Pats Draft Rd.4/120: RB Rhamondre Stevenson
- Thread starter tims4wins
- Start date
I'm in love, guys.
P.S. It's assumed Bolden will make the team but hope it's not at the expense at Taylor.
P.S. It's assumed Bolden will make the team but hope it's not at the expense at Taylor.
Harris, Sony, and Taylor all ran well.
Taylor had the move of the night with his insane spin move.
And yet, In going to have sexy dreams tonight about Stevenson.
Taylor had the move of the night with his insane spin move.
And yet, In going to have sexy dreams tonight about Stevenson.
I'm so impressed that Dodge never has negative yardage. Is this the year the streak of non-1st round RB getting red-shirted ends?
Haha, thank you. So as per your request, I came up with:
-Dodge Rham…where every drive ends with a score.
-If he gets a big hit, he literally trucks
Apparently, Newton calls him "Eddie Lacy":
View: https://youtu.be/S4ACPZSgEOg
I prefer @Brand Name's heck of a lot more. Plus, Dodge is 227 lbs at 6' while Lacy was 245/250 lbs at 5'11".
View: https://youtu.be/S4ACPZSgEOg
I prefer @Brand Name's heck of a lot more. Plus, Dodge is 227 lbs at 6' while Lacy was 245/250 lbs at 5'11".
[media]
View: https://twitter.com/NextGenStats/status/1427688541987823617?s=09
[/media]
Rhamondre is at 4. I talked here or elsewhere about how his GPS tracking suggested he was much faster than his 40 time (Matt Waldman alluded to that). Now there might be a bias that only guys who break off a long run get a chance to get to top speed but look at the company he is in. Those other guys can fly and apparently so can our big boy.
View: https://twitter.com/NextGenStats/status/1427688541987823617?s=09
[/media]
Rhamondre is at 4. I talked here or elsewhere about how his GPS tracking suggested he was much faster than his 40 time (Matt Waldman alluded to that). Now there might be a bias that only guys who break off a long run get a chance to get to top speed but look at the company he is in. Those other guys can fly and apparently so can our big boy.
If momentum = velocity * mass, Rhamondre would not be a welcome sight to guys in the secondary...
Poor Fields will get a lot of steps in this year as a Bears QB. Good that he has wheels. Hope he has a FitBit.
Points ranks per FR 2020-2014: 22, 29, 9, 29, 28, 23, 23.
Dodge has some pretty good top end speed.
Points ranks per FR 2020-2014: 22, 29, 9, 29, 28, 23, 23.
Dodge has some pretty good top end speed.
If you were counting from April, back when you made this post, you were only off by 8 months.
But re-reading the start of this thread, I'm thrilled to see the praise for his pass protection. Do we think he will have any value on any of the ST, the way Burkhead did?
I wouldn't deign to answer for @SMU_Sox , but from what I read he had to be dragged off of ST -- he is a guy who wants to play every down.
It's almost unfair to Harris but man, am I excited about Dodge:
View: https://youtu.be/z8OQYIsG2o0
LFG
View: https://youtu.be/z8OQYIsG2o0
LFG
Cons: Feel silly about my initial reaction of "meh".
Pros: Was correct on Sony.
Something small that we saw in the game against the Giants that's made me maybe unreasonably excited about Stevenson is that they were lining him up out at wide receiver like they've done with Jimmy Blanco and the others receiving backs that have been in the menagerie, and he was getting targets from Jones at that position. Does anyone remember if they've ever, and if so how frequently, they've had Harris do that? I don't recall it happening at all, and I think they ran the ball something like 70% of the time when he was on the field last season.
They rotated Taylor out too. Very exciting indeed. As for your question - no - Harris did not do that with any frequency if at all last year.
It was Hoss Y Juke! At least, one of Stevenson's catches was. I can't seem to recall the other one.
I don’t do game threads anymore but I feel like it would be fun to do a drinking game every time they run that play during a game… although we might all be pretty fucking plastered by the end of it. I feel like there needs to be an ode made to honor Hoss Y Juke. That is probably the most quintessential Patriots play and one they have had a ton of success with the last 20 years.
Quick edit: Stevenson ran his hitches well. He’s also super smooth as a flat check down guy. The way he transitions to being a runner at his size is just splendid.
When he caught that hitch on the left side, I was basically the Leo Dicaprio pointing meme come to life. "I know that play! That's Hoss Y Juke!" I was so irrationally happy, it was great.
Lazar mentioned it too during one of his podcasts, but he kept calling it Hoss Z Juke. Not sure I've heard it called that before.
Yeah, it came across like maybe they get used interchangeably. I don't have a playing or coaching background, so terminology is definitely not my strong suit. Like a lot of Pats fans, that play is just permanently seared into my brain now.
To actually take a stab at answering Big Mac's question, I'm not sure if they've used Harris there or not. A bunch of other backs have, and not always the ones you initially would think of as being premier pass catchers. Pretty sure Devlin used to run Hoss Y Juke, for one example.
I think more to Big Mac's point, perhaps Stevenson could turn into the potential three (four?) down back that we all kind of hoped the Pats were getting when they drafted Sony? Maybe? That would be pretty cool.
To actually take a stab at answering Big Mac's question, I'm not sure if they've used Harris there or not. A bunch of other backs have, and not always the ones you initially would think of as being premier pass catchers. Pretty sure Devlin used to run Hoss Y Juke, for one example.
I think more to Big Mac's point, perhaps Stevenson could turn into the potential three (four?) down back that we all kind of hoped the Pats were getting when they drafted Sony? Maybe? That would be pretty cool.
Yeah, that's what I've been thinking. It feels like some media people see his size and pigeonhole him as an "early-down" back and make LeGarrette Blount comparisons, but there's a lot of reason to think that he might well profile closer to the McCaffrey archetype? (McCaffrey being, like, the platonic ideal form of the concept.) His draft profiles pretty consistently label him as someone with "soft hands" and a serious threat operating in screens and in the flat, and as a really good blocker (I think in this thread @SMU_Sox said he was the best blocker (as a RB) in the class, period); now he's seemingly getting reps in the scatback role that guys like Harris, Michel, or Blount never really did. At the very least it's quite intriguing.
With Taylor and Stevenson, plus two two-way TEs, they are going to have a ridiculous amount of ability to change formations and go from power to spread looks on the fly.
In the Giants game they ran Hoss Juke at least twice with Taylor split out wide, once on the TD to Zuber and once on a play where the ball got batted down at the line.
I also really liked the third and long play where they had Taylor and Stevenson split in the backfield then had both of them leak out on either side. Mac ended up trying to get the ball deeper down the middle to Gunner and it fell incomplete but the design seemed to work well. Both backs were in space and essentially one broken tackle away from the first down if he had dumped it to either of them.
In fact, Lazar says that the Hoss X/Y Juke play is so essential to the Pats playbook that they call it "MJ" as in the GOAT of all plays.
Last edited:
Pardon my ignorance... was Hoss Juke what they ran pretty much every 3rd down in OT aganst KC ?
Not sure but it was the one they ran three times in a row in the Rams super bowl that ended with that seam route that Gronk caught on the 2. If I remember correctly.
Correct. First to Edelman on the crosser. Then the hitch to Burkhead. Then the seam to Gronk.
It's a Pats staple with 12 personnel (2 WR, 2 TE, 1 RB) against base defense (4 DBs).
Offense goes empty with all five guys spread out. Outside guys run hitches, inside guys run seams, slot guy runs a "juke" route (crosser that he can return outside against inside leverage). HOSS = hitches outside, two seams.
Really puts the defense in a tough spot, as they're likely to end up with multiple LBs in single coverage, depending on what they do with their safeties. Makes the defense defend the entire field too, with routes being run on both boundaries, over the middle, and vertically.
I just took a look back at that drive and we didn’t run Hoss Juke on any of those plays actually. My guess is that we weren’t protecting well enough for McD to feel good about going empty backfield (which Hoss Juke involves). We kept a back in every one of those plays.
Worked out pretty well anyway!
Seems like unlike other trucks this Dodge is only going to go up in value in year 2. He’s getting a lot of work as a passing down back in camp and has had series with the 1s. I believe Harris is still their primary back this year but Stevenson could be 1B as soon as now. He has remade his body. Lost weight, probably added explosiveness and worked on route running and catching. Sky is the limit for my guy. At 225 he still can plow over people. I can’t wait to see him live and/or when the pads come on. I hope he can also improve with some of his non-gap runs and pre-LOS vision and set ups. He has the makings of a complete back. He’s working hard too. Come on, Rhamondre… we’re all rooting for you!
He looked good catching out of the backfield last year. Assuming White is not back, I wonder if he starts out as the 3rd down back.
The talent in this backfield is superb. I mean, Harris is a TERRIFIC running back. For his career, he has 343 carries for 1632 yards, good for a 4.8 avg, and 17 touchdowns on top of that.
White is one of the best pass-catching RBs in the league. Stevenson is a tank who can move and catch the ball. JJ Taylor - probably a guy who won't end up making the team - has NFL skills and ability. Of the rookies, Strong was the fastest RBs in the draft and Kevin Harris led the SEC in rushing his sophomore year (hurt a bunch his junior year and came out after that).
White is one of the best pass-catching RBs in the league. Stevenson is a tank who can move and catch the ball. JJ Taylor - probably a guy who won't end up making the team - has NFL skills and ability. Of the rookies, Strong was the fastest RBs in the draft and Kevin Harris led the SEC in rushing his sophomore year (hurt a bunch his junior year and came out after that).
There’s a scenario where White isn’t healthy, Montgomery underwhelms (he’s a third down back type), and Rham can’t do some of the route running and/or can’t be a slot where they might have an underwhelming option as a third down back. In terms of asking their third down RBs to line up in the slot they had Rex and White do it. But they might also not want or have a need to use an RB line up in the slot as much given their roster. I think Montgomery can do that anyway. Overall though I’m excited for year 2 of Rhamondre. I hope we see him force himself to the top of the rotation. I love their RB room at the moment. Sure I wish they had a replacement White but it’s possible that Rhamondre or Strong gets there.
Sounds like Strong could be that guy, but they have a history of sometimes redshirting the position. Last week’s Sunday Reiss takes a deep dive on him, his top combine speed, good hands and experience in blitz pickup, the real key to being trustable in that role.
Guess who leads the NFL (minimum 50% of snaps) in yards after contact average? With 4.24 yards after contact on average including 111 out of 164 this weekend, Rham is your league leader. He is 0.01 above Nick Chubb. He is the 3rd highest graded RB by PFF individual grades (take with a grain of salt). 5th highest elusiveness rating:
The Formula: (Missed Tackles Forced) / (Designed Run Attempts + Receptions) * (Yards After Contact Per Attempt * 100). 10th best breakaway % (15+ yard runs).
The only criticism I have is he has had a couple of bad blown assignments in pass protection. He can stand up OLBs in pass protection so it's just a matter of getting it right mentally. He is playing like a pro-bowl caliber back. I love Damien Harris and want Rham to have another guy to split carries with so he doesn't wear-down over the course of a season (even though Rham doesn't have much wear and tear) but with how well he is playing it might make sense to replace Damien with Kevin or draft another guy vs pay out for Damien. It's a good position to be in.
Keep it up Rham!
The Formula: (Missed Tackles Forced) / (Designed Run Attempts + Receptions) * (Yards After Contact Per Attempt * 100). 10th best breakaway % (15+ yard runs).
The only criticism I have is he has had a couple of bad blown assignments in pass protection. He can stand up OLBs in pass protection so it's just a matter of getting it right mentally. He is playing like a pro-bowl caliber back. I love Damien Harris and want Rham to have another guy to split carries with so he doesn't wear-down over the course of a season (even though Rham doesn't have much wear and tear) but with how well he is playing it might make sense to replace Damien with Kevin or draft another guy vs pay out for Damien. It's a good position to be in.
Keep it up Rham!
Has his pass protection been subpar? In addition to all the praise Bill heaped on him (and we know how much he prioritizes pass pro), I watched a Ted Johnson breakdown on a Zappe pass where he credited Rham with a really nice blitz pickup.
Overall? Probably average to above average? He’s had some good reps there but he’s had a couple of blunders. It was tough finding something to pick on because he’s playing very well.
Didn’t one of Wynn’s sacks come because Ram didn‘t chip the guy and let a free runner go past him?
I know it’s only been a little more than a season, but he may already be my favorite Patriots RB to watch. The power, speed, balance combo is just so fun.
Reminds me a bit of early career Ridley. I thought he’d be a stud. Alas, injuries.
Dion Lewis was super fun to watch.
And of course he ended up with the enemy, but Curtis Martin was awesome to watch from 95-97.
Well, if you're old there is this guy. For a year or so.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXMKX1T9Ess
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXMKX1T9Ess
Yes. You don't see many guys of Stevenson's size who have moves that make guys miss.
It's funny. Harris and Stevenson are both really good, but what I see in their styles is sort of the opposite of what I would expect. Of course I am not an expert so maybe some of this is just my imagination, but...
Harris is 5'11", 213, or at least that is what he is listed as. To me, he is very much a north-south type of runner. I think he typically hits the hole faster than Stevenson. His best runs tend to be up the middle or off tackle. And his "big move" is the cutback. When he runs off tackle, he's hitting the hole but also looking for a seam he can use to cut back towards the middle. And he's really good at this. Since 2020, he has run 400 times for almost 1900 yards and 20 rushing TDs. The Pats love running him in goal line situations.
Stevenson is bigger: listed at 6'0" 227. And as befits hit size, he is outstanding when it comes to breaking tackles, especially once he gets to the second level. But compared to Harris, he is also the more elusive runner. His rushes often seem slower to develop than Harris', and he is more likely than Harris to beat a guy by making a move and making the tackler miss. He seems more likely to try to bounce runs outside than Harris. He's not an "east-west" runner but he seems to have a little more east-west to his game than Harris does. At the same time, I don't think he hits the holes as fast as Harris does. He's not the preferred goal line back, Harris is. Last year, Harris got 50% more carries overall and scored 3 times as many TDs (15 vs 5). This year, Stevenson has a few more carries but only one TD to Harris' 3. I also think Stevenson may show more aptitude in the passing game than Harris, although both can catch it.
If you just asked me to guess which back was which by just looking at them and their listed height/weight, I'd get them backwards.
Last edited:
