Rhamondre Stevenson was mostly good in the New England Patriots' Week 1 loss (51 rushing yards on 18 attempts, five receptions for 44 yards). But he could have done a better job running between the tackles and making big plays to open up the passing game (Drake Maye threw for 178 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions -- and his play only got worse once A.J. Brown left the game due to a high-ankle sprain).
Obviously, New England's passing game doesn't start and end with Stevenson, but he's still a big part of the attack, both directly and indirectly. Especially against a defense as great as the Seattle Seahawks', you need every area of your offense to be clicking to take advantage of holes and weaknesses.
From the running perspective, most of that pressure is going to fall on Stevenson, especially if TreVeyon Henderson is going to miss more time with his ankle injury. If he can turn it up another level moving forward, then the Patriots might be okay, even in Brown's absence (he's been placed on the injured reserve and will miss at least the next four games). But if he can't, then it's going to be incredibly difficult for them to replicate the success they had last year.
Rhamondre Stevenson must carry the load for the Patriots
The Las Vegas native has long been a solid running back for New England since taking over as the starter in 2022/2023. He has issues with ball security (his 17 fumbles since entering the league in 2021 are tied for the most by a running back in that span with Austin Ekeler), but besides that, Stevenson provides real value.
He is an underrated weapon in the passing game as a receiving back and blocker, he has a good combination of power and elusiveness, and he knows how to attack a gap. There's a reason the Patriots are likely going to stick with him as their starting running back, even once Henderson returns.
But he's not explosive. He's not a home-run guy, and it's much easier for opposing defenses to zero in on him in their game plan. New England doesn't need him to become Jahmyr Gibbs or Bijan Robinson (though that would obviously help a lot), but it does need Stevenson to take it up another level and become more than just a (mostly) reliable running back.
New England is already at a disadvantage in the passing game with Brown's injury and Romeo Doubs' horrific debut with the team, but if Stevenson can open things up a bit by becoming a bigger game-changer in the backfield, then that will take a lot of pressure off of Maye and the rest of the offense.
Whether he will actually be able to or not remains to be seen, but it's clear that the Patriots are going to need more out of Stevenson if they want to stay competitive in the AFC.
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