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As a fourth-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson started making noise in training camp and put himself on the map as a potential fantasy sleeper as a rookie. While he was used sparingly to start the season, he started to get an increased workload down the stretch and carved out a role for himself within the Pats offense.
Entering his second season, there’s been chatter during training camp about him possibly securing the RB1 role with the team. Can the Oklahoma product become a fantasy monster this season?
2021 season statistics & fantasy finish
Rushing: Stevenson took 133 carries for 606 yards (4.6 ypc) and five touchdowns. He had two fumbles for the season.
Receiving: He caught 14 passes for 123 yards.
Fantasy: Stevenson finished the season as the 47th ranked fantasy running back in PPR formats. He compiled 114.9 points to the tune of 9.6 fantasy points per game.
Patriots offseason moves
The biggest change for the New England offense this offseason came when offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels departed to accept the head coaching job with the Raiders. As a result, offensive line coach Matt Patricia is being considered the de-facto offensive coordinator.
Reports indicate that the staff is experimenting with a new offense and it’s unclear how that would affect running backs like Stevenson.
2022 best case scenario
If Stevenson can fully overtake Damien Harris for the starting running back job, then he’ll make the jump up towards being a top 20 fantasy running back this season. To the chagrin of fantasy managers, the Patriots like to use a committee at running back. However, a few explosive outings early in the season may convince Belichick and company to keep feeding their second-year back.
2022 worst case scenario
The worst case scenario for Stevenson from a fantasy standpoint is if he doesn’t fully eclipse Harris for the starting job and continues to split carries. That would limit his reliability as an RB1/RB2 option in your respective league and put him into Flex territory at best.
2022 prediction
I’ll predict that Stevenson will get an increased workload this season but will still share carries with Harris throughout the campaign. The Patriots running back room is notoriously a graveyard for fantasy managers considering how Belichick utilizes the offense and that will cap his true ceiling as a top back.