Why TreVeyon Henderson is a perfect fit for the Patriots’ new-look offense

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.

Run game

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, pullers — you name it.

What is important from the running back’s perspective is that he needs to read the defense well and ride his lead block through traffic. Henderson has shown that he can do that and also quickly get up to speed as soon as a hole does open up. Once through, he furthermore has the elusiveness to force missed tackles — something he did on 37 occasions in 2024 — and compact pad level to run through contact.

In general, when it comes to running downhill, Henderson brings an impressive résumé to the NFL.

Power, duo, iso — Ohio State used a wide range of somewhat related concepts in its downhill run game last season. Likewise, Henderson aligned in a few spots in the shotgun-heavy Buckeyes offense that featured both classic hand-offs and RPO looks; he lined up as both a deep back in the pistol formation as well as an off-set runner on either side of the quarterback.

While there was some limited alignment variety, Henderson was tasked with making the most of them regardless of concept. And those did not just focus on gap running, but on zone as well.

What does a back need to succeed in outside zone? The ability to create, first and foremost, be it through horizontal range, vision or jump-cut prowess.

Henderson still has room for growth in all of those areas, but he showed enough to suggest that, with some proper teaching at the next level, he can become a productive back in outside zone concepts as well. The flexibility is there, at least, and that seems to be something New England’s new coaching staff covets.

How much outside zone the Patriots will actually run in 2025 compared to gap remains to be seen, though; there are arguments for and against a heavy dose of both given the current offensive line personnel. Looking solely at Henderson, however, we see a player who has taken his fair share of zone runs and has what it takes to make such a scheme work.

Similar to the outside zone concepts above, the toss and sweep plays run by Ohio State in 2024 asked Henderson to work his magic by getting wide, timing his cuts well, and eventually attacking downhill with a purpose. Needless to say that some of the holes that were opened up for him were massive and unlike any he will see in the NFL — see: the sweep at 1:32 against Oregon in the Rose Bowl — but coming out of college it’s more about traits than circumstance.

And those traits led to Henderson being a second-round draft choice for a reason: because they are explosive and should pair well with what New England hopes to accomplish offensively.

Pass game

Henderson is a running back, and a majority of his touches will see him carry the football. That being said, he would not be as good a fit for the Patriots if he wasn’t capable of contributing in the passing game right out of the gate as well — in more than one way.

The obvious one is Henderson as a receiver. Before looking at the film, though, a note on his alignments: while he was a productive pass catcher all through his college career and ended with an impressive average of 11.1 yards per reception, the Buckeyes decided against moving him all over the formation.

Henderson was a backfield receiver first and foremost, with only a comparative handful of his snaps coming out of the slot or split out wide. Josh McDaniels might change this, but the indication is that the youngster will be more of a traditional receiving back rather than a do-it-all weapon used to create coverage mismatches — at least early on in his career, that is.

As far as his actual receiving usage at Ohio State is concerned, Henderson was mostly employed in the short and intermediate range.

Of his 30 targets in 2024, 14 came behind the line of scrimmage, with another 12 within 9 yards downfield. His average depth of target was just 1.7 yards and he only caught two passes all season of a target depth of more than 10 yards.

Nonetheless, Henderson still managed to gain 281 total yards via receptions — 264 of those coming after the catch, an average of 10.2 yards per catch. A perfectly executed 75-yard screen play touchdown in the CFB Playoff against Texas (2:28 in the montage above) helped boost his numbers, but the fact remains that he was dangerous with the ball in his hands on other plays as well.

On the year, Henderson forced five missed tackles on 26 receptions and gained 11 first downs. His reliable hands, ability to track the ball in the air and quick transition from receiver to runner, all while displaying his usual RB traits, helped him accomplish that.

Of course, as noted above, there was more to TreVeyon Henderson, receiving back than just catching the ball; he also was pretty good as a pass protector.

Henderson’s experience and success in pass protection likely was a key selling point for the Patriots, and something Josh McDaniels has always placed a high value on.

He has shown the ability to trust his reads and diagnose blitzers, readjusts his body quickly when needed to move off his initial spot, and does not shy away from delivering a pop; he is using his build and natural leverage to his advantage and is more than just a roadblock: Henderson is a serious obstacle that will fight back and force linebackers or defensive backs to come in with good angles and technique or else he will put them on their backs.

He does have more pass- than run-blocking experience — 231 vs. 89 snaps — but it would not be a surprise if the Patriots used him in multi-back sets with blocking as a primary objective. He may not be a fullback per se, but McDaniels using him in a similar role from time to time also does not seem entirely unlikely.

What Henderson does more than anything is give the Patriots’ new OC options regardless of situation or personnel package. That is the multiplicity Mike Vrabel wants from his team, and it is what makes the second-round rookie a perfect fit and an intriguing addition to New England’s new-look offense.