Pats Pulpit
A film room breakdown of the Patriots’ second-round draft choice.
Even before the hire of Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator was made official, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel made his thoughts about that particular side of the ball quite clear. He wanted his offense to be multiple, and capable of adapting based on situation, opponent or available personnel.
The team’s second-round selection in this year’s NFL Draft should therefore not have come as too big a surprise, even with the talent already on the roster. TreVeyon Henderson, after all, was as versatile a running back as any available.
“Extremely productive player, extremely good speed, pass protection, pass game,” said Patriots EVP of player personnel Eliot Wolf shortly after his team selected Henderson 38th overall. “Although he’s a little bit undersized, we view him as a three-down back and a really good compliment. He’s a threat with the ball in his hands, speed to take at the distance anytime he touches it.”
His home-run ability is what stands out about Henderson; he gained 10 or more yards on 22.1 percent of his carries in 2024 while also averaging 10.5 yards per reception. However, it is only part of what makes him a perfect fit for New England’s new-look offense.
His ability to do it all is what truly stands out.
You look at TreVeyon Henderson, you see an NFL running back. Standing at 5-foot-10 and weighing 202 pounds, he has the build of a player capable of moving people and, more importantly, the ball against pro-level competition.
He combines his size with explosive acceleration, good vision and proper contact balance as well as the ball security coaches are looking for; Henderson fumbled only twice during his college career and did not lose a fumble in four years at Ohio State. A serious big-play threat, he averaged 7.0 yards per carry — including 4.4 after contact — in his final season in Columbus.
All of that, and more, made him an appealing target for the Patriots in the draft. Henderson is a potential three-down contributor who seemingly fits well in a rotation that will also feature the likes of Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson in 2025.
Going back to the aforementioned multiplicity, though, we can also see that New England added a running back capable and comfortable when it comes to carrying the ball in a scheme-diverse setup. And diverse Ohio State’s rushing attack was in its lone season under offensive coordinator Chip Kelly in 2024.
As a result, Henderson gained experience in a variety of schemes. Let’s take a look at some of the ways he was employed in 2024, starting with one of McDaniels’ favorite run concepts.
As can be seen in the compilation above, power is a diverse scheme in itself. The underlying principles are similar, however, namely that the goal is to get blockers to the second level in hopes of creating upfield lanes. That can be accomplished through double teams, kick-out blocks,...
