The New England Patriots are believed to be interested in adding another running back to their roster, but honestly, that shouldn’t come as any surprise when looking at the current state of things for the team offensively.
They could once again be in a position where they’ll need to lean heavily on their rushing attack, and after the release of James Robinson, there isn’t a lot of reliable depth behind third-year running back Rhamondre Stevenson.
Yes, Ty Montgomery has been outstanding in the spring practices, but he’s also predominantly a third-down option coming out of the offensive backfield. After that option, the Patriots are down to second-year running backs Pierre Strong Jr. and Kevin Harris.
Any injury setback for Stevenson, who had 210 carries last season, would be catastrophic to the team and thrust Strong or Harris into the spotlight as a starter. That’s a heavy load to handle considering both players were barely on the field last season.
Fortunately for the Patriots, there are plenty of options currently floating around on the free agent market. Here are four big-name running backs that could help New England this season:
Ezekiel Elliott
Ezekiel Elliott isn’t in his prime, but he can still plow through NFL defenders like bowling pins.
It’s time to start putting some respect on Elliott’s name. He’s still only 27 years old, and he’s coming off a season where he rushed for 876 yards and 12 touchdowns. Granted, it took him 231 carries to do so, but that wouldn’t matter in New England because Stevenson is the primary workhorse.
All the Patriots would need Elliott to do is serve as a reliable No. 2 option with limited reps. Fresher legs might make the former Dallas Cowboy even more dangerous on the ground than he was last season.
Dalvin Cook
Dalvin Cook is the best free agent running back currently on the market. The price might be a bit rich for New England in comparison to the other options out there, but they’d be getting another do-everything player coming out of the offensive backfield.
Cook and Stevenson working together would instantly give the Patriots the best running back tandem in all of football.
It’s important to keep in mind that the Minnesota Vikings’ decision to release Cook was based more on financial reasons. Any team would love to have a 27-year-old running back that has rushed for over 1,000 yards for four straight seasons.
Leonard Fournette
The Patriots love strong and powerful running backs that give opposing defenses nightmares of tackling them in cold weather.
One of the more recent success stories of that sort of player for the Patriots is LeGarrette Blount, who ended up winning three Super Bowls with the team. Leonard Fournette might be able to find similar success on the backend of his career in New England, where he can step in as a secondary sledgehammer behind Stevenson.
His familiarity working with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay should give him a heads up on how he’d likely be utilized by offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and the Patriots.
Kareem Hunt
Kareem Hunt truly is a dual-threat option in every sense of the word coming out of the offensive backfield. The Cleveland Browns preferred to use him as their third-down, change-of-pace running back option, but he’s clearly capable of handling the early-down work as well.
It just so happened he had All-Pro running back Nick Chubb ahead of him on the depth chart in Cleveland.
Opportunities would still be difficult to come by in New England, but he’d be right there in the mix as an insurance option for Stevenson, while also sharing in some of the third-down work with Montgomery.
