Fantasy Football Player Notes

Damien Harris is now with the Buffalo Bills (replaced by James Robinson) which suggests that Rhamondre Stevenson's role/production in 2023 will be more of what we saw from Weeks 5-16 (RB13 in points per game) when Harris was either not active or not 100% when playing. Even when Harris played alongside Stevenson, the Patriots RB finished third in route participation (58%) and targets (82) among running backs. And remember Stevenson's strong 2022 campaign en route to an RB10 finish was not fueled by touchdowns. In fact, 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, he undoubtedly will build off a strong sophomore season. Fantasy managers should be rejoiced by the swap from Harris to Robinson after the latter was unwanted by two different teams and was benched in favor of an undrafted free agent Zonovan Knight with the Jets. Stevenson will be fine. And J-Rob likely prevents the Patriots from adding anybody else better. In the worst case, from the Stevenson perspective, Robinson operates in a Harris role. But recall that Stevenson was hardly scoring TDs anyway last season and still finished as a fantasy RB1.

James Robinson was unwanted by two different teams and was benched in favor of an undrafted free agent Zonovan Knight with the Jets. It's still Rhamondre Stevenson's backfield. And J-Rob likely prevents the Patriots from adding anybody else better. In the best case, from the Robinson perspective, the former Jet operates in a Damien Harris role.

But Robinson's contract is also very incentive-based, meaning he has to really earn his playing time. It's not guaranteed he sniffs the field, even as Stevenson's primary backup, if he can't recapture his pre-torn Achilles form.