Very few players have gained more hype in the fantasy football world this summer than Henderson. The Patriots selected him in the second-round of this past NFL draft at pick No.38, making Henderson the highest running back New England has drafted in seven years. The 22-year-old produced 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Ohio State Buckeyes last season, who won the National Championship. Henderson averaged an elite 7.1 YPC in his final season with the Buckeyes—which led the Big Ten—and he has turned heads this summer with the Patriots. In his first touch as a professional in New England’s first preseason game, Henderson returned a 100-yard kickoff for a touchdown.
Henderson also had an impressive rushing touchdown were he looked very elusive. Overall for the preseason, Henderson averaged 7.6 YPC and he caught three of his four targets. Henderson finished as the sixth-highest graded running back on PFF for the preseason and he figures to be a true difference maker for this Patriots’ offense that brought back Josh McDaniels this offseason to once again be the team’s offensive coordinator, after his undeniable success during all six of the Patriots’ Super Bowl winning seasons.
All that being said, Stevenson is still with the Patriots, after he scored a career-high eight touchdowns a year ago. However, the back displayed some major security issues with seven fumbles, which was the most among all running backs in the NFL. Conversely, Henderson didn’t lose a single fumble in his 667 touches during his four-year career with Ohio State.
Stevenson’s fumbling issues last season certainly played a factor in the Patriots using a second-pick on Henderson, and while Stevenson likely will still be the technical starter to open this season, it shouldn’t take long for Henderson to become New England’s main back, especially if Stevenson coughs up any early fumbles. The two players will likely split the ground work to begin the season and Henderson should handle most of the passing down work. Then, as the season goes on, Henderson should become the primary rusher on top of being the main receiver out of the backfield, with Stevenson still seeing some work as a rusher in short yardage and goal line situations. This should eventually become a near 60/40 split in favor of Henderson and while the rookie’s ADP has skyrocketed to around pick No. 50 for most formats, Henderson has massive upside and is worth investing in.
