2015 Review
This past season was yet another successful one for the New England Patriots. Despite dealing with a ton of drama surrounding the entire Deflategate scandal, the team finished with a 12-4 record en route to another appearance in the AFC Championship game.
Tom Brady was back to his old tricks as one of the best signal callers in the game, leading New England's offense to a No. 3 ranking in scoring. Meanwhile, Rob Gronkowski led the charge from a pass-catching aspect, tallying nearly 1,200 receiving yards and 11 scores.
Now, heading into 2016, the Patriots will be without Brady for the first four games. That will leave everything up to third-year signal caller Jimmy Garoppolo to hold down the fort for the first quarter of the season. It's in this that we beging out Patriots 2016 fantasy football preview.
Quarterbacks: Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo
Brady is a wild card in every sense of the word. Sure he's suspended for the first four games due to his alleged involvement in the Deflategate scandal. Sure that's going to hurt his fantasy value. Though, it also presents those who have relied on him in the past to acquire even more value here.
Brady has finished among the top eight fantasy quarterbacks on nine of his past 10 full seasons, including a No. 2 ranking last season. During that very same span, Brady has finished in the top three a grand total of six times. With an ADP that currently has him as the ninth quarterback off the board, there's a ton of value to be had here. Go with a bottom-rung QB1 to start the first four games and find optimal value in Brady when he returns in October. It's almost a perfect plan.
Well, actually — the perfect plan here would be to nab Garoppolo as one of your last picks, and rely on him for the first four games, creating optimal value throughout the rest of your roster. Once Brady does return, go ahead and drop Jimmy G for that second tight end or another low-value deep bench option.
Running Backs: LeGarrette Blount, Dion Lewis
Running backs and the Patriots. That's a sentence we've seen act as nothing less than a fantasy black hole in the past. Blount led the team with 703 rushing yards en route to finishing last season as the 29th-best fantasy running back. Back in 2014, Jonas Gray led the team with 412 yards on the ground. In fact, it's been a good five seasons since the Patriots possessed a fantasy relevant player at this position.
Don't expect that to change too much this season. Blount is again seen as the lead back, but he's another fumble or off-field issue from being given the boot. In fact, there were reports early in the summer that his spot on the 53-man roster wasn't safe. He's a must avoid.
And while we do like what Lewis did last season, he's coming off a torn ACL. There's no telling whether he's going to be able to repeat the same performance that saw him tally 622 total yards and four scores in seven games last year. Though, in PPR heavy contests, Lewis could act as a solid late-round pickup. After all, he did record 36 receptions in seven games last season.
Wide Receivers: Julian Edelman
Edelman and PPR. When healthy, the possession receiver has continued to prove himself among the most consistent at this position from a fantasy perspective. He recorded 61 receptions for 692 yards seven touchdowns in nine games last season. This came on the heels of the veteran putting up 197 receptions for over 2,000 yards in the previous two seasons combined.
We're not talking about Julio Jones or Antonio Brown production here. Though, there's little reason to believe he can't act as a bottom-rung WR1 option if healthy all season. With an ADP as the 19th receiver off the board, there's a ton of value here.
Tight Ends: Rob Gronkowski
Not only is Gronkowski the top fantasy tight end in the NFL, his ability to dominate that category could have wide-ranging roster ramifications. We're talking about a guy that has finished first or second in points among tight ends in each of the past four full seasons he's played. Last year alone, Gronk put up 19 more points than the second-best tight end.
Adding him to the mix (ninth overall in ADP) would enable you to look for value at wide receiver later on. That's a true game changer. It changes up your draft strategy, and potentially creates a situation in which you have an advantage over your opponents.
On the other hand, Gronkowski's checkered injury history makes him somewhat of a major gamble in the first round. Should he go down for an extensive period of time, you will surely find yourself in trouble.