Who will be the Patriots’ third option at running back after Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson?
With training camp set to start at the end of the month, we’ll provide a position-by-position breakdown of where the Patriots stand. We started with the quarterbacks and wide receivers. Now, it’s the running backs.
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Roll call: Rhamondre Stevenson (130 carries, 603 yards, 7 TDs; 32 catches, 345 yards, 2 TDs), TreVeyon Henderson (180/911/9; 35/221/1), Terrell Jennings (23/73/1; 1/9/0) Lan Larison, Jam Miller, Myles Montgomery.
By the numbers:
2: The total number of the members of the 2021 draft class that remain on the roster. It’s Stevenson and defensive tackle Christian Barmore.
89: The number of rushing yards Henderson ultimately needed at the end of the 2025 regular season to hit 1,000. He would have been the first Patriots running back to reach the mark in his rookie season since Robert Edwards in 1998.
1,785: The number of rushing yards Stevenson needs to surpass Sam Cunningham for the all-time franchise mark. Stevenson is fifth on the franchise list with 3,669 yards; Cunningham had 5,453 rushing yards as a member of the Patriots.
The skinny:
This was a group that went on a wild journey together last year.
Henderson started the preseason with a 100-yard kick return, and quickly established himself as an electrifying presence. Antonio Gibson was as solid as they come as a third-down option and kick returner before suffering a season-ending knee injury. And Stevenson bounced back from off-field heartbreak and ball security issues that dogged him in 2024 and the start of ‘25 to be a dependable presence from the middle of the season on.
In the end, it wasn’t overwhelming, but there was a lot to like about the ground game last year.
The Patriots ended the regular season sixth in rushing yards per contest (128.9). They were also tied for third in rushing plays of 20 yards or more (16), and tied for fourth in rushing plays of 40 yards or more (five) and rushing touchdowns (22).
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A portion of those numbers were due to quarterback Drake Maye’s scrambling skills — 450 yards on 103 carries — but the bulk came from the work of Stevenson and Henderson, who did more than enough to carry the offensive load through much of the season.
That being said, the loss of Gibson robbed them of some much-needed depth.
By season’s end, Henderson was clearly out of gas; including his final year at Ohio State, he had played 40 games at a high level in 18 months. Stevenson had a strong finishing kick, rushing for 325 yards (5.6 per carry) during a four-game stretch at the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. But the duo didn’t have the same punch it possessed earlier.
Moving forward, the Stevenson-Henderson duo is a solid pairing, and will get a boost from the presence of sturdy fullback Reggie Gilliam. But the Patriots could use more depth at the position. Larison had a strong spring for a couple of reasons, including his possible value on special teams as a kick returner. And there are others like Jennings (part-time role down the stretch last season) and rookie Miller who could also get their chance. Ultimately, as the new season dawns, one of the more fascinating positional battles is the fight for the third running back role.
How does this position rate against the rest of the league? Good. Not great, but still probably somewhere near the middle of the pack.
Quote of note: “It’s been two really long seasons, and it can be hard sometimes, mentally and physically. It can definitely take a toll on you. But the biggest thing is I really try to lean on my faith to just continue to give me strength, to come out here with a clear mind and just try to give it my best to really help this team.” —Henderson, speaking in the spring of the workload spanning his last year at Ohio State and his first in the NFL.
Biggest story lines: Who will win the battle for the third running back job? Is Stevenson completely over the ball security issues? Can Henderson continue to grow as a player?
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