Rhamondre Stevenson — Week 1: Eighteen Carries With Henderson Out
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Thursday, Sep 10
With TreVeyon Henderson inactive with an ankle injury, per the Patriots' website, Stevenson carried eighteen of New England's twenty-five designed runs for fifty-one yards, no touchdown and a long of twelve, and caught five of six targets for forty-four yards. The carries were worth minus eight point one expected points — five of eighteen gained what the down and distance asked — on a night the offense started three drives inside its own ten.
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Rhamondre Stevenson had the backfield to himself Wednesday night and it did not go well on the ground. TreVeyon Henderson was ruled out with an ankle injury and inactive, per the Patriots' website, which also reported Lan Larison elevated from the practice squad for the game. New England ran 25 designed running plays and Stevenson carried 18 of them, with Corey Kiner taking six and Drake Maye one. 51 yards, no touchdown, a long of 12. Those 18 carries were worth −8.1 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position, and −8 over 18 carries means the runs lost ground against what the situations expected almost every time. Five of the 18 gained what the down and distance asked for.
The first quarter was the worst of it: seven carries for 12 yards, including a three-yard loss on second and four and a one-yard loss on third and one that ended a drive at the New England 40. He did not get a carry longer than six until the fourth quarter, when the 12-yarder to the Seattle 48 came right after Drake Maye's fourth-and-two scramble on the final drive, and an eight-yarder to the 28 followed the fourth-and-nine conversion. Some of it was where the drives began — three New England possessions started at the eight, the eight and the six — and two of his best runs were erased by penalties on Will Campbell, a four-yarder in the third quarter and a six-yarder in the fourth.
The receiving line was the better half: six targets, five catches, 44 yards. 17 yards on first and 15 in the third quarter, 11 on second and 19, and three shorter ones. Only DeMario Douglas was thrown to more often. In an offense that lost A.J. Brown to injury in the third quarter, the check-down was a real part of the passing game, and Stevenson was it.
Back in June the read was that Stevenson's touchdown rate would come back down and his share would drift toward Henderson, and that what his role rests on is real — on this show's numbers he led the 49 qualifying backs in rushing yards over expectation per attempt last season. August never tested the split, and Wednesday could not either, because there was no split: Henderson was out and Stevenson had the room. What it tested was the efficiency, and 18 carries for 51 is the opposite of last year's number. One game, three drives from inside the 10, a defense that finished second in the league last year. Hold the June read, and watch the first game Henderson is active. New England hosts Pittsburgh next.
_Data via nflverse._
When Rhamondre Stevenson's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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