That's good info MM, I had assumed he was not a ST contributor and therefore his chance at being active without an injury was getting smaller and smaller.
BB and staff's active list is sometimes a bit mysterious (because obviously I know better than BB and staff ). But if Gill can play STs, we're playing against a poor run D, Gill playing against his old team -- yet he is still inactive??? Gill is pretty much in the Patriots's depth chart version of Siberia. And short of injury at RB that would open up a semi-desperate need at that spot (assuming BB/MP haven't soured so completely on Gill and instead turn to Bolden), his career with the Patriots appears over.
Gill has not been a fail but being the one trick pony skillset that he has provided the Patriots, his performance has been a day old ham sandwich (3.7 YPC -- close to 4 after the bad first 2 games, surest 3 yards as of his inactivation) instead of the expected ribeye (4.4, short yardage machine). So if Gill is activated and gets some touches he has got! to be that ribeye and make BB/MP see what he is capable of doing. Run with abandon, make 2 Bills needed every time to take him down, make a couple of Bills get up a little slow after Gill comes crashing through.
IF! this is Gill's first activation in a month, Gill you gotta make this one your best game as a Patriot.
Before the season, I was among those who expected Gillislee to be the Pats "lead runner", although probably in a more nominal sense than most, since he'd never previously handled that many snaps and hadn't shown anywhere near the receiving skills that White, Lewis and Burkhead had. Still, I projected him to finish with 40%-45% of about 400-425 RB-carries, with White kicking in about 10% and Burkhead-Lewis splitting the remaining 45%-50% (with Burkhead being emphasized more as a runner and Lewis being emphasized more as a passing target).
It's pretty clear (now) that Gillislee's skill set isn't sufficiently diverse. While he's been more than adequate (IMHO) as a runner, his ability to contribute in the passing game (route-running and pass-pro) has apparently just not been sufficiently competitive with White, Lewis and Burkhead so far. It's equally apparent that he doesn't have much to contribute on ST compared to the other players who are getting ST snaps (Gillislee has 0 ST snaps so far).
OTOH, in retrospect, he was very useful in the earlier part of the season while Lewis was still working on getting his mojo back to 100%.
Even during the fist two weeks of Burkhead's injury absence (wk-3 & wk-4), Lewis' tote-count didn't increase, and neither did Gillislee's or White's. The offense simply ran the ball fewer times.
In wk-6 (Jets, with Burkhead still out), Lewis hit double-digit totes for the first time (he's been in double-digits every game since) and also surpassed Gillislee's tote-count for the first time. In wk-7 & wk-8, Lewis' totes increased a bit while Gillislee's declined a bit and, with Burkhead back, White's total touches (totes + tgts) began to decline.
Since they BYE, along with the injury-induced changes to the OL and Hogan being out, Gillislee has been a healthy scratch, White's total touches and snap counts have been down (though his totes have seen a slight uptick), and the ground game has basically been the Lewis & Burkhead show - with Burkhead, rather than Lewis, seemingly taking tgts from White. It seems a bit odd to me, btw, that Lewis hasn't gotten more tgts. Before his injury in 2015, Lewis' totes-tgts ratio was 1:1. Since his "breakout" in wk-6 this season, the ratio has been about 9 totes/tgt.
So, a Lewis-Burkhead ground-game pattern has emerged the past three games (with Gillislee on the bench and White being de-emphasized), and it's been very successful. However, I'm doubtful that it's permanent. Things may change "organically" once Andrews, Cannon and Hogan are back, but I think that McD may also deliberately throw a change-up soon (possibly waiting for the Steelers) since, successful or not, the Lewis-Burkhead Show has also become a "tendency" that defenses can key on.
Anyway, I'm doubtful that Gillislee's "benching" is due to below average production, at least not exclusively. I think it's partly roster management through injuries, and partly "going with the hot hand(s)". I think it's very likely that we'll see Gillislee back on the field (perhaps even a more productive version) sometime between now and the playoffs.
