The New England Patriots have had a lot of success in the last 20 years.
Led by quarterback Tom Brady, a strong defense and head coach Bill Belichick, the team has won six Lombardi Trophies since 2001. However, there has been one constant in all of that success — the lack of a true franchise running back.
During the Brady years, the Patriots made a living on getting excellent production from unexpected contributors. Players like Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman and Ben Watson had very productive stints in New England. While all of those guys are great players, no one would consider them franchise-level talents. Edelman’s best season in the NFL was in 2019, when he had over 1,000 yards and six touchdowns.
While that is solid production, it is nothing special. The team received that same production from their running backs of the last 20 years, even though none of them were franchise-level talents.
This article will break down who those running backs were, how they fared in New England, and why the team hasn’t had an RB1 in a long while.
The 2000s
In 2001, the year the Patriots bested the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, their primary back was Antowain Smith. A solid do-it-all back, he amassed 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns on 287 carries in 2001, which was the best year of his career. After the 2002 season, though, Smith lost his starting role, as he was an aging veteran at 31 years old.
The Patriots replaced him by trading for Corey Dillon in 2004. Dillon, a three-time Pro Bowler with the Cincinnati Bengals, is a rare exception to this article. In his first season with the team, he carried the ball 345 times for 1,635 yards and 12 touchdowns. In his three seasons with the Patriots, he had nearly as many touchdowns as he did in seven with the Bengals, falling short by just seven scores.
After Dillon left the Patriots, they shuffled through a variety of underwhelming backs to close out the 2000s decade, including Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris and BenJarvus Green-Ellis. The latter was the only one of those three to rush for 1,000 yards in a season with New England in 2010.
The 2010s
After a couple of successful seasons out of third-rounder Stevan Ridley, who rushed for over 1,200 yards in 2012, the team tried a different approach.
The Patriots adopted the approach of running back by committee before it was cool, with guys like Rex Burkhead, Shane Vereen, Dion Lewis and Brandon Bolden consistently getting snaps on offense behind LeGarrette Blount. Blount, a six-foot, 250-pound bruiser, was easily the most productive of those names above, rushing for over 1,000 yards while leading the league in touchdowns in 2016.
The 2020s
In the years since Blount’s departure, the Patriots have found modest success with Rhamondre Stevenson. A larger back at 230 pounds, Stevenson is also an excellent receiver out of the backfield, with nearly 1,000 receiving yards in his four-year career thus far.
In the 2025 NFL Draft, the Patriots invested in the offensive line with LSU’s Will Campbell, and in the second round selected Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson. One of the most explosive running backs in college football last season with a conference high 7.1 yards per carry, Henderson will be an instant contender for a top role in the Patriots offense.
Praised for his ball security, elite pass-blocking ability and agility, Henderson has the potential to be the top guy for New England in the future.
Henderson also possesses elite hands and concentration, another aspect of his game that he was praised for in college. In his four years at Ohio State, Henderson recorded over 800 receiving yards and six touchdowns, showcasing his three-down ability.
Henderson will likely start the season splitting time with Stevenson, however, if he shows a true three-down ability, and elite return skills, he has the chance to be the clear top back by the end of the season.
We will soon find out just how much of a contributor Henderson will be for the Patriots, and if all goes right, there will have found their true RB1, something they have been lacking for nearly two decades.
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