Last offseason, the New England Patriots gave Rhamondre Stevenson a four-year extension running through 2027. This year, they spent a second-round pick on TreVeyon Henderson. The rookie has already been anointed the superior player and better fantasy football asset by the community. Has Stevenson been cast aside, or is he actually a value in 2025 fantasy drafts?
Rhamondre Stevenson Fantasy Outlook
The discourse surrounding Stevenson has been fascinating. Never really a high-end fantasy asset, Stevenson has proven capable of being a lead back at the NFL level.
With that said, he’s largely been overvalued the past two years, as fantasy managers chased the highs of an outlier 2022 season that he’s never going to replicate. In 2022, the conditions were unique in that a bunch of targets were funneled Stevenson’s way.
By no means is Stevenson a poor receiver — he’s a good one. But he’s not Matt Forte or David Johnson. Yet, in 2022, Stevenson saw a 17.3% target share, fourth in the league. That and that, alone, is what propelled him to 14.7 fantasy points per game and a career-best overall RB10 finish.
Aside from 2022, Stevenson has never averaged above 12.1 PPG and never finished inside the top 24.
Last season, Stevenson saw his efficiency crater, averaging a career-worst 3.9 yards per carry and his 0.87 yards per route run. He saw a 9.3% target share, a far cry from the elite levels of 2022.
Two very contradictory things happened over the past year that make Stevenson a tough player to evaluate. In 2024, the Patriots signed Stevenson to an extension. In 2025, the Patriots used a second-round pick on TreVeyon Henderson.
Fantasy managers have clearly made up their minds. Stevenson is old and busted, while Henderson is the new hotness. Please tell me if you get that reference.
The fantasy community always favors rookies and young players. Every rookie is coming in and immediately not only taking the veteran’s job, but also rendering him useless. That’s how the consensus tends to operate.
#Patriots HC Mike Vrabel on Rhamondre Stevenson:
“He’s gonna be a large part of what we do”
Vrabel has a 40% reliability rating on depth chart coachspeak and a 65% reliability rating on usage/workload coachspeak pic.twitter.com/AD0vUyDgLh
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) May 20, 2025
Henderson’s ADP is RB25 while Stevenson is way down at RB39. That’s not indicative of an ambiguous backfield or a timeshare; that’s a starter and a backup. Are we sure it’s going to be that way?
To be clear, I am in on Henderson. I have him ranked as my RB23, primarily because I place a higher premium on second-half production. If Henderson is as talented as we think he is, then we could get a weekly high RB2 over the second half. But early-season production matters, too. Plus, it’s not like Stevenson doesn’t have outs as well.
I have Stevenson ranked as my RB39. Yes, I am giving in to the gap between the two. However, I am by no means out on the veteran. Stevenson is going to start, probably all season. He’s going to handle plenty of early down work and, at 231 pounds, is the favorite for goal line carries. Stevenson may very well be a touchdown-dependent RB2 at an RB3 price.
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I have other running backs ranked ahead of Stevenson because of the nature of rankings. These guys have higher upside or an easier path to production. But I am not writing off Stevenson.
What if Stevenson is just good? What if Henderson doesn’t quite acclimate to the NFL as easily? What if Henderson gets hurt? What if this is simply a 50/50 timeshare all season? There are several paths to Stevenson outperforming his ADP, making him someone I am not necessarily aggressively targeting, but definitely interested in drafting, especially on Hero or Zero RB teams.
Frank Ammirante’s Rhamondre Stevenson Projection
Rhamondre Stevenson is the much less flashy option in the Patriots backfield compared to rookie TreVeyon Henderson, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no value here.
Henderson is an explosive runner who can make an impact in the passing game, but Stevenson’s interior running should keep him in line for touches, especially in the red zone, where he could get goal-line carries.
We all know how Mike Vrabel likes to run the football, so he’ll likely keep a power back like Stevenson involved in the offense.
I like targeting Stevenson in best ball to round out my RB room with some projectable volume because you can’t only roster lottery ticket handcuffs at risk of taking too many zeroes in your lineup.
Stevenson is less appealing in redraft because of the limited upside. Despite the Patriots’ improvements on offense, this is still projected to be one of the lowest-scoring units in the NFL.
In these type of formats, I’m more willing to stash my bench with backups with more upside but less standalone value because I don’t have to worry about them producing zeroes.
