1. I think Rex Burkhead will wind up being New England’s most important running back this season. Great receiver, good runner and a better blocker than fellow scatbacks Dion Lewis and James White.
2. I think the receiving and running part of the item above are what is most important. The blocking adds one more snippet of dimension to the Patriots offense, but it’s not huge. The Patriots are almost exclusively a five-man protection team, which is to say they rely solely on their O-line in pass protection and send all five eligible receivers out on routes.