2022 Fantasy Upside
Once Rhamondre Stevenson started getting involved in the offense during the second half of the season, he showed plenty of talent and upside and the Patriots started showing more trust in the rookie. His second half was highlighted by his 100-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Browns in Week 10. There’s also less of a crowd in New England’s backfield, as James White is recovering from a hip injury (likely replaced by Pierre Strong Jr.) and Brandon Bolden is now in Las Vegas. Arrow is pointing up for Stevenson.
2022 Fantasy Downside
The Patriots don’t involve their running backs not named James White too much into the passing game. Stevenson saw just 18 targets last season and caught 14 of those targets. And Damien Harris is still hanging around to take some of the early-down work.
2022 Bottom Line
This is a true committee in New England, but perhaps we could slowly start seeing a changing of the guard to Stevenson. When you’re tough to bring down as a running back like Stevenson is (4th in yards after contact per attempt and 2nd in broken tackles per attempt, per John Paulsen), you’re going to get opportunities and you’re going to get yards, which will equal fantasy points. Stevenson is a flex with RB2, maybe even low-RB1 upside, especially if Harris misses time.