Nobody said it would be easy to replace Dion Lewis in the New England Patriots offense.
But no one ever thought it would be this hard back in the summer when Lewis was fighting for a roster spot in a deep depth chart at running back.
From the moment he took the practice field outside Gillette Stadium, Lewis started chipping away at his competition. Travaris Cadet, James White and Jonas Gray were all surpassed by the young upstart who had been out of football for a year at that point.
Lewis did it with a combination of quickness and versatility that the Patriots have valued in their satellite backs for years.