In life, things don't always go as planned. That rings especially true in the NFL, with New England Patriots rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson's breakout being living proof of that notion.
Henderson was arguably the league's offseason darling entering his inaugural pro campaign. Every Patriots beat writer was fawning over him, and for good reason; he continued feeding into the hype with one highlight after another. However, that didn't translate to the games that count -- until Rhamondre Stevenson got hurt.
Stevenson had firmly operated as New England's No. 1 tailback before a toe issue that has cost him three games, and perhaps his job. He's assuredly not going to assume the same workload when back in the lineup, let alone remain atop the depth chart. Yet, Henderson probably wouldn't have gotten the chance to usurp him without injury, which seems absurd with the benefit of hindsight, right?
Rhamondre Stevenson's injury turns into happy accident for Patriots, TreVeyon Henderson
For whatever it’s worth, Stevenson has admirably kept the ship as Henderson got his bearings. There’s a night-and-day difference between the latter’s early-season and current forms; his improvement as the season has progressed has been apparent. Developing a young player becomes much more difficult when you don’t have a trusted veteran like the former to carry the load in the interim.
Conversely, the Patriots were still figuring out how to effectively utilize Henderson’s electrifying speed. They’ve put greater emphasis on getting him in space, where his explosiveness and vision have been on full display. He’s seen a 9.8 percent uptick in man/gap concept runs sans Stevenson (h/t Fantasy Points’ data suite [$]), which has evidently paid dividends.
Henderson has been spectacular in three starts, punctuated by a three-touchdown Thursday Night Football performance in the Pats' 27-14 win over the New York Jets. He's amassed 330 scrimmage yards and five scores on a healthy 5.8 yards per touch while logging an 82.1 percent snap share during this stretch. His skill set has brought an element of dynamism that New England's already-potent offense has lacked, particularly in the backfield.
How the Patriots divvy up the usage between Henderson and Stevenson when both are healthy will be fascinating and worth monitoring. It's hard to envision them putting the genie back in the bottle, though they suddenly have an interesting dilemma on their hands.