Henderson faces Seahawks, Steelers, Jaguars in weeks 1-3; all top-6 run defenses.

Henderson and Stevenson face a strenuous early-season path starting with the defending champion Seahawks (second-toughest opponent for fantasy RBs in 2025), followed by the Steelers (sixth in that category) and Jaguars (third). Buffalo was a matchup to target last year but may be more interesting given the change in scheme under new coordinator Jim Leonhard. The Patriots leaned heavily on Stevenson during their playoff run when encountering difficult run defenses, though Stevenson wasn't overly effective during that span. A clear answer on which Patriots RB is more valuable may not emerge at the beginning of the season due to this difficult schedule.