The New England Patriots take on the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday afternoon in Week 12 NFL action. Fantasy football owners want to know do I choose Rhamondre Stevenson or TreVeyon Henderson? With Stevenson returning, how much does he carve into Henderson’s usage. Or does that make much of an impact at all?
Let us dig into this one!
Note: Our rankings are based on PPR and standard formats.
Fantasy Sports On SI Week 12 Ranking: RB 33
Stevenson has run the ball 10+ times in half of his eight appearances in 2025. Three of those came consecutively before the toe injury. His best performance of the year came in that run against Tennesee where he racked up 88 yards on 18 carries and a score. Stevenson added two more touches receiving. It was his season high for activity.
Inevitably, an injury happened during the Cleveland game on October 26th and Henderson broke off a 27-yard run that had people in amazement. That was all it took. Explosiveness was a little more prevalent like what Stevenson showed in small flashes against Tennessee.
#Patriots vs. Bengals Five Players to Watch
Christian Gonzalez, Rhamondre Stevenson and Christian Barmore are among those who will catch my sharp eye today ..
More on who to watch for the #NEPats via #OnSI 👇 https://t.co/Q3AELCK8uE
— Mike D’Abate (@mdabateNFL) November 23, 2025
Stevenson went through an exhaustive full practice on Friday and the green light was given. Cincinnati features one of the worst defenses historically in the last decade or two. They were a little better off the bye week allowing only 112 yards rushing but Stevenson still could find holes against a defense that forgets how to tackle.
If there are fewer issues with the toe, Stevenson could be used as more of a pass catcher out of the backfield (see Week 2 against Miami with five catches for 55 yards). There is only one problem with that. See below.
Fantasy Sports On SI Week 12 Ranking: RB18
Henderson has the ability to make players miss much like he did in college at Ohio State. It is his explosiveness through the hole and accelerating in open space that scares defenses. Cincinnati will not have the luxury to stack the box as often because of Drew Maye. Henderson really only has to worry about his snap count percentage dropping due to the return of Stevenson.
The last two games have seen him in the endzone a total of five times. Now, the New York Jets bottled him up and kept Henderson to 62 yards. However, he had five catches for 31 yards. The running back scored a touchdown on the ground and receiving. His route running has improved over the past few weeks and might be at or near the level of Stevenson’s ability.
New England has a good problem here. The Patriots can pound or go for the big play with both running backs. Henderson has a little more in the second and third levels as evidenced by that 69 yard touchdown run against Tampa Bay a couple weeks ago.
TreVeyon Henderson is going to be at Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon. It is close enough to Ohio State that some fans of the Buckeyes probably travel down to get a look at the alumnus.
This is not quite as easy as it looks. Stevenson is going to get his chances and he will soften up the Bengals run defense. In the end, the prevailing thought is that Henderson gets the headlines at the end of this day for New England and helps fantasy football owners more.
