Is Rhamondre Stevenson Losing His Fantasy Football Sleeper Label?

Jack explains why New England Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson may no longer be a fantasy football sleeper for the 2022 NFL season.

“Sleeper” is a bit of a subjective term in fantasy football. Everyone has their idea of who is going at a value but once enough people join in on the parade, the “sleeper” distinction may begin to dissipate.

A player may be considered a sleeper by the fantasy community, but when he’s drafted two rounds above his ADP in your home league, that sleeper label goes right out the window. 

The running back I’ll be going over today is holding onto his sleeper label by a thread and will likely be a player that drafters will end up reaching for. After numerous positive camp reports and roster developments, Rhamondre Stevenson is garnering a lot of attention as a running back that people want on their fantasy rosters by the start of the 2022 season.

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Rhamondre Stevenson's Rookie Year in the NFL

Rhamondre Stevenson is a former Oklahoma Sooner and was selected by the Patriots as a fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft. While he was seen as a talented back with potential prior to any real NFL action, he became a household name during his monster stretch in the preseason.

Rhamondre Stevenson is bulldozing through the preseason:

🔺 4 TDs
🔺 12 forced missed tackles
🔺 140 yards AFTER contact

pic.twitter.com/7xMmEkhc4T

— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 20, 2021

That strong showing led to the Patriots having enough confidence in Stevenson for them to trade Sony Michel and move Rhamondre into the backup role behind Damien Harris. 

The hype was riding high heading into Stevenson’s first regular season action until his first career reception resulted in a fumble. That fumble set his hype train back a bit as he landed himself in the dreaded Belichick dog house for the next three weeks.

The rookie luckily escaped and slowly worked his way into a consistent role while having a couple of splash performances for fantasy in weeks 10 and 17. He closed out the season with some solid statistical totals as he finished with 605 rushing yards, five touchdowns, and 123 receiving yards. Considering he was the backup to Damien Harris and his three-week inactive stretch, Stevenson had a promising rookie year. 

As for some underlying metrics, the former Sooner proved to be one of the shiftier running backs in the NFL with his top-five ranking in juke rate (35.4 percent). He also proved to have a pair of sure hands with his 77.8 percent catch rate.

The consistent opportunity may have not been there but the general consensus among analysts was that Stevenson could provide some great production if given the opportunity.

The Stars Are Aligning for Rhamondre Stevenson in Fantasy Football?

A few months ago, there were some whispers of hype for Rhamondre Stevenson as a steal late in drafts. Now with recent developments, Stevenson has been shooting up draft boards, almost entirely shedding his status as a sleeper. 

The reason for this rise in ADP includes a number of factors. For starters, reports from around Patriots training camp suggested that Rhamondre Stevenson looked leaner and was working on third down repetitions with an emphasis on pass-catching. The assumption there was that Stevenson would be inheriting a larger portion of the backfield work along with James White's receiving role as he was still on the PUP list at that point.

#Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson is down to 225 pounds. Says he worked on route running and catching passes in Dallas with trainers this summer.

He said he has an overall better understanding of third-down concepts entering his second season.

— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) July 28, 2022

The next factor occurred right around a week ago. Some were expecting James White to return from the PUP and take on the pass-catching role he previously held. But instead, he decided to hang up his cleats and call it a career. While analysts were expecting some more pass-catching for Rhamondre Stevenson heading into his second year, it now looks like a guarantee.

The most recent factor for Stevenson’s rise is the report of Bill Belichick praising the former fourth-round pick for his improvements in the passing game. It's looking like the people in the Patriots building are big fans of Rhamondre’s game, enough to expand his role in his second season.

Through these developments, Stevenson is looking like a sure thing to handle a chunk of the rushing work alongside Damien Harris with some added upside as a receiver.

Rhamondre Stevenson's ADP Rise in Fantasy Football

Stevenson is a popular sleeper pick, there is no doubt about it. But one outcome of the hype has been his meteoric rise in ADP.

Rhamondre Stevenson has risen so much in fact that he is actually above New England’s supposed RB1 in Damien Harris according to Underdog ADP. Now I’m a big fan of Rhamondre and his potential, but having him at an eight-round price tag feels a bit too rich for my blood.

At that price, Stevenson is going ahead of Rashaad Penny and Kareem Hunt. I’d be much more comfortable with those two over Stevenson considering New England's history of being incredibly unpredictable with running back usage.

While the breakout potential for Rhamondre Stevenson is there, his rising price has me backing off from him during draft season. If he were to fall about a round later where his backfield mate is going, I’d be more enthusiastic to draft him for 2022.

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