USAT: Patriots Wire audio clip

USAT: Patriots Wire

Feb 27, 2022

Not long after the New England Patriots drafted running back Rhamondre Stevenson last offseason, he compared himself to LeGarrette Blount, a retired bruising back who is 6-foot and played at about 250 pounds. - Blount was notorious for his abilities as a closer, continuing to pound the ball with physicality, even in the later stages of the game when most players were banged up and fatigued. Stevenson is developing into something similar, while also developing as a pass-catcher. So it was interesting to get Blount’s take on how Stevenson looked after his rookie season. - “I like the style of Stevenson. I think he runs hard. I think he’s tough to tackle,” Blount told NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry in the week before the Super Bowl. “I think he’s hard to bring down. I think he gets a lot of yards after contact. I think he’s one of those backs that, the more you feed him the ball, the better he gets over the course of the game. I think he should get a lot more carries. I also like Damien Harris. They’re a good 1-2 punch. I would say they’re me and Dion (Lewis) but they’re a pretty good 1-2 punch.” - Stevenson finished with 133 carries for 606 yards and five touchdowns and added 14 catches for 123 yards. He played in just 12 games and started two. The rookie had a rocky start within the organization (both in practice and logging a fumble on his rookie debut), but rebounded nicely to earn a sizable role in the offense. It’s easy to imagine that role increasing in 2022. - - List - - Free agency: Does Patriots LB Dont'a Hightower still have the same juice? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Patriots Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Patriots Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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