STRENGTHS - Gillislee is an extremely physical blocker. He explodes off the snap and explodes on the handoff. Has very good vision, finds the holes and reacts quickly too them. Has solid footwork, makes good cuts, smooth.. He is quick and agile and has the speed to blow by the 2nd level of defense. Plays low when he needs to in order to pick up the extra yards, Has the ability to come out of the backfield well. Covers the ball nicely and locks in nicely when preparing for contact. Will give up his body to make a block and protect the quarterback. Intelligent player, knows where he needs to be and his role in the offense.
WEAKNESSES - While Gillislee is quick and agile and explodes, he does not seem to have a 2nd gear. He explodes on the handoff, but once he gets into the open field he does not have a 2nd gear to go in. Cuts need to be quicker and more elusive. Tends to go down on 1st contact more than he's able withstand the hit, inconsistent in this department. Needs to churn his legs more on the contact more consistently. Needs to utilize the spin move and stiff arm more consistently.Stalls out when he runs his routes, needs to come back when QB is under pressure.
SUMMARY - Gillislee is an extremely physical blocker, but he needs to utilize more of that physicality when running the football. While there were times where he did get down, lower his shoulder and fight for more yardage, he needs to be far more consistent with doing so. Gillislee has a lot of strengths that are also seen as weaknesses as he is not complete in several areas. While he does have good footwork and smooth football, I would like to see quicker feet and more elusive feet off of his cuts. Gillislee is extremely quick and agile and while he does have the speed to blow past the LB and the 2nd level defenders, he seems to only have one gear. If a hole closes up, he does not tend to have the patience to wait and kick start his speed again. He does have very good vision and reacts quickly to open holes, but he just needs to learn to be a little more patient at times. Gillislee will be a threat coming out of the backfield at the next level. He is extremely quick off the snap and will get into his route quickly, and has that speed to beat the LB's. He needs to improve with his route running in that he remains still once he runs the route. I feel he needs to keep his legs going when his QB is in trouble. While I don't see Gillislee being a featured back in the NFL, I do see him being a contributor, especially on 3rd down, and with his physicality, he can be a very solid special teams player.