TreVeyon Henderson has had a couple of excellent weeks filling in for Rhamondre Stevenson, and the rookie from Ohio State will get another chance to shine on Thursday Night Football with Stevenson was ruled out for a third straight game. Terrell Jennings and D’Ernest Johnson could also step into larger roles.
Let’s take a look at the latest on Stevenson’s injury and what to expect in the Patriots’ backfield on Thursday Night Football for their divisional matchup with the Jets.
Analysis
Rhamondre Stevenson injury update
Stevenson was able to return to practice this week after missing two weeks with a toe injury. However, on the short week, he wasn’t quite able to ramp up in time.
Before his injury, Stevenson was operating as the clear lead back and will likely get a chance to return to that role when healthy since coach Mike Vrabal has already showed lots of loyalty to him, sticking with him through his fumble issues earlier in the season.
If fumble issues crop up again or he struggles to be effective, he could be used more for his between-the-tackles style in short-yardage situations near the goal line and when the Patriots are working to kill clock at the end of games.
TreVeyon Henderson fantasy football outlook
The second-round rookie has had a couple of great games while Stevenson has been out. His emergence started in Week 8 against the Browns, when he saw 10 carries and ran for 75 yards to finish with 6.5 fantasy points with a couple of nice outside runs.
In Week 9, he had 14 carries against the Falcons with Stevenson unavailable, and he added four catches for 32 yards. The only rushing touchdown was vultured by Terrell Jennings, but Henderson still posted a personal-best 12.7 fantasy points at that point.
In Week 10, he blew that personal-best away with 31 fantasy points as one of the top running backs of the week. He took his 14 carries for 147 yards and two touchdowns and caught his only target for three yards.
Henderson did emerge from that game with a knee injury, but he was able to return to the contest and does not have an injury designation after being limited in practice earlier this week.
He should be a full go and set for a big workload again in Week 11.
Terrell Jennings fantasy football outlook
In Week 9, as mentioned above, Jennings had a rushing touchdown and finished with 35 yards on 11 carries. He played 25% of snaps in that game and rotated in as a “big” option for short-yardage situations when it was better to run inside than outside.
Jennings only played five snaps in Week 10 though before leaving with a knee injury.
He’s questionable for Thursday night, although the injury isn’t expected to be a long-term problem. It’s “just a little bruise,” according to Jennings, but his status is uncertain after the injury report came out.
If Jennings is out, practice squad running backs D’Ernest Johnson and Jonathan Ward would be the next options up. Johnson had one carry for no yards in Week 7 and one carry for one yard in Week 10, while Ward has yet to make an appearance this season and was only signed to the practice squad earlier this week.
The bottom line
The Jets aren’t typically a matchup for running backs to attack, but they sold off pieces at the trade deadline including Quinnen Williams, which could make them more beatable up front. In their one game since the deadline, they gave up 75 rushing yards on 22 carries to Quinshon Judkins, who was Henderson’s backfield mate at Ohio State last season. Henderson has a much higher ceiling in this matchup on Thursday night.
I ranked Henderson as my No. 14 running back this week, putting him as a high-end RB2 with RB1 upside if he can get free like he did last week. If Jennings is out, Henderson’s ceiling is even higher since he’ll likely get almost all the work. I don’t think Jennings or Johnson should be started in any formats, but they have touchdown-dependent upside in one-week formats.
The Thursday Night Football matchup is the focus of many DraftKings contests, headlined by the NFL Showdown $1.25M Thursday Night Showdown [$300K to 1st] (NYJ @ NE). In that format, Henderson is an attractive but expensive Captain’s Pick option at $15,900, and he has to be considered as a FLEX play if you go with another Captain. Jennings is interesting at $5,400, but he’d have to find the end zone to be worth that salary. If Jennings is out, Johnson would be an interesting bargain play at $3,600 since he’ll probably get some work. Vrabel always rotates running backs, so no Jennings would mean carries for Johnson.
