This is going to continue to be a committee, but if you’re paying for 2025’s numbers with Rhamondre Stevenson, you’re setting yourself up for failure. He registered a career high with 9 scores, upped his yards per carry from 3.9 to 4.6, and caught more than 30 passes for a fourth consecutive season.
Should You Draft Rhamondre Stevenson in Fantasy Football?
Stevenson’s ADP sits at 83.8 in PFN’s Free Fantasy Mock Draft Simulator, which is strangely 30 picks below TreVeyon Henderson. I do not understand that at all. His positional rank is RB27, which is a combination of me and my colleague Kyle Soppe. Soppe is carrying the load there, because I certainly have Rhamondre higher than that. We have him projected at 11.57 fantasy points per game.
My issue with Stevenson is that I think he’s being undervalued by the fantasy community at large. He’s certainly starting to get steamed up now as training camp reports come in that he’s clearly the one playing ahead of TreVeyon Henderson. But for the longest time, Henderson was going well ahead of Rhamondre, and that’s reflected in the PFN mock draft simulator data, which dates back a few weeks, maybe a couple of months. It may not have caught up yet to what’s happening, because this is a recent phenomenon.
I think it’s a smart one, because for my money I’m certainly taking Rhamondre ahead of TreVeyon Henderson. I think he’s the better player, and last year the data proved it. His yards per route run dwarfed Henderson’s, 1.45 to 1.02. His 15-plus-yard rush rate was 6.9%, compared to TreVeyon’s 5.6%. His fantasy points per opportunity came in at 1.07, compared to TreVeyon’s 0.93.
Most importantly for me, we saw in the NFL playoffs, the four most important games of the season, how Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels felt about their backfield. They needed wins the most. When protecting players didn’t matter, when divvying up the workload didn’t matter, when all you needed to do was make sure you won that game, they trusted Stevenson. He played 65, 59, 93, and 63% of the snaps in those four playoff games, compared to 40% or less for TreVeyon in every single one of those games.
The fantasy points weren’t close. Rhamondre topped 12.1 fantasy points in 3 of those 4 games. His worst was 7.1. Henderson got 7.5 in the Super Bowl, but outside of that he was never above 4.6. It wasn’t close how much better Rhamondre was in every facet of football last season. Yes, we had the two-game breakout when Rhamondre was hurt, where Henderson spiked for 243 yards and 5 touchdowns across those two games. But what happened when Rhamondre returned? They gave him his job back. That doesn’t happen.
All the reports suggest that Rhamondre is the clear one, and I think he’s being undervalued. He should be going ahead of TreVeyon Henderson in drafts, probably by a full round or two. I don’t see any path to Henderson being a threat to Rhamondre unless Rhamondre gets hurt, which of course is always a possibility. But even last year, as we saw, Rhamondre had no fumbling issues. He still didn’t lose the job. The Patriots love Stevenson, and I think he’s one of the best picks you can make around the 6th or 7th round of 2026 fantasy football drafts.
FANTASY RANKINGS: PFN’s FREE Fantasy PPR, Half-PPR, and Non-PPR Rankings
Rhamondre Stevenson’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
Analysis provided by PFN Analyst Kyle Soppe.
For the record, I’m a TreVeyon Henderson guy this season, but I don’t know how you can really rank it that way for the opener.
Stevenson held a 2-to-1 touch edge during the playoff run, and we were fed reports this summer about Henderson still being a liability in pass protection.
Of course, we don’t get points per pancake, but this isn’t tight end. If a tight end can’t run block, I don’t really care: it simply means that when he’s on the field, he’s running routes, and that’s what I want access to.
A running back who can’t protect has limitations on passing downs and thus inherits risk in the reception department, even if he offers explosive potential in that space. The Seahawks allowed a league-high 97 completions to running backs last season, and while I think there’s a world in which Henderson develops, a Super Bowl rematch in early September probably isn’t the spot.
Stevenson was RB1 (not “a RB1,” “the RB1”) in terms of fantasy points per carry when not hit behind the line of scrimmage last season, elevating his floor in a way that matters if we pencil him in for the featured role.
With time, I think this backfield shifts, but for Week 1, Stevenson is a flex for me, and Henderson really isn’t on my mind in most sports.
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Where Stevenson Ranks Among 2026 Running Backs
- Bhayshul Tuten | JAX
- Quinshon Judkins | CLE
- Jadarian Price | SEA
- Bucky Irving | TB
- Jaylen Warren | PIT
- Rhamondre Stevenson | NE
- TreVeyon Henderson | NE
- Chuba Hubbard | CAR
- Tony Pollard | TEN
- Kenny Gainwell | TB
- Jonathon Brooks | CAR
More rankings can be found in PFN's PPR Running Back Rankings.
