What It Means:

We won't find out for sure until this weekend. "I could also see a scenario where Gaffney makes the initial 53 but Pats like someone better on the waiver wire and make a midweek change," wrote Howe. Gaffney worked with the first-team offense in the regular season dress rehearsal, but his skillset is essentially the same as LeGarrette Blount's. Howe seems to think Gaffney is the 52nd or 53rd player on the Patriots' roster, but no higher than that.

Blount was extremely efficient in 2015, ranking ninth in Rushing Net Expected Points per play among backs with at least 100 carries. Our algorithms project him as the 28th-best running back for fantasy purposes in 2016, with a rushing line of 765 rushing yards and 6.51 touchdowns on 190 carries.