Corey Kiner looked incredible during the New England Patriots' win against the New York Jets on Sunday, and fans should expect him to have a bigger role moving forward.
New England's backfield has been a problem all season. Rhamondre Stevenson has been just okay. TreVeyon Henderson has been underwhelming again. And the Patriots don't have a lot of depth behind them.
I'm not going to act like Kiner is going to become the lead running back in New England's offense. It's a small sample size, and he went undrafted just last year. But he also clearly has a ton of talent, and we can't ignore that he was the Patriots' best running back on Sunday.
Corey Kiner was impressive in the Patriots' Week 6 win
Kiner was New England's leading rusher against the Jets (no, seriously), recording 57 yards on 11 attempts (Stevenson recorded 36 yards on 14 attempts- yikes; Henderson recorded 31 yards on eight attempts, nine receiving yards on one reception, and he had a fumble), and he had some nice kick returns in the game, too.
The Patriots seem to already have trust in the 24-year-old, giving him eight straight rushes on their final drive of the game. And considering they traded for him from the Arizona Cardinals just before the start of the season, they clearly like him.
Kiner was also solid against the Las Vegas Raiders the previous week (52 yards on six carries, one reception for seven yards, one fumble). He runs hard, and he could take on a legitimate role in New England.
The Patriots should rely on Corey Kiner more moving forward
Even though he somehow played against the Jets, we can't forget that Henderson sustained a high-ankle sprain just a week ago. (We also can't forget that he hasn't been all that good this season either.) And while I mostly like Stevenson, it's not like his starting job is completely safe.
Combine that with how often the Patriots have used Kiner these last couple of weeks, and all I'll say is that fans shouldn't be surprised if he becomes a bigger part of their offense moving forward.
New England's running game has been lackluster all season long (it is averaging 130.7 rushing attempts per game, which is the seventh-most in the league, but its efficiency hasn't been great, and this is factoring in Drake Maye's and now Kiner's numbers), and the team is in need of some sort of spark in the backfield.
Given what we're seeing right now, it's looking like Kiner could be exactly that.
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