With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all. Meet The ...
Troops of Tom Brady. Yes, there are plenty of guys on this team who matter -- not sure if you've heard of Randy Moss, for example -- but this season it is all about the health of Tom Brady. He's going to be nearly a year removed from tearing his ACL in 2008 when the season begins. Now that Matt Cassel is gone, the weight of the team is on Brady's shoulders.
Really, the picture here is perfect. There are guys in the background wearing the same uniform, but they are a bit blurry. Brady is front and center, and the focus of the photo.
The Breakout
Laurence Maroney has had three injury-riddled campaigns in the NFL. He's disappointed his fantasy owners at almost every turn. The Patriots are becoming the new Broncos with their use of the running back by committee approach. So, why in God's name would you want to own Maroney?
Because being contrarian works in fantasy football. You aren't going to have to pay anything to get Maroney, and value is the key here. He's currently going 51st among running backs on Mock Draft Central. He has more talent than the rest of the backfield (only more than Fred Taylor because Taylor's old, though) and he has the potential to be a stud in this league. We've seen it in small doses. He ended the 2007 season on a tear (306 yards and four touchdowns in the last three games).
At 24, he's still barely even begun to hit his full potential and he's determined to stay healthy. Grab him late as your fourth running back. It's not like that can hurt you, but the upside is that of a RB2, should he bust out and show his talent on a consistent basis.
The Bust
I'm going to make a point with this pick: Stephen Gostkowski. He's ranked atop most kicker rankings across the internets, which means some buffoon in your league is going to take him with four rounds to go. Let him. Please do not be the guy who drafts a kicker before the last round. We've seen it all too often. Whether it was Neil Rackers following his insane 2005 season, Adam Vinatieri after he went to the Colts, or Nick Folk last season, you simply can't get good value out of picking a kicker first.
Still, Gostkowski has been picked as high as 93rd overall on Mock Draft Central and is going an average of two rounds higher than Mason Crosby, Robbie Gould and Nate Kaeding. He's going an average of six rounds before Ryan Longwell. What is the separation in points per week between Gostkowski and Longwell going to be this year? Like two?
Some people never learn. Just, please, trust me. No kickers until the last round. Period. Exclamation point!
The Depth Chart
QB1 - Tom Brady
QB2 - Kevin O'Connell
RBBC* - Fred Taylor
RBBC* - Laurence Maroney
RBBC* - Sammy Morris
RB4 - Kevin Faulk
RB5 - BenJarvus Green-Ellis
WR1 - Randy Moss
WR2 - Wes Welker
WR3 - Joey Galloway
WR4 - Greg Lewis
TE1 - Ben Watson
K - Stephen Gostkowski
* RBBC = Running back by committee. Those three will be fighting to be "the man" all year, assuming each stays healthy.
The D/ST
They are, at least slightly, turning the page in New England on the defensive side of the ball. Gone are Rodney Harrison, Junior Seau and Mike Vrabel. Leigh Bodden and Shawn Springs have been added to the secondary. Jerod Mayo heads up the new guard, with help from veteran standbys Adalius Thomas, Tedy Bruschi and Richard Seymour.
They were middle of the pack in sacks last season and didn't take the ball away often -- things kind of necessary to be a successful fantasy defense. There isn't much reason to believe those things will drastically change this season. The team does have mastermind Bill Belichick coaching and only seven teams allowed less points last season, so it would seem they are a much better real defense than fantasy. Thus, they're likely to be overvalued on draft/auction day. Let someone else do the paying/bidding.
The Skinny
Well, you know they have three elite fantasy players, otherwise you shouldn't be playing fantasy football. Brady and Moss are in the argument for the top of their position, and Welker is a must-start, especially in leagues where you get points for receptions. Other than that and what we've discussed above, we should cover three more guys:
1. Fred Taylor is 33 years old and north of 2,400 carries in his illustrious career that somehow contains over 11,000 rushing yards and a single Pro Bowl. The odds of him staying healthy with a near-full workload are really, really bad. The odds of him being overly productive aren't good either -- his yards per carry went down from 5.4 to 3.9 between 2007 and 2008, for example. He's not an enticing option.
2. Sammy Morris was very reliable last season for a short bit before he fell injured. Grabbing both him and Maroney would work as a RB3 tandem. Plus, Morris will get most of the goal-line carries.
3. Joey Galloway is old, true, but he hasn't lost too many steps. He can still run. The Patriots use their third receiver quite frequently, so if he can manage to keep Lewis off the field more often than not, there's a very realistic possibility he gives the Patriots a third 1,000-yard receiver. You don't want to count on him as one of your starters, but throwing him on the bench as a "just in case" guy is a good move.
