Rhamondre Stevenson Fantasy Football Outlook (2023)

By Andrew Erickson (FantasyPros), Thu, May 4th 2023, 5:15pm EDT

Damien Harris has been replaced by human meat shield James Robinson on a monopoly money and heavily incentive-based contract making him no lock to make the roster. The low commitment suggests that Rhamondre Stevenson's role in 2023 will be more of what we saw from Weeks 5-16 when he was the RB13 in points per game as the Patriots' lead back. And even when Harris played alongside Stevenson, the big running back finished third in route participation (58%) and targets (82) among running backs.
Recall that Stevenson's strong campaign en route to an RB10 finish was not fueled by touchdowns. Stevenson was one of the worst RBs converting from inside the 10-yard line as he scored just thrice despite 19 goal-line carries. His teammate Harris scored thrice from inside the 10, on just 6 carries. If Stevenson experiences positive TD regression with the red zone role all but his, he will build off a strong sophomore season as PFF's 11th-highest graded rusher. It's his backfield with little competition for touches in an offense that should be substantially better than last season.