Here’s how the Patriots’ running back depth chart looks with training camp beginning next month
The Patriots appear set at the top of their running back depth chart, but the players don’t view it that way.
“It’s spring football, every position is open,” Rhamondre Stevenson said at mandatory minicamp last week. “Nobody has a set position. There’s no 1’s, 2’s, 3’s right now. So we’re just all out here working hard, trying to get better, and [let the] chips fall where they may.”
Still, top spots for Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson seem assured. Any uncertainty comes with the No. 3 role, with both returning and rookie players having a chance to earn the job.
Lan Larison, Terrell Jennings, 2026 seventh-round pick Jam Miller, and undrafted rookie Myles Montgomery fill out the rest of the room.
Larison and Jennings were both present for the Super Bowl run, though Larison missed the season with a broken foot. Jennings played in seven games and totaled 73 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.
During minicamp, those two were mainstays behind Stevenson and Henderson. But according to running backs coach Tony Dews, everyone’s still competing for the No. 1 spot.
“You should never be content and comfortable, because in this league anybody can take a job at any point,” Dews said. “We’ve seen it through the years, and then obviously if you play this game, there’s a 100 percent chance that you’re going to fall into some type of injury at this point, and the idea is if someone gets dinged up, that there’s not a drop-off when the next person has to play.”
Last season, Jennings, who had been on the practice squad, only joined the 53-man roster after Antonio Gibson was lost for the season with a torn ACL.
Now that Gibson has been released, the difference between Jennings earning a roster spot or reverting to the practice squad (or getting cut) is Larison.
Larison totaled seven carries for 35 yards and a touchdown last preseason against the Commanders before he got hurt. He also had a 25-yard kickoff return.
The Patriots opted to keep the 2025 undrafted free agent from UC Davis around at least for another summer.
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“He worked really hard to work through the injury and just continue to get stronger and give himself another opportunity going into training camp,” said coach Mike Vrabel. “Mentally, he’s not a rookie.”
Larison used his time healing to work on his strength and conditioning and watch the rest of the running backs closely.
Henderson and Stevenson accounted for 83.5 percent of the carries last year, and this year fullback Reggie Gilliam joins the group.
The No. 3 running back’s biggest responsibility will likely be special teams. Every back got a shot returning kickoffs last season, a trend special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer said will continue.
As the summer goes on, the development of Miller and Montgomery should certainly play a factor in this battle, too.
Miller was the lead back at Alabama, an experience that Dews said has helped him adjust physically to the NFL. Montgomery comes from the University of Central Florida and received $272,500 in guarantees, the most of any undrafted free agent in franchise history.
“[Miller] and Myles both are doing a great job of working through it, taking advantage of the opportunities and reps they get out here at practice,” Dews said.
Even though the duo hasn’t seen much time with the first unit, they have a chance to make an impression during training camp.
When the pads go on, tension could rise as Dews is looking for backs that “compete every day.”
“We all work off one another, we all help one another,” Stevenson said. “We talk, we take things from each other’s game, and hopefully this can be a better year in our running back room for all of us.”
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