Patriots Veteran RB Confident After Clearing Biggest Hurdle

FOXBOROUGH, MA. — New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson knows that in order to secure his spot atop the team’s running back depth chart, he must first routinely secure the football.

Despite his impressive dual-threat skill set, the Oklahoma product has become known as much for his struggles with ball control in recent season. With his most glaring weakness having once again taken center stage during Friday’s in-stadium scrimmage, Stevenson is eager to prove that is is more than capable of keeping the ball in Patriots hands when he number is called.

“Ball security, that’s at a premium right now,” Stevenson told reporters after Monday’s practice. “I’m still trying to make my moves, stay the same back I am … I’m very confident what I can do with the ball in my hands, when I have it and when I can secure it. I think it’s a physical thing — just holding the ball.”

Despite his heightened confidence, Stevenson still has much work to be done to achieve his goals. The 27-year-old was absent for much of the team’s offseason workout program due to the passing of his father Robert in March at age 54. He had also been grieving the loss of his childhood friend Brandan Harley during the latter half of 2024.

While his expectations for success within former coordinator Alex Van Pelt’s outside zone offense were high heading into 2024, Stevenson struggled — due both to injury and ball security. The 6’0” 227-pound back set career highs with seven fumbles — three of which were lost. As a result of his issues with protecting the football, Stevenson was demoted in early October by then-coach Jerod Mayo from his starting role. He finished the season having compiled 801 yards on 207 carries with seven touchdowns in 15 games.

Given the presence of veteran Antonio Gibson, and explosive second-round draft choice TreVeyon Henderson, some have speculated whether Stevenson’s role could be reduced in the coming season. Yet, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has routinely indicated that he expects the ex-Sooner to be a notable contributor to the team’s offense this season.

“Everybody has a fresh, clean slate,” Vrabel told reporters Monday morning. “We like to go through those things, and some of that is technique, some of that is the second guy in. One person's got to have the ball in their hand every play offensively, and the rest of those 10 players are going to be responsible for protecting the guy with the ball."

“There were some instances where he [Stevenson] put it on the ground, and there were some instances where the second guy came in,,” Vrabel continued. “We need to eliminate the second guy from coming in by the way that we play and our play demeanor and the way that we finish. There's things that have to change and be better at every position as we move toward the season.”

Known for his penchant for establishing the run to facilitate play action passes, Stevenson is well-equipped to be a strong fit within coordinator Josh McDaniels’ offensive system. He is at his best when blending his physical, powerful running style with his vision and athleticism to make tacklers miss in short-yardage situational runs. He also demonstrates an uncanny knack for utilizing the open field as an available target from both the backfield, as well as the line of scrimmage.

Still, Stevenson remains aware that time is of the essence. With the start of the 2025 season fast approaching, he must exhibit rapid improvement in securing the ball — should he hope to carry on as the team’s top rusher. To Stevenson, it is simply a matter of eliminating his errors.

“I’d say it’s physical rather than mental,” Stevenson said. “Mistakes happen. It’s training camp. Hopefully, I can just get that out of the way right now and go into the season clean.”

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