The New England Patriots entered the 2024 season with a simple battle plan. They wanted to dictate the flow of their games by playing stout defense and controlling the ball on offense. Needless to say, the plan did not work.
One of the main issues was a lack of success in the ground game: the Patriots ranked just 30th in the NFL in expected points added per run play. That number is heavily influenced by the team’s No. 1 running back and supposed offensive engine failing to produce at the desired level.
Hard facts
Name: Rhamondre Stevenson
Position: Running back
Jersey number: 38
Opening day age: 27 (2/23/1998)
Measurements: 5’11 1/2”, 227 lbs, 75” wingspan, 30 1/4” arm length, 9” hand size, 4.64s 40-yard dash, 7.09s 3-cone drill, 4.15s short shuttle, 31 1/2” vertical jump, 9’4” broad jump, 15 bench press reps, 3.98 Relative Athletic Score
Experience
NFL: New England Patriots (2021-) | College: Cerritos College (2017-18), Oklahoma (2019-20)
Despite a productive high school career at Centennial in Las Vegas, Stevenson was not rated as a recruit and flew largely under the radar heading toward college. As a consequence of this lack of interest in his services, he had to start off at the Juco level. However, a dominant 2018 season at Cerritos College that saw him rush for 2,111 yards and score 16 touchdowns put him on the map.
Stevenson ended up choosing Oklahoma over multiple other Power 5 offers. He spent two seasons as a Sooner, playing in 19 games and carrying the ball 165 times for 1,180 yards and 13 TDs; he also added 28 catches for 298 yards. While his raw production did not stand out, he displayed NFL-caliber talent throughout his time in Norman and was eventually selected 120th overall in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Even though he lost a fumble on his second career touch, Stevenson developed into a core member of the Patriots offense over his four seasons as a pro. In total, he has appeared in a combined 57 regular season and playoff games and gained 3,093 rushing yards on 714 carries and scored 21 touchdowns. He also has been on the receiving end of 158 passes for a further 983 yards and two scores.
Scouting report
Strengths: At just under 6 feet and 227 pounds, Stevenson is a well-filled-out running back whose brand of football is a physical one. He plays with a sound pad level and combines it with good contact balance and effort; a player not easily brought down, he will keep his legs churning through contact and try to fall forward for extra yards. He additionally knows how to bounce off arm tackle attempts or shake defenders with his deceptive elusiveness and ability to switch to another gear.
A schematically-flexible back, Stevenson has good vision and a natural feel for exploiting holes in the defensive line. Once he sees an opening, he uses his burst, pad level and balance to his advantage to fit through and get to the second level. He also is patient enough to let his blocks develop in zone blocking concepts, and puts his foot in the ground with authority on cutback runs.
Stevenson also has been a reliable if at times underused player in the receiving game. He turns his head quickly and displays solid hands on screen plays, as a hot read and as a checkdown option. He also is an able pass protector, who reads and reacts quickly to the defense and uses his leverage and play strength to wall off blitzers or chip linemen and outside linebackers before releasing into his routes.
Weaknesses: Having touched the ball 860 times in his career, Stevenson has 14 fumbles on his NFL résumé — a rate of one fumble per every 61st touch. Shortcomings in ball security have reared their ugly head throughout his career, with an NFL-leading seven fumbles in 2024. The reason behind those are manifold and range from inconsistent technique, to insufficient grip strength, to mental errors and a desire to do too much, to a lack of team support.
Stevenson also is not the most explosive athlete and lacks any truly defining traits. His linear speed is adequate at best, preventing him from being a consistent home-run threat, and he also is not the most nimble runner. The latter also impacts his ability to run a high-level route tree as a receiving option, which in turn limits how he can be used in the passing game.
2024 review
Stats: 15 games (14 starts) | 599 offensive snaps (54.8%) | 207 carries, 801 yards (3.9 yards/carry), 7 TDs, 7 fumbles (3 lost), 4 fumble recoveries | 39 targets, 33 catches (84.6%), 168 yards, 1 TD, 1 drop | 2 pressures surrendered (2 hurries) | 3 penalties
Season recap: Entering the final season of his rookie contract, the new-look Patriots made their intentions with Stevenson quite clear. In June, they reached an agreement with their lead running back on a contract extension that would keep him in New England through 2028 on a total price tag of $36 million.
In terms of average annual value, Stevenson’s deal was the sixth-biggest running back contract in the NFL at the time. Needless to say, the pressure was on the then-fourth-year man to live up to the investment.
At least in 2024, he did not.
Even though Stevenson led the Patriots with 969 scrimmage yards and a career-high eight touchdowns, he failed to become the focal point on offense that the team’s new coaching staff had hoped he would become. One big reason for that was the environment he found himself in: New England’s offensive line was a mess for much of the year, while defenses were able to hone in on stopping the run due to a lack of consistent downfield passing.
The Patriots’ general offensive ineptitude was only one part of the issue, though. Another was Stevenson playing an abysmal season in terms of ball security.
Leading all NFL running backs in fumbles, he put the ball on the ground on seven separate occasions. Stevenson fumbled in four straight games to open the season, and then three more times over his final six contests to close out the year. Three of his fumbles resulted in a change of possession.
(In addition, Stevenson let a Drake Maye backwards pass go through his hands in a Week 16 loss in Buffalo, resulting in a fumble that was recovered for a Bills touchdown. That play, however, was doomed from the get-go with Stevenson having to prepare for impact as soon as the ball arrived due to some subpar blocking up front.)
While Stevenson still ended up starting 14 of his 15 games and playing a position-high 599 offensive snaps, his ball security concerns led to the Patriots coaching staff reimagining his role with the team. Instead of being used as the bell cow running back he was extended to be, he saw a reduction in opportunities — both in terms of playing time and touches — on more than one occasion.
Fairly or not, his fumbles were the biggest story of Stevenson’s 2024 season. They were not the only worry, though, particularly considering the bigger picture of the unit surrounding him on and off the field. He finished with the worst yards per carry (3.9), yards per route run (0.6) and yards per touch (4.0) of his career, for example, and also was penalized three times.
All that being said, he also had his fair share of positive moments. Besides still being New England’s most productive skill position player, he also forced a career-high 41 missed tackles, set a new career mark in carries per game (13.8) and impressed in pass protection.
All in all, though, his season as a whole — partially through no fault of his own — was a major disappointment.
2025 preview
Position: Starting RB | Ability: Quality starter | Contract: Signed through 2028
What will be his role? Stevenson is a starter-caliber running back capable of contributing on all three offensive downs. Given the current composition of the Patriots’ running back depth chart following the recent additions of Antonio Gibson (2024) and TreVeyon Henderson (2025), however, he projects primarily as an early-down option as well as a potential “closer” late in games. He also provides experience in new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ offense from their time in 2021.
Rhamondre Stevenson on power/counter (2021) pic.twitter.com/fzol6GAlBY
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) May 22, 2025
What is his growth potential? Stevenson is well-established as a running back, but there is clear room for development as far as his ball security is concerned. If he can show improvement in this area under McDaniels and new running backs coach Tony Dews, his playing time should fluctuate less than it did in 2024 and align more with his contract.
Does he have positional versatility? As noted above, Stevenson is best suited for a defined role but also offers experience as a receiving option out of the backfield as well as from the slot and split out wide. That is the extent of his versatility, though, given that he is a non-factor on special teams (3 career snaps).
What is his salary cap situation? As part of his aforementioned contract extension through 2028, Stevenson is carrying a $5.541 million cap hit into 2025 — 14th on the team and 19th among all NFL running backs. The number itself consists of $2.75 million base salary and $1.6 million signing bonus proration, both fully guaranteed. In addition, it includes up to $1 million in per-game roster bonuses — $941,176 of which considered likely to be earned — as well as a $250,000 workout bonus.
How safe is his roster spot? Despite his issues in 2024 and the Patriots selecting TreVeyon Henderson 38th overall in this year’s draft, Stevenson’s spot on the team is safe for 2025. That is due to the structure of his contract and the fact that he is still the most proven running back on New England’s current roster. He also has shown that he can be a productive and reliable player in the NFL, and a key cog in the team’s offensive machinery.
Summary: Even though he has a challenging year behind him, Stevenson remains the Patriots’ RB1 heading into training camp and the 2025 season. His longterm outlook is a bit less clear given his ball security issues and Henderson in particular being added to the roster lately, but he has an overall track record worthy of a starting NFL running back — one he should get plenty of chances to add to this year.
What do you think about Rhamondre Stevenson heading into the 2025 season? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts.
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