Patriots insider reveals a lot of potential issues with future of backfield

The Patriots’ could have a lot of issues to sort out with their backfield after the 2020 season.

The Patriots seemed to have found their running back of the future in Damien Harris, who has three 100-yard games under his belt and currently ranks seventh in the NFL in both rushing yards per game (71.2) and yards per attempt (5.1).

Those are pretty impressive numbers considering that Harris started the year on injured reserve after undergoing hand surgery during training camp and has received more than 15 carries in just four games this season.

However, as clear as it is that Harris has become the undisputed No. 1 RB, the Patriots also have a notorious reputation for rotating their backfield, and fans shouldn’t expect them to just forfeit that formula and feed him 25 touches per game moving forward.

This could present problems for the Patriots beyond 2020, and insider Doug Kyed touched on some of them in his latest mailbag column for NESN.

In a nutshell, Sony Michel will be available to spell Harris when he gets fatigued on long drives, but if we learned anything from Sunday’s win over the Chargers — when Michel had an increased role on special teams — it’s that the coaching staff would like to avoid giving him substantial carries if possible.

If that doesn’t prove the Patriots aren’t going to pick up the fifth-year option on Michel’s rookie contract, which is set to expire after next season, then nothing does. This, in theory, would leave veteran James White as the only viable backup option, but he’s set to hit free agency in March.

As unlikely as it is that the Patriots will let him walk, there’s also no guarantee that he returns if other potential suitors are willing to offer him more financial security. Throw in the fact that undrafted rookie JJ Taylor probably won’t be ready to become the full-time third-down back, and the Patriots’ backfield could be incredibly thin in 2021.

Did we mention that the Patriots are also highly unlikely to bring back Rex Burkhead, who will turn 31 by next training camp, after he went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 11? For the sake of argument, let’s say that both him and White leave in free agency. That’s 821 yards from scrimmage and eight touchdowns worth of production they would be losing.

We have ample conviction in Harris (probably more than most), but we’d be lying if we said we aren’t concerned about what the Patriots’ backfield will look like behind him next year.

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