New England Patriots Fantasy Outlook: Finding Value outside of Rhamondre Stevenson
As the season grows near it's time to start looking at each and every team in the league to find all the fantasy value you miss when looking at the league as a whole. We will be taking a look at all the key teams and players around the league. Now we wrap up the AFC East with the New England Patriots.
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Is Mac Jones the Worst Starter in Fantasy?
There is zero reason to draft Mac Jones. People can blame the offensive coordinator all they want for his struggles last year, but all his shortcomings were also evident on film as a rookie. His descent was very predictable just like him losing his job by the year's end in 2023 is predictable. Currently, he's being drafted as the QB28 and even that is too high for us. He's a noodle-armed quarterback surrounded by the worst pass catchers in the league in a passing attack that has been anemic since Tom Brady left town. As the QB28 there are four projected NFL starters being drafted after him. They are Jimmy Garroppolo, Ryan Tannehill, Desmond Ridder, and Baker Mayfield. We would draft every one of those guys over Jones this season. Jimmy G, Tannehill, and Mayfield all have at least one elite weapon, and Ridder has potential upside and is surrounded by a ton of potential young superstars. You shouldn't be drafting Jones under any circumstance this year.
Rhamondre Stevenson Has Great Fantasy Value
If you were to tell us that Stevenson was going to finish as the RB1 overall in 2023 we wouldn't say that you're crazy. There is no reason he can't finish as a high-end RB1. The only looming fear is that Bill Belichick does weird things with his running backs sometimes, however, Stevenson is far and away the best player this team has on their offense. Last season he saw 210 carries and 88 targets while splitting snaps with Damien Harris. Harris left in free agency and there is no one of real consequence behind him on the depth chart now. His struggles with fumbles on the goal line are a bit of a concern, but a very fixable issue. We love him at his current ADP as the RB10 and anticipate that he outperforms his price. The Pats did work out Darrell Henderson and Leonard Fournette this week, which all things considered is a good thing. They are going to add someone to that running back room and we'd rather one of them, especially Henderson, rather than Dalvin Cook, Ezekiel Elliott, or Kareem Hunt.
Trying to Find Value at Wide Receiver
As we mentioned earlier the Pats' pass-catchers are putrid. You could argue that someone has to step up but that's not necessarily true. Not with this passing game. The three guys that we are going to focus on are Juju Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker, and Tyquan Thornton. The safest bet here may be Parker while Thornton has the highest ceiling and lowest floor. Juju is the guy in the middle who is essentially interchangeable with Parker from a fantasy perspective. If we are forced to grab one of these guys we are going to roll the dice on Thornton. He's a second-round pick with blazing speed who never really got going last year after missing the start of the season with an injury. Recently, he was diagnosed with a soft-tissue injury that we will have to monitor, nonetheless, we are hoping that clears up well before the start of the season.
Offseason Acquisition at Tight End
The big addition to this offense in the offseason was Mike Gesicki. The Pats will hope that he can bring a dynamic sorely missing from their passing attack. Gesicki comes over from Miami and brings impressive athleticism and outstanding receiving ability if used properly. His ability to block or lack thereof could cost him snaps and his quarterback is terrible, still, he could emerge as a high-upside TE if he ends up being the top pass-catcher in this offense.
New England Patriots Breakout Player
There aren't many to pick from, but it has to be Thornton. A healthy year combined with his sub-4.3 speed on a 6'2 frame could result in a breakout season for the NFL sophomore. Hopefully, the team uses him more like a true receiver than a gadget guy like last season now that Matt Patricia is no longer calling the plays.
New England Patriots Fantasy Sleeper
We didn't mention him earlier, but we are going to go with Pierre Strong. There is a world where he serves in the James White role for this offense and gets a ton of passing work. If Stevenson was to miss time you could lock him in for a handful of receptions every week. He could also get more touches around the end zone than many are expecting if Rhamondre doesn't rebound like we expect him to.
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