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Fantasy football owners had one heck of a time trying to figure out the New England Patriots‘ backfield with TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson in 2025. Sadly for my fantasy football brothers and sisters out there, it doesn’t look like that’s going to change in 2026. The Athletic’s Chad Graff shared his view on how things will shake out between Henderson and Stevenson this coming seaso. He says it’ll be a near 50-50 split. “As TreVeyon Henderson enters his second season, it looks like he’ll share the backfield with Rhamondre Stevenson pretty evenly,” Graff said. MORE: Cam Ward & 5 post-hype fantasy sleepers who could break out Graff cites Stevenson’s blocking ability as a reason he’s going to stay heavily involved. But the Patriots beat writer goes on to say that Henderson could be in line for second- and third-down work, with the latter dependent on how the second-year back blocks. “The Patriots want to take advantage of Henderson’s big-play ability, but they believe in Stevenson a bit more to get what is blocked in front of him,” Graff said. MORE: 4 NFL injuries that will ruin your 2026 fantasy football season “So the guess is that Stevenson will be in for short-yardage situations and early downs, and that Henderson may check in for second- and third-and-long situations as long as his pass blocking holds up,” Graff added. Based on how Graff views the Patriots’ belief in Stevenson’s blocking, one would assume he would be getting the third-down work in obvious passing situations and Henderson would get more early-down work. Regardless, fantasy owners invested in either player face a less-than-ideal situation. Glass-half-full outlook One positive about the Patriots’ running back situation is Henderson and Stevenson could still see a sufficient amount of work on a weekly basis. In 2025, the Patriots had the sixth-most rushing attempts in the NFL, so there should still be ample opportunities for both players despite each lacking bell-cow workloads. Henderson showed himself to be one of the more explosive players in the NFL last season, so he can have a fine fantasy showing without much work. MORE: Fantasy football superflex rankings: When to draft a second QB Graff’s note about Stevenson taking on short-yardage situations means he should get a good amount of goal-line work, which could lead to more touchdowns and the potential for points in bunches, even without a ton of carries. All that said, the hot-hand approach could lead to no shortage of up-and-down weeks for both players. If you’re expecting one back to clearly pull away as the RB1 in this backfield during the season, you’re likely expecting too much. — Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories with The Big Lead Newsletter —