Fantasy team preview: New England Patriots
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Rankings:
- Rotter: Fantasy Fifty | Top 500
- Rotter: QB | RB | WR | TE | K | D/ST
- Harmon: Roundup
QB | RB | RBII | WR | WRII | TE | K | D/ST
Analysis:
Projected fantasy starters
QB1: Tom Brady
QB2: Matt Cassell
RB1: Laurence Maroney
RB2: Kevin Faulk
WR1: Randy Moss
WR2: Wes Welker
WR3: Sam Aiken
WR4: Jabar Gaffney
TE1: Ben Watson
TE2: David Thomas
K: Stephen Gostkowski
1st and 5
• The re-signing of Moss was huge to his and Brady's value. They may not both have record-shattering seasons again, but they'll certainly be near the top of their respective fantasy categories. Neither should last past the end of a second round of any draft.• Brady owners should be delighted with Asante Samuel's departure. The Pats defense already had a tough enough time stopping the pass. But even though the team addressed the defense in the draft, New England's offense may now need to score 40 points to simply win ballgames as opposed to just trying to humiliate their opponents.
• Maroney was a disappointment for most of the season, and a number of owners had actually waived him when the fantasy playoffs began. Maroney then turned around and had an outstanding finish: 306 yards and four touchdowns in his final three games. He also ran very hard during New England's playoff games and would make an excellent top-of-the-second-round pick in most drafts.
• Even though he was never really a primary option in the offense, Donte Stallworth will be missed. Just the threat of having him opened up other options, and Gaffney doesn't command the same level of attention.
• Welker came out of nowhere to post the season he did, and with Stallworth gone, he may become even more involved in the offense. Anyone can catch lightning in a bottle once, though, so he's probably still only worth a fourth- or fifth-round choice.
Draft
This one is pretty simple: New England's defense was getting old, so they spent their first three picks in the draft on defensive players. Their first pick, linebacker Jerod Mayo out of Tennessee, should fit into New England system perfectly both on and off the field; he takes pride in considering himself a student of the game and spends hours on end in the film-room. If Belichick had the power to create his own players, sort of like on your favorite video game system, he'd probably produce something pretty similar to Mayo.
Their first offensive pick was quarterback Kevin O'Connell at the bottom of Round 3 (yeah, as if he'll see any playing time this year).
The only other offensive player they took was former UCLA wideout Matthew Slater, whose value will probably be confined to special teams.
Off-season moves
Key additions: WR Aiken, TE Marcus Pollard
Key subtractions: WR Stallworth, TE Kyle Brady, CB Randall Gay, CB Samuel
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