There are hundreds of things to worry about as you enter a new fantasy football season, but one thing that seemed relatively set-in-stone was the Patriots’ backfield.
Sure, there was a chance that sophomore TreVeyon Henderson might truly breakout at some point in 2026, forcing Josh McDaniels to contemplate how he staggered the touches in the team’s committee, but that was baked into Henderson’s ADP in most formats. Plus, even in such a scenario, it wasn’t like Rhamondre Stevenson was going to disappear.
However, there’s now an unexpected wrinkle on New England’s depth chart: Corey Kiner.
With two eye-opening performances in the last two weeks, do we have to reassess what we thought we knew about the Patriots’ tandem of Henderson and Stevenson? Is that now a trio? Is Kiner fantasy relevant?
Let’s dig in and break it down.
Corey Kiner Fantasy Outlook
The most interesting aspect of Corey Kiner’s stat line against the Jets was how often he was utilized when he was on the field. You’d assume that a running back that finished with 11 carries for 57 yards would have seen a relatively high snap share, yet that simply was not the case for Kiner in Week 6’s victory. He was only out there for 12 of the Patriots’ offensive plays, meaning he garnered a rushing attempt on over 90% of the snaps he took. I’ve never been an offensive coordinator, but I’d have to assume that’s a personnel tell that can not be repeated in future games.
However, even if Kiner’s volume was underwhelming, what he did with his opportunity was not. Since the beginning of Week 5, Kiner’s racked up 109 rushing yards, which is the most of any New England player within that span of time. He’s starting to see some high-leverage touches, too. Versus the Jets, five of Kiner’s carries came in the red zone. For the sake of comparison, Stevenson, who has usually inhabited the role of Patriots goal line back, only saw two attempts inside the opponent’s 20. It makes sense. Though the sample size is only 31 carries, Kiner’s 51.6% rushing success rate leads the team this season.
The Bottom Line
I think it’s important to note that Rhamondre Stevenson has still led New England in rushing attempts and snap share the past two games, registering 13 and 14 carries, respectively. Also, a majority of Corey Kiner’s success in Week 5 came in the fourth quarter of an absolute blowout against the Raiders. Heck, Kiner’s lone first-half touch in that win was a lost fumble in the second quarter — and we know how vindictive the Patriots franchise is about fumbles.
Kiner himself is a tough sell in fantasy while Stevenson is still seeing 60% snap rates, yet his presence is important to note for how we treat TreVeyon Henderson going forward. Because if there’s one back who has been most impacted by the rise of Kiner, it’s been Henderson.
Henderson was injured in Week 1, yet he began his season with 16 carries and a 60.0% snap share in Week 2 against the Steelers. Since then? Less than a 40% snap rate in Week 3 and Week 4, then he dropped below a 25% snap rate in Week 5 and Week 6 — aligning perfectly with the introduction of Kiner into a larger workload. These are two RBs that are trending in completely opposite directions at the moment, and considering Henderson’s managed fewer than 5.0 FPTS in each of his past four contests, it’s not all that difficult to see why.
Heading into Thursday Night Football in Week 7, I have Stevenson as a low-end RB2, Kiner as a FLEX consideration in deeper leagues, and Henderson as a must-avoid. It will be very interesting to see if Kiner ends up with double-digit touches for the second game in a row.
