The NFL's great teams are built on top-tier talent across the field. If your team has enough of them, they can contend with a top quarterback. If not, they won't. Fortunately, the New England Patriots have Drake Maye and other top players on the roster.
Fansided's Wynston Wilcox has predicted five NFL backs who he thinks "will crack ESPN's Top 10 rankings" by 2027. The Patriot on his list is dynamic second-year running back TreVeyon Henderson.
The others in the top 5 are Quinshon Judkins of the Cleveland Browns, Cam Skattebo of the New York Giants, Ashton Jeanty of the Las Vegas Raiders, and David Montgomery of the Houston Texans.
That's elite company, but No. 2 on the list after Judkins is the Patriots' Henderson. And that's no surprise. Coupled with Rhamondre Stevenson in 2025, they were among the NFL's best running back tandems.
TreVeyon Henderson emerged after the Patriots gave him a chance
The Patriots invested heavily in Henderson in the 2025 draft. As a second-round pick, a lot was expected. He began delivering on the very first ball he ever touched in a preseason game. He took it to the house.
Henderson delivered on that investment immediately, and the yield increased steadily. He was the team's most explosive back since Dion Lewis from 2015 to 2017. That kick return was a harbinger of much more to come.
Wilcox explains Henderson's inclusion on this elite list.
"There's something about these Ohio State running backs from the 2025 national championship team, because both Judkins and Henderson enter the year on seriously promising trajectories. Henderson should force New England to make him the featured back of this offense after the rookie season he had.
He was an explosive kickoff returner and even more dangerous at the line of scrimmage, rushing for nearly 1,000 yards as a rookie while serving as the perfect complement to Drake Maye...He’s a weapon both as a running back and a receiver out of the backfield."
Henderson's 2025 was actually a tale of two seasons. In the first half, he was benched by a befuddled offensive coaching staff that believed his relative lack of blocking skills warranted keeping him on the bench. When the coaches woke up to what the rest of Patriot Nation knew- that his forte was his explosive big-play running ability- his season changed dramatically for the better.
Once given his opportunity, the rookie Henderson did what he does best - exploded. He wound up with 911 yards on the ground, a 5.1-yard-per-carry average, and nine touchdowns. Four of those went for over 50 yards, setting a single-season team record. He also caught 35 passes for 221 yards and another touchdown.
Second-year running back Henderson is a threat to go all the way every time he touches the ball. Now that his coaches have trashed the blocking foolishness, he should, as Wilcox suggests, rise to the very top echelon of NFL backs. You can't teach what Henderson possesses: speed and unique explosiveness. They are attributes that pay off big-time for an NFL offense.
One thing that will help is if he has a better blocking offensive line this season. He had little room to run in 2025 but still excelled. If the O-line can actually open some holes in 2026, expect 1,250-plus yards, maybe 40 catches for another 400+ yards through the air, along with a bunch of touchdowns on big plays.
After all, that's what TreVeyon Henderson does.
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