The 19-year-old made his debut in round one, replacing the injured Courtenay Dempsey in defence, and has been a revelation for the Bombers ever since.
Gleeson's silky skills and ability to run and create off half-back are reminiscent of Geelong premiership player Corey Enright- a comparison the youngster is shying away from.
"I don’t know about that," Gleeson told AFL.com.au.
"Corey Enright is obviously a legend of the game, if I could be half as good as him I'd be very happy. He's been a great player for over 12 years so he's definitely someone I look up to."
Drafted at the end of 2012 with pick 53, Gleeson spent most of last year developing his game in the VFL as a half-forward and was showing plenty of promise until injury ended his season prematurely.
"Yeah, it was a bit disappointing," Gleeson said.
"As a first year player you just wants to get out there and start playing - so when I found out I had to get a reco I was a bit disappointed but I tried to look at the positives.
"I thought if I went in, got [surgery] done and was ready for the pre-season, I'd be good to go from there."
After a complication-free surgery, the 19-year-old arrived at the club on day one of Essendon's pre-season campaign only to be diagnosed with glandular fever.
It was a minor set back for Gleeson who took the news in his stride, and once allowed back at the club he got to work trying to add some size to his 186cm, 70kg frame.
The promising youngster has since added 4kgs to his body and will continue to build on that over the next few years.
"I'm still growing so I find it tough to be on weight at the moment," Gleeson said.
"I don’t really have a set goal weight yet; I think for me I just want to keep putting on weight gradually and not just go bang at once."
Drafted from North Ballarat in the under-18s, Gleeson spent most of his junior years playing as a defender, so it came as a surprise when he was played up forward in the VFL in his first year at the Bombers.
Since then his talent as a rebounding half-back, and his natural ability to read the play has been recognised by coach Mark Thompson.
"We are really happy with his development,” Thompson said earlier in the season.
“He doesn’t look like he is physically ready but he is a good player, good decision-maker and is a good user of the ball.”
"I enjoyed the challenge of playing forward last year," Gleeson said.
"Playing half forward is probably one of the toughest positions to play. In January this year I was lucky, I got swapped down back where I played a lot of my junior footy and from there I've tried to run-off and create.
"I enjoy the backline because it allows me to read the game and run and create off there so I think it suits my skill set so I like playing there."
