DRBR: New England Patriots

The New England Patriots backfield is going to be super interesting this year. Now, I don't think Rhamondre Stevenson is going to lose his starter role. I think Antonio Gibson is going to be relegated to being more of a supplemental back, being used in the passing game and spelling Rhamondre Stevenson. Stevenson's contract screams starter money. They wouldn't be signing him to have him be a true 50/50 split with Antonio Gibson, but both of their dynamic scores absolutely leave a little bit of intrigue into what this season could end up bringing.

Now, Rhamondre Stevenson's scores are a little bit lower than what we saw a couple of years ago, and a lot of that had to do with a really, really slow start to the season. I mean, there's no secret about it—the New England Patriots were really bad on offense last year, and Stevenson struggled to begin the year. Now, halfway through the season, he found his footing, and he really started to take off before being injured. Because he was so good in those games, his DRBR scores were able to improve significantly towards the end of his season.

Antonio Gibson has some truly good DRBR scores, though. He significantly outperformed Stevenson last year in yards after contact and tackles avoided per attempt, and Washington's offense wasn't a whole lot better than what New England's was either. So, kudos to Antonio Gibson. His overall score is much lower, though, because he didn't receive nearly that type of volume with Brian Robinson taking over.

So, as of right now, Rhamondre Stevenson, to me, is a super solid RB2. I think his upside is going to teeter on that 11, 12, 13, 14 area—maybe a low-end RB1, maybe a high-end RB2—and his floor is probably going to put him towards maybe a little bit lower RB2 status. As long as we don't overdraft Rhamondre Stevenson, you're not going to be upset with that draft pick. All of his scores show us that the floor of an RB2 level is absolutely within his range of outcomes.

Now, for Antonio Gibson, he's going to be a very interesting flex option, and maybe not with what he can do on the ground, but what he could do in the passing game. There is a chance that Antonio Gibson could end up being a guy this season that we look at as a flex option because he's getting a lot of dump-off passes from whoever the quarterback ends up being, whether it's Jacoby Brissett or whether Drake Maye ends up starting.

So, keep an eye on Antonio Gibson. Am I drafting him right away? Probably not, but he could end up being a really good waiver wire pickup at some point in time. If you're in a PPR league, though, and you have really, really deep benches, take a shot on Antonio Gibson. He definitely could be a guy that, with his passing work alone, based on these dynamic scores, could end up giving us some flex appeal during the year.