The 2011 movie Moneyball includes a scene that features Jonah Hill’s character Peter Brand explain to Brad Pitt’s Billy Beane that relief pitcher Chad Bradford would be one of the most undervalued players in baseball. He gives a simple reason why that would be the case.
“His defect is that he throws funny.”
New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson also has one big defect, even though it is much more concerning than the arm angle on a pitch. Stevenson, the Patriots’ No. 1 running back for
the last few seasons, has issues holding onto the football: he had the dubious honor of leading all NFL backs with seven fumbles in 2024.
Needless to say, ball security is a major theme for Stevenson during this year’s training camp. However, after losing a fumble during last Friday’s in-stadium scrimmage, the questions over his ability to play mistake-free football remain.
The 27-year-old knows he needs to answer those questions emphatically.
“That’s at a premium right now, ball security,” he told reporters after Monday’s practice at Gillette Stadium. “I’m still trying to make my moves, stay the same back I am, but at a premium is ball security right now.”
Ball security has been a question for Stevenson since he entered the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick by the Patriots in 2021. After putting the ball on the ground on his second career touch, he was benched for the subsequent three games.
Stevenson eventually overcame that mishap to rise to the top of New England’s running back depth chart, and to average over 1,000 yards from scrimmage over his first four years in the league. However, ball security reared its ugly head time and again: he fumbled the ball a combined seven times over his first three seasons as a pro, before adding seven more during his fourth campaign.
Now heading into 2025, however, his is ready to star anew.
“New year, kind of like a clean slate,” he said. “But it’s my job to keep the ball and secure the ball. We know how that went last year. Trying to put that behind me. Just making a conscious effort to keep the ball in my hand.”
The clean slate mantra was also preached by head coach Mike Vrabel on Monday.
“Everybody has a fresh, clean slate,” Vrabel said. “We like to go through those things, and some of that is technique, some of that is the second guy in. A lot of times on fumbles ... one person’s got to have the ball in their hand every play offensively, and the rest of those 10 players are going to be responsible for protecting the guy with the ball.
“And so, there were some instances where he put it on the ground, and there were some instances where the second guy came in, and we need to eliminate the second guy from coming in by the way that we play and our play demeanor and the way that we finish. So a clean slate, everybody has a clean slate. But also, there’s things that have to change and be better at every position as we move toward the season.”
As it relates to Stevenson, he sees the problem as more of a physical rather than a mental one — one that he claims has no impact in his confidence as a ball carrier.
“I’m very confident what I can do with the ball in my hands, when I have it and when I can secure it. I just think holding onto the ball, everything else comes with it,” he said. “I think it’s a physical thing just holding the ball. I think I could just make a conscious effort. I’d say it’s physical rather than mental.”
With his confidence unshaken, Stevenson also managed to put last Friday’s fumble behind him.
“Mistakes happen. It’s training camp,” he said. “Hopefully, I can just get that out of the way right now and go into the season clean.”
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