New England Patriots’ Elandon Roberts scores receiving touchdown

The New England Patriots have been using Elandon Roberts as their fullback in lead-blocking situations this season. In Week 17, he scored his first TD.

The lack of weapons on the New England Patriots offense has resulted in the team using their middle linebacker Elandon Roberts on the offensive side of the ball in multiple ways.

It’s not uncommon to see defensive players be used on offense up in Foxborough. Over the years, we’ve seen the New England Patriots use veteran linebackers like Mike Vrabel as a tight end in the red zone. It gives the team an extra strong body to use in run protection or even in the passing game.

Due to a handful of injuries, the Patriots have been without a true fullback all season long. The running attack for New England has certainly taken a hit from the loss of James Develin. It’s not solely on the loss of just Develin though, as the offensive line has struggled and been banged up all season.

To help fix the situation, the Patriots have decided to run Elandon Roberts as their fullback and use him as the lead-blocker in goal line situations. He’s done a great job in picking up his assignments as a fullback and leading the way for the Pats’ running attack during the latter part of the season.

The Patriots always seem to struggle against the Dolphins at the end of the season. But the Pats desperately needed the victory during Week 17 in order to secure a first-round bye during the playoffs. In hopes of doing so, we saw something different from Elandon Roberts at the fullback position.

Brady was lined up in the shotgun formation with Roberts lined up behind the tackle and tight end on the right side of the line. The defense didn’t even look at Roberts in the passing situation, while he ran a simple go-fade route that resulted in a 38-yard receiving touchdown.

Elandon Roberts became the 77th player to catch a touchdown pass from Tom Brady, extending the impressive record already set by Brady. It was also Brady’s 540th career touchdown pass, making him second all-time now.

Teams are going to be more alert when Roberts is in the game now. Until Week 17, Roberts had been used as a blocker only within the offense. With the Patriots showing they can utilize him in the passing game, he’s definitely going to draw some attention from the defense in regards to pass coverage.

Who knows when Josh McDaniels will decide to use that play again, but at least both him and Brady know Roberts can be relied on to get the job done. It’ll be exciting to see the play develop again sometime down the road when the Patriots need it most… perhaps this upcoming weekend even against the Tennessee Titans, considering the Pats fell at home on Sunday to slip to the No. 3 seed.