Entering Week 1, the New England Patriots have a difficult situation to figure out when it comes to their running backs, veteran Rhamondre Stevenson and rookie TreVeyon Henderson.
Stevenson signed a four-year, $36 million deal last year and operated as the team's lead back, although he did see plenty of struggles, especially with fumbles.
The Patriots then sprung for the Ohio State product in the second round of the 2025 NFL draft, which was at least a tad surprising considering how many needs the Patriots had and the aforementioned Stevenson extension. That suggests New England really liked Henderson coming out.
And we saw exactly why that was the case during the preseason. Henderson ripped off two big long runs, one of which came on a kickoff return. And, with that, the hype for the rookie back began going through the roof.
So, what can we expect for Henderson and Stevenson in Week 1?
Here's what we know.
TreVeyon Henderson intel
UPDATE: ESPN's Mike Reiss has provided a bit more insight into the Patriots' running back situation and it's good news for Henderson.
"So while Henderson is almost guaranteed to be on the field on third down in a pass-catching role that has been a staple in McDaniels' offense, he is also expected to be given a chance on early downs as well. He likes being part of a multi-player mix," Reiss wrote.
END OF UPDATE
There is no concrete answer to this question, unfortunately, but there is enough information out there to make an educated guess.
Head coach Mike Vrabel guards information better than Fort Knox guards gold, so there's no inclination about Henderson's potential workload coming directly from the Patriots.
Stevenson is listed as the Patriots' No. 1 running back on the team's depth chart and Henderson is in the No. 3 spot behind Antonio Gibson. Stevenson was also the first running back on the field in his lone preseason game.
But Vrabel has a history of burying rookies on the depth chart no matter what, so keep that in mind, and just because Stevenson starts doesn't mean he's going to garner a workhorse load, or even the most touches.
The Athletic's Jeff Howe reported late last month that the Patriots "are also ecstatic" over Henderson. Howe added "don't be surprised if he turns into their lead option."
The Athletic's Chad Graff said he's "confident at this point that Henderson will get half of the running back snaps this season."
Henderson is an exciting player and offers more upside than Stevenson, something that will make it difficult to keep him off the field.
We saw just how explosive Henderson can be in the preseason, when he ripped off a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown on his very first touch. He also had long gains of 18 and 11 yards, the latter of which went for a score.
Henderson also showed his chops as a third-down back, both in pass protection and receiving, so that will increase his chances of seeing work early on this season.
How many touches for TreVeyon Henderson?
We do not believe Stevenson is simply going to be forgotten in this offense in the early stage of the season after Vrabel publicly backed him during the offseason.
This is just a guess, but we'd say Henderson will get 10-plus touches in his NFL debut against the Las Vegas Raiders.
That might not seem like a lot, but we saw Henderson is capable of maximizing his touches during the preseason. Adding to that, the Raiders had some issues stopping the run in 2024 and we also saw that during the preseason, so Henderson may not need a full allotment of touches to turn in a productive day.
What we can say is that Henderson is going to continue seeing an increase in work if he can carry over his preseason success to the regular season. He adds a different and much-needed explosive element to the Pats' offense and that's not something Vrabel and Co. can ignore.
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