Who leads the New England Patriots backfield moving forward?

The New England Patriots are trending upward as a playoff contender and if they want to expand their offense, the Patriots should keep involving Rhamondre Stevenson.

At 6-4, the New England Patriots are coming off their fourth consecutive win in their route of dominating the 5-5 Cleveland Browns. They are getting on a winning streak at the right time, as their schedule does get slightly tougher with both division matchups against the Buffalo Bills coming up. The Patriots are 2nd in the AFC East and are tied with Buffalo in wins, as New England can be a potential frisky wildcard team down the stretch if they keep their win streak alive.

Overall, the Pats offense has been better than expected, even for Bill Belichick-coached team with the guys they have on paper. Mac Jones is playing better than any other rookie quarterback so far despite not having the best receiving threats. Slot receiver Jakobi Meyers leads the 50 catches, deep threat Kendrick Bourne leads the team with 520 receiving yards, and red zone hog Hunter Henry leads the team with seven receiving touchdowns (which is the most for tight ends this season).

New England’s defense is getting after the quarterback really well and playing superb pass defense, with edge rusher Matt Judon (9.5 sacks) and cornerback J.C. Jackson (five interceptions) leading the team in their respective stats and are top 5 in the league. Defensive lineman Christian Barmore has been a force at run support as a rookie. Adrian Phillips and Kyle Dugger have also been standouts at safety for the Patriots this season.

What helps out the defense and a rookie quarterback in a big way is a consistent run game, and that is what the New England Patriots have with their scheme and offensive line when fully healthy.

Damien Harris has been leading the way in a committee-based backfield but recently, preseason rookie star Rhamondre Stevenson has brought some explosiveness to their running back group when he is on the field. Both running backs had concussions prior in Week 9, but the rookie was cleared to start and balled out without practicing prior to the game in Week 10. The veteran Brandon Bolden and practice squad signing J.J. Taylor are also other backs they have on the roster but are strictly niched to the pass-catching role at most.

The former 4th round pick from Oklahoma rushed for over 100 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns on the ground, not to mention his 4 catches in his first-ever start seeing over half the snaps. Even though Harris has had similar rushing stat lines, he does not offer anything in the receiving game. This makes him limited to a glorified power back who is good in short-yardage and the red zone (with seven rushing touchdowns) but not valued as much on obvious passing downs.

Both running backs are similar in size yet on the field, they bring different skill sets to the table and Stevenson made the most of his start with Harris out.

The former Alabama 3rd round pick from 2019 has coughed the ball up twice this season and has been banged up recently. Harris has never seen more than three targets in any given game as a Patriot but with Stevenson on the field, that will give the rookie quarterback another potential option to throw to. The rookie running back did fumble in his Week 1 debut against the New York Jets in limited action but should get an uptick of snaps regardless, whether Harris retakes the backfield as the full-time starter or not.

If Harris is cleared, it will be interesting to see the New England Patriots backfield snap counts if both he and Stevenson are active against the 4-5 Atlanta Falcons in a short week for Week 11. There is a possibility that once both are on the field together, they could split time just to keep Harris fresh since he has had a lengthy injury history. But one thing is for certain, Stevenson offers a good combination of power and burst, along with surprising shiftiness due to his size, and can be a reliable pass-catcher when need be.