James Develin Gets New Bigger Role With Patriots

James Develin played seven seasons with the New England Patriots, and was actually given the “honor” to do the dirty work that almost always goes unnoticed.

Special teams player and fullback James Develin was used as a blocker, and he entered the regular season without having a carry in the past two seasons. Well, now we know that every time Develin puts his hands on the ball, he scores.

Each of Develin’s first three rushes in the season ended up with a touchdown. We saw his 1-yard touchdown run in the game against the Tennessee Titans on November 11. He also had touchdown runs against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, scoring the team’s first touchdown of the contest from 1 yard in the first and the final in the fourth from 2 yards to seal the Patriots’ 24-10 victory.

Develin’s touchdown runs came at the perfect timing for New England’s defense that faced trouble throughout the season bringing the football into the end zone on the ground.

A pair of TDs for the first time in his career.

RT to #ProBowlVote for @James_Develin! pic.twitter.com/rRelsd0Bxc

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 3, 2018

“Honestly, I’ve never dreamt about a game like this. This is the first time I’ve ever thought about it. I know my role, and that is to get these other guys in the end zone, but it’s a really cool experience to get in myself,” Develin said.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said that Develin is one of the Patriots most versatile players.

“Pretty much whatever we ask him to do, he does a good job of, whether it’s blocking, playing in the kicking game, catching the ball, fighting for extra yards in tough, short-yardage situations, whether that’s after a throw or a catch. That’s really important to have a lot of players on your team that do that, and he’s as solid and dependable in his role as probably anyone we have in a situation like that, a role like that,” Belichick said.