Reggie Gilliam is the third fullback on the Patriots' 90-man roster now, joining Brock Lampe and Jack Westover. Most teams don't think that way anymore. Most teams see fullbacks as relics. The Patriots, under Mike Vrabel and Eliot Wolf, are apparently betting that old-school football still wins games — at least in specific situations.
Here's the thing: fullback usage has cratered across the NFL. It's not controversial to say the position is nearly extinct. But signing Gilliam suggests the Patriots have a scheme built around lead blocking and heavy personnel packages. With Rhamondre Stevenson anchoring the backfield and TreVeyon Henderson providing complementary carries, having multiple capable blockers available makes sense. You're not going to win every game with fullback dives, but on short yardage and goal-line situations? That's where depth matters.
The fact that the Patriots added Gilliam this early in free agency — alongside the four cornerbacks, the linebacker haul, and the defensive line reinforcements already on the roster — tells us something about their philosophy. They're building redundancy in certain positions while being aggressive elsewhere. It's not about collecting names. It's about roster architecture. If Lampe goes down, you have answers. If Westover struggles in a new system, you have options.
The real question is whether Vrabel trusts these fullbacks to execute in his system. Coming from Tennessee, where he ran plenty of heavy packages with Anthony Firkser and others, he knows how to use the position. If Gilliam fits that mold and can move bodies in the trenches, this signing makes complete sense. If he's just depth for depth's sake, it's a waste of a roster spot in a crowded offseason.
Based on the early personnel moves, we're betting it's the former. The Patriots aren't being cute about their identity anymore.
Based on reporting from Pats Pulpit.