The New England Patriots have a duo of talented halfbacks on the roster between veteran Rhamondre Stevenson and rookie TreVeyon Henderson. After a horrendous Week 3 outing that saw numerous turnovers in a loss, including two from Stevenson, predicting how the backfield shakes out in Week 4 proves quite tricky. With a matchup against a historically bad Carolina Panthers rush defense on deck, can either of these players produce fantasy-worthy numbers come Sunday?
Evaluating the Patriots backfield
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel typically loves to establish the run with a history of success on the ground from teams under his direction. Once he arrived in New England, the franchise selected Ohio State standout TreVeyon Henderson in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft and created a bit of a position battle in the backfield between the rookie and incumbent starter Rhamondre Stevenson. While the veteran eventually earned the starting role and played 65% of snaps in both Week 1 and Week 2 (including 142 total yards in the latter game), he coughed up two fumbles in Week 3 and was promptly benched. Stevenson finished the contest with a 36% snap share and just seven total touches.
Meanwhile, Antonio Gibson briefly saw an increased workload but fumbled the ball himself for the second straight week. That led to a near-full share of opportunities for Henderson, who previously was deployed primarily as a third-down back. He took on a career-high 11 rush attempts as well as three targets, all of which he caught. While the rookie didn’t impress with just 47 total yards and 2.5 yards per carry on the ground, his 48% snap share marked another career-high on his albeit miniscule sample of three games.
Heading into Week 4, the Patriots haven’t yet announced a starter and Vrabel made a point to mention how badly the team needs to work on the turnover issue. There may be a shakeup to the pecking order looming here.
Start Stevenson or Henderson in Week 4?
On one hand, Stevenson still boasts far more experience in the NFL than Henderson does. Now in his fifth professional season, the bruising back rushed for over 1,000 yards in his best year and brings surprisingly soft hands in the receiving game for a player of his build. He just posted 21.2 fantasy points in Week 2, but also finished with 4.7 and 4.6 points in his other two appearances and has been noticeably inefficient at 4.0 yards per carry or worse in his last three campaigns. More importantly, he fumbled seven times last year and now has a two-fumble game on his record under Vrabel which arguably cost the Patriots a win.
Overcoming that massive misstep will prove difficult for Stevenson, and the one thing he truly does better than Henderson is protect the passer. Outside of pass-pro reps, the younger back brings sky-high upside as a playmaker both on the ground and through the air. While Henderson has only rushed for 65 yards on 19 professional carries, he also caught all 11 of his targets thus far for 73 additional yards. After racking up over 4,600 scrimmage yards and 48 total touchdowns in four years at Ohio State, including an average of 6.4 yards per attempt, it’s clear to see just how dynamic of a weapon the young halfback is.
With Stevenson (and likely Gibson) seemingly in the doghouse, Henderson can capitalize on this opportunity and take over the Patriots’ backfield ahead of schedule. Week 4 brings a soft matchup with a notoriously vulnerable Panthers rush defense allowing 137.7 yards per game on the ground with the 26th-ranked defensive EPA/rush at 0.08. If Henderson gets the start, he brings smash-start potential in all fantasy football formats and may earn a much larger role moving forward, especially given the high draft capital invested in him.
