New England Patriots' Biggest Breakout Candidate for 2024 Revealed

Who on the New England Patriots will put the league on notice next season?

Jun 10, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson (38) walks to the practice fields for minicamp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

The outlook for the New England Patriots in 2024 isn't the brightest, but that doesn't mean this roster won't have a few stars that shine through another rebuilding season.

New England has a few franchise building blocks they've established on both sides of the ball in recent years, allowing this squad to have a few emerging stars to hang their hat on amid their latest troubles in the league standings.

Among those impact players to watch for the coming season is fourth-year running back Rhamondre Stevenson. In a recent Sports Illustrated roundtable, I broke down who I viewed as the biggest name to watch as a potential breakout candidate, with Stevenson ultimately being my pick:

"The Patriots back could be primed for a massive fourth year in New England. Besides the signing of Antonio Gibson this offseason, there’s not much competition sitting next to him in this backfield. Combine that with the addition of former Browns OC Alex Van Pelt to help aid this rushing offense, and Stevenson should expect to see a ton of touches in 2024."

- Me

The stage is set for Stevenson to burst onto the scene with a massive role in New England. He's fresh off putting pen to paper on a four-year contract to keep him in town for the foreseeable future, and we should expect OC Alex Van Pelt to utilize him to every bit of his ability.

Van Pelt was at the helm of the Cleveland Browns for the past four seasons, and if he's showed out one trait through his time there, it proved that his offenses loved to run the football.

Over the previous four seasons with Van Pelt as OC, the Browns ranked at least top ten in rushing attempts, and when Nick Chubb's been healthy (2020-2023), Cleveland has consistently come within the top seven for rushing yards and touchdowns. When his backfields are healthy, his RBs get a lot of work on the ground.

It's the perfect storm for Stevenson to get back on track after an up-and-down and injury-riddled 2023, where he saw a sharp decrease in yards per attempt, and also had an RB room occupied by Ezekiel Elliott to eat some extra touches.

Van Pelt could easily hand the keys to the 26-year-old to command this backfield as a bell-cow for next season and get him back to a 1,000-yard season like we saw in 2022.

The big question for Stevenson will be heavily dependent on how this offensive line can hold up as we navigate through the coming year. Mike Onwenu was a significant re-signing that should help iron out the troubles up front, but without an established left tackle, and Cole Strange likely set to hit IR, the protection could have some hurdles to jump early on.

If the front five can hold together for Stevenson in the run game, expect the 2021 fourth-round pick to be in for a big time campaign this season,

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