Which Underrated Patriots Prospect Has Brightest Future?

Rhamondre Stevenson is projected for a bigger role in his second season with the Patriots.

The New England Patriots have received ample criticism about their struggles in the NFL Draft and their difficulties about finding the next superstars. While they have been able to find some diamonds in the rough, the team’s track record as of late has been spotty.

However, the 2021 draft class, especially one young prospect, looks to change that narrative.

ESPN recently ranked the top 25 young prospects around the league with the following criteria:

- Third round selection or later from in-between 2019-2021

- Fewer that 500 career snaps (300 for running backs)

- Yet to sign a contract extension

- Younger that 26 years old as of Sept. 1, 2022

So did any Patriots crack the list?

The Football Outsiders had running back Rhamondre Stevenson ranked third on the annual list, citing the following reasons:

“Checking in with the No. 3 success rate in the NFL (59%) in his rookie season, Stevenson was a change-up behind last year's No. 1 overall prospect Damien Harris. It was clear that Stevenson had some juice even if the fantasy football tastemakers and preseason watchers were a little ahead of their skis when they anointed him as someone who could make a difference in 2021. Stevenson finished in the top 20 in both rushing DVOA and rushing DYAR. He also had 0.53 rushing yards over expectation per NFL's Next Gen Stats, a top-10 figure in the NFL. And he was behind Harris in all three categories.”

“Harris remains ahead of Stevenson on the depth chart heading into 2022. That doesn't mean we can rule out Stevenson taking a bigger share of the backfield. With James White re-signed to play third-down back and rookie Pierre Strong Jr. behind him in that role, Stevenson is going to have to beat out Harris to get more than a share of the lead role in this backfield. He has the talent to make that happen, but some patience might be warranted on any kind of impending breakout just because of the competition.”

Stevenson had a solid rookie season last year, rushing for over 600 yards and five touchdowns. At training camp so far, the second-year back has even gotten some first-team reps in competitive drills.

The only two players ranked higher than the former Oklahoma Sooner are Chargers wide receiver Josh Palmer and Jaguars safety Andre Cisco. 

With Damien Harris entering a contract year, the running back of the future might already be here for New England.