerful build suited for lead blocking and short-area burst. College background included TE/hybrid work with some receiving and special-teams blocking. Not a burner, but ran a 4.58 40 as well as a 36" vertical jump which is elite for his size.

Develin: Similar sturdy, bruising frame (slightly taller). Pro-day athletic testing showed functional speed (e.g., ~5.03 40-time range) but emphasized power and toughness over elite explosiveness. He was a reliable short-yardage and lead-block athlete who JMD routinely split him out wide as well as played TE at times.

In 2025, James Cook and the Buffalo Bills rushing attack was absolutely unstoppable.

Cook posted 1,621 rushing yards on 309 carries (5.2 YPC) and 12 TDs. The Bills led the NFL in rushing yards per game (~159.6) and had one of the best run games overall (top in rushing DVOA, high EPA per rush).

Team-wide advanced stats showed elite blocking support: top-3 in yards before contact per rush (~3.1) and a strong run-block win rate (~74.7%). Cook himself had elite YAC (yards after contact) and vision, but the blocking (including Gilliam’s) was a major enabler for clean hits and big gains before contact.

For reference, Rhamondre and TreVeyon had nearly identical YPC (4.6 and 5.1 respectively), but had ~1.8 yards before contact.

Imagine either back now with the ball in their hands and 1.3 more yards in front of them before even being touched?

Now imagine when the king of Bakemas, Drake Maye pulls that ball out from their bellies and takes a gander downfield at AJ Brown, Romeo Doubs, Hunter Henry, Mack Hollins, Kyle Williams, etc....?

It's officially time to get excited boys and girls.

As always.... LET'S FUCKING GOOOOO!!!