Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson give the New England Patriots one of the most promising running back duos in the NFL, but there are questions about the depth behind them. At the moment, after all, the team has four backup running backs on its roster who have played a combined 10 games in the league.
All 10 of those games come courtesy of Terrell Jennings, who spent parts of 2025 as New England’s third option at the position. Will he reprise this role in 2025? Let’s find out.
Hard facts
Name: Terrell
Jennings
Position: Running back
Jersey number: 26
Opening day age: 25 (3/1/2001)
Measurements: 5’11 3/4”, 222 lbs, 31 5/8” arm length, 10 1/8” hand size, 73 3/4” wingspan, 4.66s 40-yard dash, 7.72s 3-cone drill, 4.61s short shuttle, 35” vertical jump, 9’10” broad jump, 16 bench press reps, 4.82 Relative Athletic Score
Experience
NFL: New England Patriots (2024-) | College: Florida A&M (2019-23)
Spending his high school career at Mandarin in Jacksonville, FL, alongside future Patriots teammate DeMario Douglas, Jennings originally committed to Western Kentucky as a two-star recruit. However, he eventually changed his mind during his senior season and joined Florida A&M instead.
In five seasons with the Rattlers, Jennings became one of the most prolific running backs in school history. Appearing in 45 games, he carried the ball 381 times for 1,754 yards and 24 touchdowns. He also added 19 receptions for 163 yards and another TD.
While his college production was solid, Jennings did not hear his name called in the 2024 NFL Draft. He joined the Patriots as a rookie free agent and has since played in 10 games as a backup option. Aligning on both offense and special teams, he registered 37 combined carries and receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown. He also has seen some limited action as a part-time kickoff returner, who has averaged 29.5 on two career runbacks.
Scouting report
Strengths: Standing at just under 6-foot-0 and 222 pounds, Jennings is a condensed athlete who offers a low center of gravity and is able to make himself small through holes. He is attacking gaps with a purpose and has the power, active feet and contact balance to fight through initial contact; he also has the vision to find creases in the defense. In addition, he is not afraid of getting his hands dirty as a pass protector and identifies his assignments well and without hesitation.
Weaknesses: Jennings is not the most naturally-gifted athlete, and has only average straight-line speed, acceleration and quickness. He won’t regularly step out of tackle attempts or run away from defenders in the open field (1 missed tackle forced since entering the NFL in 2024). He furthermore is not particularly suited to work laterally (e.g. on wide zone) or in space, while his potential as a receiver either split out wide or in the screen game is also limited after seeing just three targets so far in his career.
2025 review
Stats: 7 games (0 starts) | 39 offensive snaps (2.9%), 51 special teams snaps (9.3%) | 23 carries, 73 yards (3.2/carry), 1 TD | 1 target, 1 catch, 9 receiving yards | 0 QB pressures surrendered | 2 kickoff returns, 59 yards (29.5/return) | 3 special teams tackles, 1 missed special teams tackles (25%) | 0 penalties
Season recap: Coming off a rookie season that saw him play limited snaps, Jennings entered training camp in hopes of competing for a depth role in a running back room headed by veterans Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson as well as second-round rookie TreVeyon Henderson. However, he missed the last two weeks of camp as well as the final two preseason games after leaving practice on Aug. 11 with an injury.
While not of the long-term variety, the ailment did prevent Jennings from showcasing himself and eventually set the stage for him getting released ahead of the NFL’s roster cutdown deadline. However, he quickly found his way back to New England: after going through the waiver wire unclaimed, Jennings was re-signed to the Patriots’ practice squad.
He spent the next two months on the developmental roster, but nonetheless was elevated three different times following Gibson’s season-ending ACL tear in early October. With no standard elevations remaining, the Patriots signed Jennings to their 53-man team later that same month.
In his first game as a member of the active team, he had the best outing of his career. Jennings touched the ball 12 times for 44 yards and his first career touchdown in a 24-23 win over the Falcons.
From that point on, his opportunities decreased again. With Stevenson and Henderson both available down the stretch, there was no need for a third running back to see regular action. And even if there were, a concussion suffered in Week 14 against the Giants prevented Jennings from taking the field the rest of the season: he was placed on injured reserve in early December and despite returning to practice in mid-January was never actually activated and remained on the list through the Super Bowl.
Jennings therefore ended his second NFL campaign on IR, and with just 26 touches — 23 carries, one catch, two kickoff returns — to his name.
2026 preview
Position: Early-down running back | Ability: Depth player/Role player | Contract: Signed through 2026 (2027 ERFA)
What will be his role? Based on his strengths and weaknesses as well as his usage over his first two seasons in the NFL, Jennings once again projects as an early-down running back who best operates between the tackles and in man blocking schemes. As such, he will provide depth behind Rhamondre Stevenson and possibly also contribute in select situations such as short yardage, goal line or end-of-game scenarios.
What is his growth potential? Jennings had his moments in both 2024 and 2025, but never managed to crack the regular running back rotation as a result of his limitations as a player. Those limitations will likely prevent him from ever developing into a true all-around back, but does have some skills that might allow him to become a complementary early-down option with special teams potential as well.
Does he have positional versatility? Compared to other running backs on the Patriots’ roster, Jennings is a rather one-dimensional player; as mentioned above, he is best suited for a rather specific role centered around his between-the-tackles abilities. He has, however, shown versatility is the kicking game: he saw action on three different special teams units — kickoff return, kickoff coverage, punt return — in 2025 and ran back those aforementioned two kickoffs.
What is his salary cap situation? The Patriots signed Jennings through 2026 when they promoted him from the practice squad last October, and he is carrying a $1.075 million cap hit as part of that deal. The cap number itself consists entirely of a non-guaranteed base salary worth the minimum for a player of his experience.
How safe is his roster spot? The Patriots are currently only rostering four running backs behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson, which means that Jennings should get a chance to compete for the RB3 role this summer. He also has one advantage over his competition: unlike Lan Larison, Jam Miller and Myles Montgomery, he actually has played competitive football against NFL-level competition. Will that help him earn a spot on the team, though? Not necessarily.
Summary: Jennings is at best a fringe roster running back, whose relative lack of upside and versatility squarely put him in the “replaceable” category. That does not mean the Patriots will do so this year, but one of the younger options on the roster eventually unseating him as the No. 3 running back is far from an unrealistic scenario.
What do you think about Terrell Jennings heading into the 2026 season? Will he find a way to stick around? Or will somebody else replace him as RB3? And if so, who? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts.
