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RB Rhamondre Stevenson, NE (1 Viewer)
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socrates
Footballguy
Boston
Footballguy
Will be interesting how they use him as he can catch and Blount was pretty much an afterthought in that area.
jtd13
Footballguy
With how they have avoided using Sony Michel in the passing game, I'll bet the pats don't use him much there.
johnnycakes
Footballguy
Boston
Footballguy
One of my pet peeves is how un-versatile a lot of their RBS have been over the years...guys like Ridley, BJGE, Blount, Michel and Harris are used as runners while RBs like Vereen and White have been receivers...
oukurt
Footballguy
He couldn’t have hand picked a better team to land on.socrates said:
I expect him to be moving up draft boards. He will have every opportunity to show his stuff. Was very glad he did not get lost in the shuffle. OU running backs can be overlooked due to the genius of their head coach that allows his QBs and receivers to shine.
I truly believe this is a target you should have in the mid to late second round. Breakout potential should he get a solid look.
JohnnyU
Footballguy
socrates
Footballguy
Yeah, New England is where RBs go to die a slow death. It is the ultimate RBBC system. Stevenson may find a role, but he is unlikely to have any reliable fantasy value, especially as long as Cam Newton takes a significant share of the goal line carries.How quickly people forget
Anarchy99
Footballguy
While there haven't been a ton of 4th round picks (or later) that have been great fantasy wise, across the past 10 years there have been guys that were good to at least serviceable at times . . . Aaron Jones, Chris Carson, Devonta Freeman, Marlon Mack, Lamar Miller, Tarik Cohen, James White, Latavius Murray, Jordan Howard, Jay Ajayi, Alfred Morris, Chris Thompson, Dion Lewis, Bilal Powell, Jamaal Williams, Mike Davis, Nyheim Hines, Myles Gaskin, etc. Austin Ekeler, Phillip Lindsay, and James Robinson were UDFAs.
As far as Stevenson goes, I doubt he plays much this year as Harris, Michel, and White will touch the ball way more than Stevenson will. BB usually uses rookie backs sparingly. Cam will steal most of the short yardage TDs and now they have two red zone TEs to use. Anyone looking to hitch their wagon to Stevenson will have to hope NE moves on from Newton pretty quickly.
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He needs use leverage... then watch out. His feet are unusually nimble for his size.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
How do you think we ID the Aaron Jones, Chris Carsons, Lamr Millers vs the Ito Smiths, Paul Perkins, David Cobbs?
Anarchy99
Footballguy
The quick answer is to try to identify places where people won't be buried on the depth chart, where the primary guys have been underperforming or hurt, or where there has been a regime change in coaching so there might not be any attachment to the backs that were added by other coaches. I realize that is hard to identify and labor intensive. An easier answer is to suggest getting a piece of a backfield that we already know is highly productive and has a good line and hope the lead dog gets dinged.
In a round about way, I guess I am saying that many times the opportunity to get carries may have nothing to do with the skill of the running back. Essentially, stories like Arian Foster (an UDFA) just sort of come out of nowhere. Finding gems like that takes having your ear to the ground daily and keeping tabs on all 32 teams pretty religiously to better identify who will get a shot.
Back when I bathed in fantasy daily, I ended up with guys like Foster and Gates because I really paid attention. I was pretty obsessed and immersed in fantasy and I would do deep dives into daily injury reports to see where there might be a competitive advantage playing someone because key players on defenses might lead to opportunities and better numbers. I had no qualms about picking up a WR on a Sunday when his own team's WR1 was out and the starting CBs for the other team were out . . . I didn't even care who that guy was and I would start him. So to better answer your question, you have to do a lot of research and pay attention.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Yep, makese sense but isn't quite as helpful for my dynasty rookie draft next week lol
Anarchy99
Footballguy
If it makes you feel better, I wasn’t great at rookie drafts (don’t real follow college football) but romped in dynasty leagues. Made a living off of scooping up players that other owners cut and by scouring the waiver wire.
If I have time I will peruse the RB situations for the rookies to see if anything jumps out at me.
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Mister CIA
Footballguy
I took him at 2.11 in PPR, where Dyami Brown, Kenneth Gainwell, and Chuba Hubbard immediately followed. My expectations are not high for 2021, but hopefully he impresses Belichick. If he does, I chose wisely.
JohnnyU
Footballguy
If Michel gets cut he will have value. I would prefer both Gainwell and Hubbard over him however.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
Mister CIA
Footballguy
Yeah, I have no expectations that Michel will get cut, and I think he's a borderline buy at this moment, but I'm allowing myself to feel optimistic that Stevenson will become FF starting material.
Catbird
Footballguy
If my re-check is correct, Stevenson ran for well over 10 Yards Per Carry in High School, over 9.5 YPC in 2 years at Cerritos Community College in LA and then 7.2 YPC at Oklahoma over a junior year where as a new transfer he had to fight for use and a senior year he missed half of due to pot use. Lincoln Riley says he manned up and took full responsibility for the infraction, apologized to the team and is one of Riley's favorite players ever. Then, in his final game Cotton Bowl game against Florida, Rhamondre ran for another 10.2 YPC and 189 yards. As several have noted, he has great footwork for a big man. His quality receiving skills are gravy for this cheap 2nd/3rd rounder (even under Belicheck).
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The Man With No Name
Footballguy
Not expecting much this year. But Stevenson, Harris and Taylor are the only NE rb's signed for 2022 (If I checked it right).
Anarchy99
Footballguy
Yes, you are correct that those are the only three players currently signed in NE . . . but BB has brought back guys many times (recently Burkhead, Bolden, and White).
Yes, NE declined the 5th year option on Michel recently, but that doesn't mean they don't want him on the roster. It just means they don't want to pay him almost $5 million (and guaranteed on top of it). I suspect they will do what they do for a lot of players. Let Michel see what is available in free agency and then come back if the demand for his services is tepid. I expect that he won't have a lot of suitors as an oft-injured, non-passing catching, non-goal line back. I think NE would consider re-signing him for a lot less than the 5th year option number. I would guess the chances of Michel being on the roster next year is probably 50/50.
I also wouldn't rule out NE adding someone in the draft or taking on a guy that was jettisoned from another franchise a year from now. Bottom line, NE doesn't exactly go crazy trying to invest heavily at the RB position, and they similarly don't seem all that interested in having a multi-purpose back getting 2,000 YFS. They seem content to spread the workload among multiple players.
rockaction
Footballguy
You know what though? (And everything you're saying is true.) I think they may need to switch up without Brady there. Brady papered over so many offensive problems on that team that it was crazy. The big year of 2007 was in the prime spot of years where he had greatness around him to work with. But this carousel of backs and the carousel of signing vets at the WR position with no real draft capital invested has to bite them.
We're going to see something soon, in my opinion. We've already seen who is more important and composed in temperament, Belichick or Brady (witness Bill going ape#### on that phone against Buffalo last year when Buffalo was just starching the Pats), and we're going to see if Tim Tebow's running mate Josh McDaniels is all he's cracked up to be or not. I'm not sanguine about their chances unless they make changes, honestly, and I think last year might have been bad enough for Bill to do just that. So we may see new stuff. Of course, they can tread water all they want doing it the old way, and they may just do that, but I think the winds are blowing just a tad bit in the other direction. Bill couldn't have liked what he saw last year.
bicycle_seat_sniffer
Smells like chicken
just drafted him at 3.09. in dyno rookie draft...why not.
foxco
Footballguy
Anarchy99
Footballguy
I'm a bit skeptical about the talk about Stevenson as a receiver. That's because I am skeptical of any RB the Pats have rolled out as their early down back.
Here are the college numbers in terms of receptions per game once these guys earned a role in the offense at their respective schools:
Michel - 1.36 receptions per game
Stevenson - 1.15 (included junior college numbers)
Harris - 0.96
Ridley - 0.85
Green-Ellis - 0.83
Blount - 0.60
Maroney - 0.58
NE hasn't ever really tried all that hard to get any of these guys to catch passes. That's probably because they have usually rostered a pass catching specialist at running back. Maybe Stevenson can catch . . . but I am guessing so could some of these other backs (specifically Michel and Harris). I would guess the Pats wouldn't throw much to Stevenson even if he were to carve out some snaps this year or next.
Here are the college numbers in terms of receptions per game once these guys earned a role in the offense at their respective schools:
Michel - 1.36 receptions per game
Stevenson - 1.15 (included junior college numbers)
Harris - 0.96
Ridley - 0.85
Green-Ellis - 0.83
Blount - 0.60
Maroney - 0.58
NE hasn't ever really tried all that hard to get any of these guys to catch passes. That's probably because they have usually rostered a pass catching specialist at running back. Maybe Stevenson can catch . . . but I am guessing so could some of these other backs (specifically Michel and Harris). I would guess the Pats wouldn't throw much to Stevenson even if he were to carve out some snaps this year or next.
DirtyCashDylan
Footballguy
He caught 18 passes in 6 games for a 11.7 average gain this past season that he was suspended the beginning of the season. I'm an OU fan and dude can catch and dude can ball and would've been the starter if Trey Sermon was still there. Don't love the landing spot but I took him late 2nd anyway.
jtd13
Footballguy
I don't doubt Stevenson CAN catch. But Sony and Harris were considered good receiving back coming into the league too. They've been pretty much ignored in that area on the pats. I think that's the point anarchy was making.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
Effectively this. Several of the NE fans have taken issue with the NE strategy for RB's, as they really haven't had a dual threat back in the BB era. The closest was probably Kevin Faulk, but he wasn't much of a runner and they converted him to a third down / receiving back. I suppose Dion Lewis was another candidate, but he had injury issues and didn't play for them that long. They have utilized the likes of Woodhead, Vereen, and White as a patch catcher out of the backfield, but the main ball carrier has been mostly an after thought in the passing game . . . which makes scheming on defense a lot easier.
jtd13
Footballguy
I remember when Michel was drafted, a lot of people were saying he would be Dion Lewis 2.0 in that offense. Then they turned around and used him like Blount.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
Preaching to the choir. For years, a bunch of the Pats fans here have been lamenting that the Pats system and philosophy is what is holding back the ground and pound backs (who likely are perfectly capable of catching a swing pass or a dump off). Why the Pats have elected not to use them that way is one of life's great mysteries.
To further muddy the waters, I read an article the other day that included an interview with the NE RB coach, who said they expect JJ Taylor to carve out a role this year and he is explosive, dynamic, has great hands, is very elusive, blah, blah, blah. He was compared to James White.
So to summarize what we already know, NE is most likely going to do what they always do . . . which is spread the wealth to multiple guys and that will kill the fantasy value of all of them. And having Cam Newton as essentially their RB 1A and goal line back makes them all even less valuable (if that is even possible).
On a side note, I am hearing that Sony Michel is part of the trade offer to the Falcons to try to land Julio Jones. That certainly would help Stevenson a little bit as that would be one less guy in the mix. But I don't see the Pats ending up with Jones, but I figured I would throw that out there.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
Just a friendly reminder that pretty much every back that comes to New England gets the same press . . . much better pass-catching ability than expected, not one-dimensional, shown flashes running routes in camp, could play a role in the passing game, etc., etc., etc. Yet the Pats have isolated their backs over the years into either runners or pass catchers and hardly any have done both. In the past 15 years, only one RB had 100 carries and 20 receptions in the same season (Lewis with 180/32).
Biabreakable
Footballguy
I haven't watched him at all yet and these cut ups not really enough for me to have much of an opinion yet.
I didnt see him doing anything special to force missed tackles in those clips though. I did laugh at the safety who just falls down in front of him. I didnt get past the oh my gawd college defensive players are bad stage watching that. Not in a serious enough mood right now I guess.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
You watch the players and evaluate their metrics.
You make the best call you can and try to be honest with yourself when doing it.
I would say I identified Aaron Jones as a player who could be good before he proved it. He exceeded my expectations. I think part of his success is just how good the Green Bay offense is, largely because of Rodgers.
I never really dug Chis Carson but I did listen to you guys who did and I became fond of the yeti nick name for him but I dont think I have ever had him on any of my teams. He isn't my kind of RB. Never dug Lamar Miller either but he did have one year that had me changing my mind.
I did like Ito Smith a bit but never really expected much from him.
I had many conversations with bostonfred about Paul Perkins and why I did not think he would be a starting RB.
David Cobb was a total enigma to me why some people thought he was any good. He wasnt.
I guess what I am trying to say is each player is unique and you just have to look at each of them as such and try to determine some sense of their talent level should they get the opportunity.
Biabreakable
Footballguy
Yeah the reasoning for taking Michel as high as they did was because he was supposed to be a do it all RB and one of the plus things about him was his ability as a receiver.
Similar to Josh Jacobs. Limited use in time share in college but in that time share both stood out as receiving options, so in my view that is why they were selected as high as they were.
However neither of them have been used much as receivers and because of that it seems to me that they were drafted too high. A team could get a guy to run the ball for them with a later pick if thats all they wanted the guy to do.
barackdhouse
Footballguy
Catbird
Footballguy
At some point fairly quickly in a rookie draft the RBs who have the resume and obvious talent to be an NFL starter are gone. At that point you hopefully have starters and at least 1 or 2 solid or high potential developing backups/. The question Rhamondre raises is what else do you want to draft when everything (4th round NFL draft or later?) has warts. We are typically picking from guys who seem to have all around talent who never showed much in college, 3rd down backs who may fill that role immediately, very lightweight runners who performed well in college or guys with skills that couldn't show how good due to injuries. Stevenson's warts include a long (although very productive) wander through college, little time as a 3 down lead back, a marijuana bust and suspension and being picked by the Pats. His skills, though, are probably the best suited to a 3 down back of anyone left after the sure 3, Sermon and maybe Carter. I am generally a talent over situation guy when it comes to backups. This guy will probably just be a Blount-esque RBBC member - if he even gets to the top of that sub-group - but he has 2 things: he has the range of skills to be an NFL 3 down back and, as outlined by Rockaction, without Brady and with Cam not long for anything, BB may be more open to the value of not letting the defense know on every play whether you are going to pass or run. If not, maybe he just becomes Blount and a guy you can stick in to cover for injuries and byes. Not a terrible return for a 3rd round pick.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Easy call. He probably should going in the late 2nd/early 3rd depending on format.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
Again, not to sound like a broken record, but the narrative that Michel is in danger of making the roster is definitely NOT something that Evan Lazar has promoted, said, or implied . . . not even a little bit. I follow him religiously, and he hasn't waivered at all about Michel making the roster and as far as I can tell he thinks Michel will share early down work with Harris.
I wish people would just post the actual news items and leave off the Rotoworld / Sports Edge editorializing as many times it is not accurate (and at best their comments are misleading).
Stevenson was said to struggle in OTAs / minicamp, then had an injury apparently leftover from college, and BB rarely gives rookie RBs an impact role. So once again, I call shenanigans on everything beyond Stevenson came off the NFI list.
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