For most of the 2023 season, the New England Patriots’ running back group was a two-player show. Rhamondre Stevenson served as the the No. 1 option in the backfield, gaining a team-high 857 scrimmage yards over the first 12 games of the season; Ezekiel Elliott offered experienced rotational depth alongside him.
When Stevenson went down with a high-ankle sprain against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13, however, that established order had to change. Elliott moved up the depth chart into the RB1 role, with Ty Montgomery and JaMycal Hasty seemingly the next men up.