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Many thought the\u00a0New England Patriots\u00a0would be a fringe playoff team this season or would make it next year. Now, after Thursday Night Football in Week 11, the Pats have the best record in the league, 9-2, in head coach Mike Vrabel\u2019s first season.<\/p>\n
Drake Maye\u00a0has taken a massive jump in progression in his second season in the league and his first season as the undisputed starter in Foxborough.\u00a0Stefon Diggs\u00a0is finally getting into the groove of things. The defense is finding its footing and is currently allowing the\u00a0fifth fewest points\u00a0this season at 18.7 points per game.<\/p>\n
The Patriots are in win-now mode and have the pieces to make a run in the playoffs. While most players on the team don\u2019t have playoff experience, it could prepare them for the 2026 season if the team continues to progress.<\/p>\n
New England can prepare to think about what assets they would like to acquire or trade away and have themselves as Super Bowl contenders at the start of next season.<\/p>\n
GettyNew England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson<\/p>\n
There was not much to cheer about the Patriots, who went 4-13 last season under former head coach Jerod Mayo.<\/p>\n
Drake Maye wasn\u2019t the starter at the beginning of the season, the team had the fewest sacks in the league, and failed to tank correctly, losing out on the first overall pick in the 2025\u00a0NFL\u00a0draft.<\/p>\n
But this season has been the complete reverse, as mentioned. Now, the Patriots are in a position to win for the next few seasons instead of rebuilding.<\/p>\n
Now, the Patriots can make moves to help them return to the historic Super Winning franchise they once were.<\/p>\n
Bleacher Report\u2019s Brad Gagnon names fifth-year running back Rhamondre\u00a0Stevenson\u00a0as a\u00a0valuable trade chip\u00a0for the Patriots in the 2026 offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 27-year-old still has his moments, which should be enough to draw some interest. Meanwhile, rookie second-round pick\u00a0TreVeyon Henderson\u00a0has emerged as the clear-cut top dog in the New England backfield,\u201d Gagnon wrote.<\/p>\n
Stevenson has never rushed for less than 600 yards in a season and scored less than four rushing touchdowns. He can provide immediate assistance on a team that needs a running back.<\/p>\n
GettyNew England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson<\/p>\n
Rhamondre Stevenson was the lead running back for the Patriots entering the 2025 season. He has the most experience in the league and has chemistry with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, but hasn\u2019t performed the best this season.<\/p>\n
He is currently second on the team in rushing yards and touchdowns, both behind the second-round rookie of the 2025 NFL draft.<\/p>\n
Stevenson ran for 800 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns last season, and also had 7 fumbles, a career high for him. The running back has had issues keeping the ball in his arms throughout his career, with the 2024 season seeing a new high for him. In his career, he has had 17 fumbles.<\/p>\n
The former Oklahoma running back was injured in Week 8 and has been out the past three games for the Patriots, allowing Treveyon Henderson to shine with the bulk of rushing attempts.<\/p>\n
In those games, the 38th overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft is thriving as the lead back. He has rushed for four straight games with 55 or more rushing yards and has logged 5 total touchdowns.<\/p>\n
The biggest issue the Patriots face if they were to trade Stevenson is his contract. He is currently on a\u00a0four-year, $36 million contract, with many teams likely to be iffy on a running back with fumbling troubles.<\/p>\n
There’s a scene from the old HBO comedy Arliss so applicable to\u00a0the Bears<\/strong><\/em><\/u>\u00a0right now that it’s laughable.<\/p>\n Considering how poorly critics regarded that series, it might be the only funny scene. It had a few moments, though, and this was one especially for\u00a0Bears fans<\/strong><\/em><\/u>.<\/p>\n Arliss, the super agent, was on the phone talking to an NFL GM about signing a client who was a free agent, and he suddenly became irritated when the GM said the client didn’t fit their offensive system.<\/p>\n “Doesn’t fit your system?” hollered Robert Wuhl, who played the super agent Arliss Michaels. “What’s your system? Losing?!!!”<\/p>\n Of course, the GM hung up on him. Arliss got up after slamming down the phone, walked to a chalk board with all the NFL teams’ written on it, and crossed off the name “Chicago.”<\/p>\n Return to the real NFL world and many Bears fans continue to lament the fact tight end Colston Loveland was drafted 10th overall, and they had the chance to select Penn State tight end Tyler Warren. It was Loveland who was the “system pick.”<\/p>\n Whether they should actually have been drafting any tight end 10th overall \u00a0was and would still be open to debate because only four have been drafted in the top 10 since they last went to the Super Bowl. It’s usually considered too early to take tight ends because the best ones usually come from Day 2 or later.<\/p>\n However, Warren is giving all the Colts fans a \u00a0reason to crow and taunt the Bears with 23 catches for 307 yards and one touchdown catch\u2014as if Matt Eberflus wasn’t enough of a reason for Colts fans to laugh at Chicago’s fortunes.\u00a0 He has 20 more catches for 264 more yards than Loveland has after a four-catch, 44-yard game Sunday.<\/p>\n When Ryan Poles drafted Loveland 10th over Warren, he \u00a0explained it almost like a coin flip but that Loveland fit the system better.<\/p>\n “What’s your system, losing!???” Arliss would say.<\/p>\n Poles almost seemed to be treading water or not say much on draft day when asked why not Warren and why Loveland, but it seemed fairly obvious from what he said that Loveland fit better into the offensive role for the\u00a0 “move” tight end in the Ben Johnson Bears offense than Warren would have.<\/p>\n Warren is the same size as Cole Kmet, the “Y” or in-line tight end.<\/p>\n Warren is 6-6, 256 and Kmet 6-6, 257. Loveland is that height but 241 pounds.<\/p>\n The average depth target for what Warren is doing in the Colts offense in chasing down passes is only 6.1 yards going into this week’s game.<\/p>\n However, on his six targets so far for the Bears before going out with a hip injury, Loveland’s average depth of target was 14.7 yards according to Stathead \/ Pro Football Reference. The Bears use him downfield more.<\/p>\n It doesn’t mean Warren couldn’t catch passes downfield. It’s just his average target is closer to the line of scrimmage. Even Kmet’s depth of target as a Bears “in-line” tight end or “Y,” has been a lot deeper than Warren’s. A receiver closer to the line should be able to make more catches, too.<\/p>\n Regardless, Warren has been very impactful and so far shows he might have actually been worth taking at No. 10 even if even good tight ends generally are not.<\/p>\n What is unfair to Loveland is entering his name into the discussion because he hasn’t been able to contribute much due to his recent hip injury and before that his recovery from shoulder surgery that virtually eliminated all offseason work.<\/p>\n While it might not be fair to Loveland, it is fair to criticize both Poles and Johnson. They knew Loveland’s injury status and that’s what set him back so far.<\/p>\n Again, this probably was more of a Johnson pick.<\/p>\n “Both are really good players,” Poles said after the pick. “There are a lot of conversations there, back and forth. Tyler is going to be a great football player, as well. In terms of fits, what we want to do a little bit better with the personnel group that we have here on our roster, we thought that the combination of what we have is the better fit.”<\/p>\n He went a little deeper on that.<\/p>\n “It’s versatile,” Poles said. “We can do whatever we need to do. We can run the ball and play a physical brand of football. If you match that with a more physical, bigger personnel group? Well, you have a mismatch on your hands, as well.<\/p>\n “It’s multiple and it allows Ben to do what he does best, which, one, is to have a physical brand of football, but also be creative and do some things that are going to put teams in a pickle.”<\/p>\n It’s not really Poles’ fault in this respect, but the slow Loveland start is on both of \u00a0them because they both knew the injuries involved.<\/p>\n Either way, the whining and complaining should stop until Loveland at least has a chance to be healthy and show what he can do.<\/p>\n At some point, Warren could have an injury, too. Then, would he have Loveland’s production held against him?<\/p>\n Another point, Warren never even had a receiving touchdown until Sunday. He did have a rushing TD, though.<\/p>\n Perhaps there’s plenty of time to make up the deficit for the Bears rookie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many thought the\u00a0New England Patriots\u00a0would be a fringe playoff team this season or would make it next year. Now, after Thursday Night Football in Week 11, the Pats have the best record…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t