New England Patriots: Exploring the running back depth chart for 2021

The New England Patriots have spent considerable draft capital over the past three drafts to try to brighten up their running back room.

They expended a first-round pick in 2018 on Sony Michel, a third-rounder on Damien Harris in 2019, and this year finally added a big back, Rhamondre Stevenson to the fold in the fourth round.

New England Patriots running backs explored: The team’s best backs

James White is listed as a running back but he could more easily be categorized as a pass-catcher from the backfield. White had a “down year” in 2020 only catching 49 passes.

For most backs that a fine haul but White is used to better. In his best season in 2018, he caught 87 from Tom Brady.

Not used very much as a runner, he’s still a terrific piece of the Patriots offense and their best back overall.

Next, let’s look at their best runner, Damien Harris formerly of Alabama. Harris is a tweener back, about 215 pounds or so, and had a solid season in 2020.

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He averaged 5.0 yards per carry on 137 carries and gained 691 yards with two TD’s.

The yards per carry is fine but other than that, his performance was not outstanding since Harris only played in 10 games lasts season. Yet he started all 10. That says something.

He’d be expected to start this season as well. Hopefully, he can stay on the field. He’s a good combination of decent speed and hard-running.

Next up is 4th-year man Sony Michel. Michael’s 5th-year option as a first-round pick was not picked up by New England making this clearly a show-and-tell season for the tweener running back.

When he plays he’s a decent back averaging 4.3 yards per carry over his three seasons. But Michel is often dinged up and out of action.

Michel could be in his last season in New England and needs a big year to secure a follow-on contract.

Yet, being behind Harris won’t help those chances. A possibility is that if rookie Rhamondre Stevenson shows well in camp Michel could be trade bait. We’ll see.

Brandon Bolden will likely be back after opting out due to Covid-19. He may take up a spot on the roster as a “running back” but he’s basically a special teams player.

It’s a spot that could probably be better used on another position.

Two wild card backs for the Patriots

Two backs who will be competing for time and roster spots are what could be termed, “wild cards” since it’s not really quite known what they may or may not deliver.

First up is a personal favorite, J. J. Taylor. Taylor is listed at 5’6″ tall and that may be a stretch but he’s bull strong and he showed some flash when he played last season.

While he only had 23 rushes (it says here he deserved more playing time) he averaged a solid 4.8 yards per carry.

Taylor is an exciting player to watch and he has been compared in this space to a Patriot of long ago, “Mini-Mac” Herron. He has also been likened to a more recent Patriot, Dion Lewis.

Both were explosive, very small players who were fan favorites for certain as Taylor will be anytime he’s on the field. He can play.

The final back to explore is one that has been written about in this space extensively so it won’t be belabored here. He’s my favorite 2021 draft pick along with Mac Jones.

It’s 2021 fourth-round pick, Rhamondre Stevenson. He’s the big back that has been hoped for, called for in this space for some time.

The Patriots delivered one and he’s a good one. At 230 pounds plus, he’s that big back necessary for short-yardage and goal-line situations. He can basically do it all.

He can run for average, break long runs and even catch it out of the backfield. He’s an underestimated talent and to get him in the fourth round was a masterstroke by Bill Belichick and his team.

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Those are the main candidates for maybe 5 or so running back spots on the Patriots’ 53-man roster. Jakob Johnson is a fullback so he’s not listed here. He will likely make the team.

This group is pretty solid with pass-catchers out of the backfield, tweener runners, and now, a big back who can nicely fill two big holes if he’s utilized properly.

All-in-all, it’s not a bad stable of backs to approach the 2021 season with. Not bad at all. What do you think of the Patriots’ running backs? We’d like to hear your viewpoint.

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