TreVeyon Henderson – From Hopewell to Foxborough
Hopewell, Virginia Produced Something Different
TreVeyon Henderson grew up in Hopewell, Virginia — a small city of about 22,000 people southeast of Richmond that doesn’t produce many NFL running backs. He attended Hopewell High School, where he rushed for over 4,000 yards and 50 touchdowns across his career. As a junior, he ran for more than 2,400 yards and scored 45 touchdowns in a single season. His team won the Virginia state championship in 2019 with an undefeated record, and Henderson scored four touchdowns in the title game.
He was named the 2019 Virginia Gatorade Football Player of the Year. He also competed in track — running the 100 meters in 10.94 seconds — which tells you something about the kind of athlete he was before a college program ever got hold of him.
His senior season never happened. Virginia moved its fall sports calendar to spring as a COVID-19 precaution, so Henderson entered college without playing a single high school game after his junior year. He enrolled at Ohio State in January 2021 as a five-star recruit ranked No. 1 at running back in the 2021 class by 247Sports and No. 23 overall nationally.
He chose Ohio State over Georgia, Michigan, and Texas.
Ohio State: Four Seasons, One Recurring Problem
Henderson’s freshman year at Ohio State was one of the most statistically explosive debut seasons in program history. In just his third collegiate game — against Tulsa — he carried the ball 24 times for 277 yards and three touchdowns, breaking Archie Griffin’s single-game freshman rushing record. Griffin, the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner in college football history, had held that mark for decades.
Henderson finished his freshman season with 1,248 rushing yards on 183 carries, 15 rushing touchdowns, and 312 receiving yards on 27 catches with four more scores. He earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors, Freshman All-American recognition from ESPN, The Athletic, 247Sports, and Pro Football Focus, and posted a 6.8 yards-per-carry average that signaled something genuinely special. He also set Ohio State’s freshman record for touchdowns from scrimmage with 19, breaking that in the regular-season finale against Michigan.
Then came 2022. A series of injuries limited Henderson to 107 carries for 571 yards and six touchdowns. He still averaged 5.3 yards per carry, which suggests the issue was availability rather than anything wrong with the running itself, but it was a significant step back and established an injury concern that would follow him through the rest of his college career and into his draft profile.
He returned in 2023 to earn First-Team All-Big Ten honors — both the coaches’ and media polls — rushing 156 times for 926 yards and 11 touchdowns. His senior season in 2024 brought a new wrinkle: transfer Quinshon Judkins arrived from Ole Miss, and the two backs split the workload evenly. Henderson finished with 144 carries for 1,014 yards and 10 touchdowns. Judkins had slightly more usage with 194 carries, 1,060 yards, and 14 scores, but Henderson’s efficiency held at 7.0 yards per carry, highest on the team.
The 2024 Playoff Run and a Championship
Henderson’s senior season ended with Ohio State winning the College Football Playoff National Championship in January 2025. His playoff performance included a two-touchdown, 94-yard effort against Oregon in the quarterfinals. He graduated in December 2024 with a degree in sport industry and was named a team captain that season — a detail that scouts flagged heavily during pre-draft evaluations.
His Ohio State career totals across four seasons: 590 carries, 3,759 rushing yards (6.4 yards per carry), 42 rushing touchdowns, 58 receptions, 668 receiving yards, and nine more scores through the air. The yards-per-carry average is the number that matters most. Maintaining 6.4 over four years — including an injury-disrupted 2022 — reflects genuine efficiency, not a product of cherry-picked situations.
2025 NFL Draft: The Patriots Take Him 38th
The New England Patriots held two high picks in the second round of the 2025 draft. They used the first on Louisiana’s Will Campbell, an offensive tackle, at No. 4 overall. They used the second on Henderson at No. 38 — two picks after the Cleveland Browns selected Quinshon Judkins at No. 36, drafting both Ohio State starters in the same sequence they’d played together.
Henderson’s pre-draft evaluation numbers: 5 feet 10.25 inches, 202 pounds, 4.43-second 40-yard dash at the combine. Scouts praised his vision in zone-blocking schemes, his ability to create separation as a pass-catcher, and — notably for a back his size — his pass protection. One 247Sports evaluator compared his ceiling to Christian McCaffrey and projected him as a potential first-round talent on a different board.
He signed a four-year fully guaranteed rookie contract worth $11.143 million in July 2025.
New England was building around 2024 top-five pick Drake Maye at quarterback, coming off a dismal season, and needed explosive skill-position players around him. Henderson fit the bill as a complement to veteran Rhamondre Stevenson. The expectation from the coaching staff — and specifically from offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels — was that Henderson would rotate heavily and grow into a larger role as the season progressed.
His Rookie Season Did Not Start the Way Anyone Planned
Through the first seven weeks of the 2025 NFL season, Henderson accumulated minus-52 yards over expected on his carries, per NFL Pro tracking data. He was getting opportunities — his snap share ranged between 30 and 50 percent — but he wasn’t making the most of them. Stevenson remained the clear lead back.
Henderson made his NFL debut against Las Vegas in Week 1 and became the first Patriots rookie running back to record six receptions in a season opener. He scored his first career touchdown in Week 4 against Carolina, a 5-yard run in the second quarter. Nice milestone. But for several weeks after that, he was mostly background.
What changed was injury. Stevenson went down with a toe problem midway through the year, missing three games, and Henderson stepped into the starting role. From that point on, the season looked completely different.
November Was a Different Sport
Week 10 at Tampa Bay. Henderson carried the ball 14 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns, including a 55-yard run in the third quarter and a 69-yard run in the fourth. The 69-yarder was the longest run by a Patriots player since Sedrick Shaw went 71 yards against the Jets in December 1998. He became the first Patriots player to record two 50-plus yard runs in the same game since Laurence Maroney in 2007.
Week 11 against the Jets on Thursday night, five days later. Henderson scored three touchdowns — two rushing, one receiving — making him the third Patriots rookie to account for three TDs in a single game, joining Rob Gronkowski in 2010 and Sony Michel in 2018. Five touchdowns in five days.
He was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for November.
By Week 15 against the Buffalo Bills, Henderson had four touchdown runs of 50-plus yards on the season, tying Saquon Barkley’s 2018 Giants record for the most such runs by a rookie. He is only the second player in NFL history to record two 50-yard rushing touchdowns in the same game twice in a single season, joining Chris Johnson in 2009 with Tennessee. He finished Week 15 with 161 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
In his last seven regular-season games, he totaled 100 carries for 620 yards — 6.2 yards per carry — and seven touchdowns.
Full 2025 Regular Season Numbers
Henderson finished the regular season with 180 carries for 911 rushing yards — a 5.1 yards-per-carry average that led all rookie running backs. He added 35 receptions on 43 targets for 221 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. His nine rushing touchdowns led all rookie backs. He also contributed on kick returns. The Patriots finished 14-3 and earned the No. 2 seed in the AFC.
For context on where this sits in Patriots history: no rookie running back in New England had reached 1,000 rushing yards since Robert Edwards in 1998. Henderson finished 89 yards short, partly because his first half was so limited. His 9 rushing touchdowns and 5.1 yards per carry both rank No. 1 among Patriots rookies since 2000.
The Postseason Was a Different Story
When Stevenson came back healthy down the stretch and into the playoffs, Henderson’s role contracted. In the wild card round, he had 10 touches for 36 scrimmage yards while Stevenson ran for 128 yards on 13 touches. In the divisional round against Houston, Henderson had 24 touches for 141 yards and a score — a better showing — but Stevenson still dominated the snap count.
AFC Championship against Denver. Henderson carried three times for five yards. Stevenson logged 25 touches and controlled the game.
Super Bowl LX against Seattle. Henderson had seven carries for 32 rushing yards, three receptions for 26 yards. The offense struggled as a unit in a 29-13 loss, so the numbers aren’t entirely on him, but the postseason made one thing clear: when both backs are healthy and the games matter most, McDaniels trusts Stevenson in critical moments.
Henderson totaled 39 scrimmage yards on 23 touches across his first two playoff games. Stevenson had 209 scrimmage yards on 26 touches over the same span.
What the Fantasy Numbers Actually Mean for 2026
Henderson’s efficiency metrics from his rookie year are legitimately strong. His 1.8 yards before contact per carry ranked third among the 48 backs with at least 100 carries in 2025. His 5.3 yards per carry on runs between the tackles ranked second among backs with at least 50 such attempts, behind only Jahmyr Gibbs. These aren’t usage numbers — they’re production numbers. He earned his yards.
The question for 2026 isn’t whether Henderson is good. It’s workload.
Rhamondre Stevenson is entering a contract year. If he leaves in free agency — or even if his role simply diminishes due to age or injury — Henderson becomes the clear lead back in a Josh McDaniels offense that runs the ball heavily and, historically, produces Year 2 leaps for developmental backs. McDaniels’s rookie runners typically spend their first season learning the system. Knowshon Moreno, in 2009 with McDaniels in Denver, is the most-cited comparable.
Henderson’s receiving role isn’t going away. He was the first Patriots rookie running back to record six receptions in a season opener, and he caught 35 balls as a rookie in a split role. In a full-feature role, that number climbs. He also provides kickoff return value.
The risk isn’t ability. It’s the backfield competition and the postseason split, which revealed that Henderson still has growing to do as a between-the-tackles runner in high-leverage situations.
For dynasty leagues, he’s a high-confidence buy. For 2026 redraft, hold off until you know Stevenson’s status. If Stevenson is gone, Henderson becomes an RB1 conversation.
Off the Field
His Instagram bio reads: “Jesus Saved My Life | Football Is What I Do, A Child Of God Is Who I Am.” He’s been consistent about this framing since high school.
Henderson was a 4.0 GPA student at Hopewell High School. At Ohio State, he was named an OSU Scholar-Athlete in three of his four seasons and earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition. He participated in a campus religious revival at Ohio State that received coverage in local media, and he has visited schools and faith-based community programs throughout his career. He graduated with a sport industry degree in December 2024 — before the national championship game, before the draft, before any of the money arrived.
He is the son of Trenton Henderson and Lakeesha Hayes. He announced his engagement on September 10, 2025, a few days after his first NFL start.
None of this is performative branding. The faith and the academics predate the platform. He was a 4.0 student in Hopewell, Virginia, before anyone outside of recruiting circles knew his name.
Career Stats Reference
Ohio State — Season by Season:
2021: 183 carries, 1,248 yards, 6.8 YPC, 15 rushing TDs | 27 catches, 312 yards, 4 receiving TDs
2022: 107 carries, 571 yards, 5.3 YPC, 6 rushing TDs | 4 catches, 28 yards, 1 receiving TD
2023: 156 carries, 926 yards, 5.9 YPC, 11 rushing TDs | 14 catches, 103 yards, 2 receiving TDs
2024: 144 carries, 1,014 yards, 7.0 YPC, 10 rushing TDs | 13 catches, 225 yards, 2 receiving TDs
Career college totals: 590 carries, 3,759 yards, 6.4 YPC, 42 rushing TDs | 58 catches, 668 yards, 9 receiving TDs
NFL — 2025 Regular Season: 180 carries, 911 yards, 5.1 YPC, 9 rushing TDs | 35 catches on 43 targets, 221 yards, 1 receiving TD | 17 games played
NFL — 2025 Postseason: 47 carries, 161 yards, 3.4 YPC, 1 rushing TD | 7 catches, 65 yards | 4 games played
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is TreVeyon Henderson?
He was born October 22, 2002, making him 23 years old as of May 2026.
What team does TreVeyon Henderson play for?
The New England Patriots. He was drafted by them in the second round (38th overall) of the 2025 NFL Draft.
What college did TreVeyon Henderson attend?
Ohio State. He played four seasons with the Buckeyes from 2021 to 2024 and graduated with a sport industry degree.
How tall and heavy is TreVeyon Henderson?
5 feet 10.25 inches, 202 pounds, per his NFL Combine measurements.
What is his 40-yard dash time?
4.43 seconds, recorded at the 2025 NFL Combine.
What jersey number does he wear?
He wears No. 10 for the New England Patriots.
What records did he break as a rookie?
Four 50-plus yard touchdown runs in a single season — tying Saquon Barkley’s 2018 rookie record. Two 50-yard rushing touchdowns in the same game, twice in one season — a record shared only with Chris Johnson in 2009. First Patriots player with multiple 50-yard runs in a game since Laurence Maroney in 2007.
Is TreVeyon Henderson married?
No. He announced his engagement to his longtime girlfriend on September 10, 2025.
What is his Instagram handle?
@trey.h.4
How did Henderson do in the Super Bowl?
He had seven carries for 32 yards and three receptions for 26 yards in the Patriots’ 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. Rhamondre Stevenson handled the majority of the backfield workload throughout the postseason.
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