New England football is usually about precision. For twenty years, it was a machine. But let’s be real—the 2024 season was anything but a well-oiled machine. It was more like a gritty, mud-caked struggle in the trenches. If you watched the patriots running backs 2024 campaign, you saw a group of guys trying to find an identity while the franchise literally hit the reset button around them.
It wasn't pretty. Honestly, it was frustrating at times. You had a new offensive coordinator in Alex Van Pelt trying to install a zone-blocking scheme, a rotating door at offensive line, and a quarterback room in transition. But through the fog of a 4-13 season, the backfield actually told the most honest story of where this team was headed.
Rhamondre Stevenson: The Workhorse in Chains
Rhamondre Stevenson entered the year as the undisputed "guy." He got the contract extension. He had the pedigree. But man, the environment didn't do him any favors.
Stevenson finished the 2024 regular season with 801 rushing yards on 207 carries. That’s a 3.9 average. If you just look at the box score, you might think he lost a step. You’d be wrong. Watching the film, you saw a back who was often dodging a defender three yards behind the line of scrimmage. He was a bruising force that stayed upright through sheer will.
He wasn't just a runner, though. He remained a safety valve for Jacoby Brissett and eventually Drake Maye, hauling in 33 catches. The problem? Fumbles. They haunted him early in the year, particularly that stretch where he coughed it up in four straight games. It got so bad he actually lost his starting spot for a minute to Antonio Gibson.
That was a wake-up call. He eventually settled down, but it highlighted a weird lack of focus in an offense that was already operating on a razor-thin margin for error.
The Antonio Gibson Experiment
When the Patriots signed Antonio Gibson away from Washington, the "draft Twitter" crowd was hyped. He was supposed to be the "lightning" to Stevenson’s "thunder." A converted wide receiver with home-run speed? Perfect for Van Pelt’s new system.
Gibson’s season was a bit of a rollercoaster. He ended up with 538 rushing yards, averaging a much healthier 4.5 yards per carry. He looked explosive. In Week 2 against Seattle, he ripped off a 45-yarder that made everyone think he was about to take over the backfield.
But then, the injury bug bit. Hard.
Later in the year, as we moved into the 2025 transition, we saw how fragile that depth was. But in the context of 2024, Gibson provided the only real "chunk play" threat the team had for months. He was basically the only guy who could turn a dead-end play into a 15-yard gain by just outrunning a linebacker to the edge.
Why the 2024 Run Game Felt Broken
You can't talk about the patriots running backs 2024 without talking about the guys in front of them. The offensive line was, frankly, a mess for the first half of the year.
- Injuries: David Andrews, the heart of the team, went down.
- Instability: They started 11 different combinations of linemen.
- Scheme Change: Moving from a gap-heavy system to a wide-zone system is like asking a classical pianist to play jazz overnight.
Because the line couldn't find its footing, the running backs were constantly forced into "save the play" mode. They ranked near the bottom of the league in run-blocking win rate for a significant portion of the year. When your center is getting pushed back into your lap at the handoff, it doesn't matter if you're Rhamondre Stevenson or prime Barry Sanders. You’re going nowhere.
The Supporting Cast: Hasty and the Rest
JaMycal Hasty was the guy nobody talked about, but he was always there. He appeared in 15 games. His stats won't wow you—69 yards on 20 carries—but he caught a touchdown from Drake Maye in London that showed why they kept him around. He was a reliable third-down blocker and a special teams contributor.
Then you had Terrell Jennings, the undrafted rookie who popped up late. He was a "Vrabel guy" (if we look ahead to the coaching shifts) or just a high-effort body who showed some juice when the veterans were banged up.
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What We Learned (The Hard Way)
The 2024 season taught us that the Patriots can't just "tough" their way to a winning run game anymore. The lack of explosive depth behind Stevenson and Gibson was glaring. When one went down, the offense completely stalled.
There’s also the Drake Maye factor. Once the rookie took over, the running lanes changed. Defenses had to respect the QB's legs, which actually opened up some space for Stevenson late in the year.
Actionable Insights for the Future
If you're looking at this backfield moving forward, here is what actually matters:
1. Fix the Interior: The success of these backs is 100% tied to center and guard stability. Without a healthy David Andrews or a high-level replacement, the zone-run scheme is dead on arrival.
2. Ball Security is Job Security: Stevenson is an elite talent, but the fumbles in 2024 proved that even a star can be benched in New England if they can't keep the rock.
3. The "Third Back" Matters: The Patriots need a dedicated pass-catching back who can pass-protect. Hasty did his best, but they need a true James White-type successor to help a young quarterback like Maye.
4. Scheme Continuity: They need to stick with one philosophy. Constant changes in blocking assignments are what led to the stagnant 3.9 average we saw throughout much of the 2024 campaign.
The 2024 season was a bridge. It was a bridge made of wood and rope, swinging over a canyon, but it got them to the other side. The running backs were the ones carrying the heavy load across that bridge, taking hits so the rest of the team could eventually learn how to walk.
To see how this backfield evolves, watch the first three rounds of the next draft. If the Patriots don't take an offensive lineman or a high-upside speed back early, expect more of the same "three yards and a cloud of dust" football we saw in 2024. Success starts with the trench-work and ends with Stevenson staying healthy for 17 games.