Yeah, Oakland has consistently used him as a fullback, but having watched too many Oakland games out here in California I never got the sense that they were using him to anywhere near his potential. At this point, it's hard to say what he can do, because he's the type of versatile, unorthodox talent that requires imaginative scheming to really unlock his potential. And Oakland's coaching over the years has been a lot of things, but imaginative is not one of them. So maybe what he was in Oakland is the extent of what he can be, which is still a pretty good player. Or maybe he's always had the potential to be a lot more.
I really hope he ends up here, mostly as a Pats fan but also as a football fan in general. Belichick/McDaniels is exactly what he needs, because if anyone's going to get the most out of his skillset it's them. Best case scenario, I could see him being a swiss army knife that is deployed in all sorts of weird, unpredictable ways: kinda like Martellus Bennett in philosophy, if not execution. For all we know he might be a dangerous threat on wheel routes, splitting out into the slot and beating LBs in space, etc. I would love to see him lined up at TE on the strong side, with Blount in the backfield, and then have the play be an end-around to him kinda like the one Bennett got last week. There aren't a lot of players that have that kind of versatility, but Bennett is one and Reece may be another.
Basically, I could see Reece just being another piece that can be on the field without declaring much of anything to the defense, so that Brady can go no-huddle, trap the defense on the field with unfavorable personnel, and then do whatever that grouping is conceding. If you're an opposing D, what personnel do you throw out there against an offense that includes Gronk, Bennett, Lewis and Reece? They could line up in a 2TE I formation and power run on you, or they could go 5 wide, or anything in between. No substitution required.
