Jerod Mayo is mulling whether to bench Rhamondre Stevenson, and that’s a situation everyone should have their eye on. The Patriots are a lesser team with a peashooter offense, but they’ve got Miami on a short week – the one game all year that they’ll be favored.
New England has shown some ability to run the ball. That’s their preferred mode of transportation. That ran for 170-plus yards in each of their first two games, when they were upsetting the Bengals and taking the Seahawks to overtime.
They’ve got the Dolphins now, and that team looked pretty hapless on Monday night. With Tua Tagovailoa out, they’re punchless on offense. Defensively, they just lost linebacker Jaelan Phillips to a season-ending knee injury. The Titans just ran for 142 yards and 2 TDs against this defense; Miami, in fact, has allowed 2 TD runs in three straight games.
This sure looks like a game where there will be some serviceable running back stats in New England.
Under ordinary circumstances, we’d be mulling whether Stevenson might run for about 100 yards and a touchdown.
But Stevenson has fumbled four games in a row, leaving Mayo wondering whether it’s time to put Antonio Gibson (pictured) in the starting lineup. And if he gets used in a full-time kind of role, he should be just as good (perhaps even better).
Gibson isn’t a typical backup. He’s been a 1,000-yard rusher, and he’s the first guy they signed in free agency, inking him to a three-year deal that averages $3.75 million.
Gibson has been effective thus far with his limited chances so far. Particularly against Seattle, with his 11 carries going for 96 yards. On the season, he’s averaging over a yard more per carry than Stevenson.
There are only 13 running backs with at least 20 carries who are averaging over 5 yards per attempt, and Gibson’s in that group.
| RUNNING BACKS AVERAGING 5 YARDS PER CARRY | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| Tank Bigsby, Jac. | 21 | 172 | 8.19 | 0 |
| Chase Brown, Cin. | 29 | 184 | 6.34 | 2 |
| Tyler Allgeier, Atl. | 27 | 166 | 6.15 | 0 |
| J.K. Dobbins, LAC | 56 | 342 | 6.11 | 2 |
| Derrick Henry, Balt. | 80 | 480 | 6.00 | 5 |
| Saquon Barkley, Phil. | 73 | 435 | 5.96 | 4 |
| Bucky Irving, T.B. | 35 | 203 | 5.80 | 1 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 32 | 183 | 5.72 | 4 |
| Chuba Hubbard, Car. | 55 | 296 | 5.38 | 1 |
| Antonio Gibson, N.E. | 29 | 155 | 5.34 | 0 |
| Jahmyr Gibbs, Det. | 54 | 285 | 5.28 | 3 |
| Jerome Ford, Cle. | 39 | 203 | 5.21 | 1 |
| Aaron Jones, Min. | 64 | 321 | 5.02 | 1 |
Gibson is also a capable pass catcher. He had a 50-yard reception on Sunday, and he caught 46 and 48 passes in his last two seasons in Washington.
If the Patriots are going with him as their starter, I’m interested. But that’s just one of three options. The Patriots could continue with Stevenson as their primary back, with Gibson serving as a change of pace. Or they could move to more of a tag-team backfield.
Mayo talks as if Gibson at least will be playing more than usual.
“That’s definitely under consideration,” the coach said. “I’ve had multiple conversations with Rhamondre. But look, we can’t preach that ball security is job security and still have him out there the majority of the time.
“So, I think it sends a stronger message to the players that there are certain things that we just can’t do to win, especially with the team that we have today.”
—Ian Allan