Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson took advantage of his team's upset victory at Cincinnati with big production on the ground. He rushed 25 times for 120 yards (4.5 per carry) and the team's lone TD. Stevenson also played nearly four times as many snaps as No. 2 RB Antonio Gibson: 51-13, according to Pro Football Focus. Stevenson handled 78% of Patriots RB carries for the game and all three backfield targets. (He caught all three for just 6 yards.)
Gibson hit the day questionable after a hip issue limited his Thursday and Friday practices. That might have factored into the light playing time for a guy New England signed to a three-year deal in free agency.
Of course, they later extended Stevenson at $9 million per year, indicating the intent to have him control the backfield work.
We're betting Gibson will start to take some of the receiving going forward, especially when the Patriots play from behind.
Even though the Patriots won unexpectedly, they did so while scoring just 16 points and facing a Bengals offense down Tee Higgins and with Ja'Marr Chase just off a summer-long hold-in. And Cincinnati sported a bottom-half defense in 2023.
The workload and success for Stevenson are undeniably good news for him. But don't let the victory convince you the market was wrong about the Patriots on whole.
We'll be watching Gibson's health in practice ahead of a Week 2 game against the Seahawks, as Seattle's defensive performance today against Denver.
Stevenson could wind up a solid-to-good Week 2 DFS play -- and likely will land inside the top 20 RBs in our Week 2 rankings.
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