2016 New England Patriots Team Preview

2015 Fantasy Recap

The 2015 New England Patriots ranked third in points scored and sixth in yards so you know there was fantasy goodness all over the field for them in 2015.  At the forefront of such goodness was once again quarterback Tom Brady who finished with over 4,700 yards and 36 touchdowns against only seven interceptions and was the second overall quarterback with 335 points.  Offensive weapons Rob Gronkowski at tight end and Julian Edelman were again a large reason for the Patriot’s success.  Gronkowski led all tight ends with almost 1,200 yards and 11 scores and Edelman added another almost 700 yards and seven touchdowns in only nine games.  The surprise of the season, however, was running back Dion Lewis who came out of relative obscurity after bouncing around camps with a couple of teams to rush for 234 yards and two scores while adding another 388 yards through the air and two more touchdowns.  Unfortunately for both the Patriots and fantasy owners Lewis only made it through 7 games before tearing his ACL and ending his season.  James White and LeGarrette Blount did pick up the slack but were mostly hit or miss throughout the remainder of the season. 

Key Additions and Losses

Additions:

• Martellus Bennett, TE
• Chris Hogan, WR
• Nate Washington, WR
• Donald Brown, RB

Losses:

• Brandon LaFell, WR
• Scott Chandler, TE

QuarterBack Fantasy Outlook

Up until a couple of weeks ago when the “Deflategate” saga finally came to a close with Tom Brady accepting his league-mandated four-game suspension the quarterback outlook was a lot better.  However, even with only 12 games on tap for the star this year promises to be another good one as the patriots have surrounded him with potentially more weapons than he has ever had.  Brady has thrown for over 25 touchdowns for seven straight seasons including over 33 in five of those.  You will obviously need to find yourself a solid backup option to get through the first four weeks of the season but I fully expect the Patriots to be running up the score and playing angry when he comes back in week 5.

Grade: A-

 Running Back Fantasy Outlook

As per usual the Patriots running back stable has questions and isn’t really known as reliable in the world of fantasy.  As mentioned above, Dion Lewis burst onto the scene last year and displayed a quickness and elusiveness that hasn’t been seen in a Patriots Running Back in quite some time.  But coming off a major injury and having such a small sample size for success in the NFL puts him square in the question mark category as someone who could be a stud or a complete dud.  If you do draft him early I would certainly suggest taking a flier on James White late in the draft as well to protect your investment.  LeGarrette Blount will be serviceable for some games since he will receive the majority of the red zone carries and will rack up touchdowns again but your guess is as good as mine as to which games will be gold and which games will not.  Personally, I choose to avoid choices like that although he will have increased value again if Lewis does find himself injured again this year.

Grade:  B

Wide Receiver Fantasy Outlook

Edelman is exactly the type of receiver I like to have on my team because he is targeted a ton, has a great catch rate and will get you a steady amount of points each week.  The ceiling might not be as high as some of the other stud wide receiver but you can get him for far less draft capital and rest easy knowing he is going to get you a steady number of points.  Chris Hogan is another intriguing weapon in this offense as he could fill the role Brandon LaFell played a couple of years ago when he had almost 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns.  The downside, however, is that outside of Edelman and his tight ends, Brady doesn’t really lock into any one receiver so it’s hard to trust anyone else.

Grade:  B-

Tight End Fantasy Outlook

There’s not much you can say about Gronkowski other than you want him on your team.  However, a lot of people don’t like to draft tight ends in the first few rounds and I understand that but Gronk offers such a positional advantage he’s definitely worth the first round pick you are using on him.  There aren’t a lot of tight ends in the league who get as many targets as Gronk and no other tight end converts those targets into touchdowns as often as Gronk who has 65 touchdowns in just 69 games started. This year the Patriots also added Martellus Bennett from the Bears to give them as much talent at the position as they’ve had since Aaron Hernandez and Gronk presented such a nightmare to defenses.  Bennett has all the talent in the world but has never really lived up to his potential.  This year, however, he’s playing for a contract and in an offensive system which favors two tight ends and certainly spreads the ball around enough to make both relevant.  If you own Gronk you definitely want Bennett but Bennett will absolutely have value on his own as a streaming option or even if you want to wait really late to draft the position.

Grade:  A-

Defensive Fantasy Outlook

Last year the Patriots ranked 10th in points against and 9th in yards against and finished as the 10th ranked fantasy defense in most formats.  I actually expect them to improve in this area as they’re young defensive backfield continues to mature, their linebackers look to increase their value going into contract negotiations, and the defensive line is upgraded with the additions of Terrance Knighton at tackle and Chris Long at Defensive End.  Yes, they lost Chandler Jones but I believe with the secondary continuing to improve they will still generate pressure and deliver on sacks and interceptions.

Grade: B

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