Patriots Rookie’s Slow Start Could Have New England Regretting Draft Pick

Oct 5, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; New England Patriots running back Treveyon Henderson (32) rushes the ball against the Buffalo Bills during the first half at Highmark Stadium.
Oct 5, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; New England Patriots running back Treveyon Henderson (32) rushes the ball against the Buffalo Bills during the first half at Highmark Stadium. | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

The New England Patriots thought that they were adding a versatile weapon to their running back room by drafting rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson 38th overall in the 2025 NFL draft. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case after seven weeks.

Henderson hasn't shown enough to live up to the hype so far, and it's growing to the point where fans are wondering if the Patriots might be regretting their decision.

TreVeyon Henderson Isn't Performing as Advertised

Henderson was advertised as being the best pass-blocking running back in his draft class, but that hasn’t translated to the NFL, and it’s made him a liability to put on the field. And as a proud alumnus of Ohio State University, it’s a fair assumption that head coach Mike Vrabel watched many of Henderson’s games over his four years as a Buckeye and saw just how well of a pass-blocker he really is.

Early in the season, the Patriots have managed issues with running backs fumbling, losing Antonio Gibson to an ACL tear in Week 5, and increasing the workload of the running game, but Henderson still can’t find many opportunities to get rushing attempts each game. That continued in Week 7 against the Tennessee Titans as he only had two attempts for five yards without being targeted once through the air.

This past week was across the board a career-low for Henderson in terms of production, but also with his offensive snap counts (9). He’s also not involved on the special teams over the past two weeks due to only having two running backs on the roster, per special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer.

Henderson Lost Work to Practice Squad Call Up

For a player of Henderson’s skill set and speed, the Patriots need to find a way for him to make plays on the field for them. In fact, the Patriots elected to use practice squad call-up Terrell Jennings at the end of the game over Henderson. He finished with five attempts for 18 yards.

It was made important for New England to draft Henderson because owner Robert Kraft mentioned in the offseason that he wanted (via MassLive) to have a “speed running back” added in the draft. And I think this is a good time to point out that the entire room wasn’t convinced that Henderson was the right choice, but he might’ve been the best player on their board at the time, and the Pats went with it.

But does that make it the right selection?

The Cleveland Browns drafted Henderson’s college teammate Quinshon Judkins 36th overall, just two picks ahead of Henderson. Although both are great options, why didn’t Cleveland take Henderson over Judkins? It’s possible that they felt like Judkins was the more NFL-ready prospect, and unfortunately for New England, Cleveland was right.

Here’s how the two rookies compare with each other so far this season:

  • Quinshon Judkins: 109 attempts, 467 yards, 5 TD, 29 first downs (6 games)
  • TreVeyon Henderson: 43 attempts, 153 yards, 1 TD, 9 first downs (7 games)

With the way the Patriots roster is constructed, it’s fair to say that Henderson was the right option for an additional running back to be added based on the stature and skillsets of the other two running backs in the room with Gibson and Rhamondre Stevenson at the time.

The plan was always to integrate Henderson into the offense in specific situations to change the pace of the game, both on the ground and through the air; however, that hasn’t happened yet after seven weeks.

It’s even more surprising that we haven’t seen many plays specifically drawn up for Henderson from the offensive coordinator mastermind of Josh McDaniels. There was one design in Week 1, but for the most part, he’s almost used as a decoy when he does get on the field. 

With the trade deadline just around the corner and with only two running backs on the roster, it seems likely that the Patriots should add another running back, and if that’s the case, how does that impact Henderson if he’s already losing work to a practice squad player?

So the question remains: was Henderson the right selection in the second round? After seven weeks, it’s hard to justify that he was.

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