Never Too Early: New England Patriots Fantasy Preview

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, Fantasy FanHouse is here to preview each and every team. Listen closely, you're almost guaranteed to win your FREE fantasy football league, only over at Fleaflicker.

Meet The ...
Oh please. Like you have to be introduced to these guys. They -- like all of Boston at this point -- have reached their saturation point. I still don't dislike them, per se (I'm a Bears fan, so I really don't care), but I'm getting a little sick of the entire New England area. Don't they need a wake up call? The world doesn't revolve around you. The thing is, though, it's not an exaggeration to say the sports world kind of does. Gotta face reality. These guys are too good to ignore.

The Breakout
As the passing game was keyed upon a lot more by opponents, Laurence Maroney came on very strong at the end of last season. He went for 306 yards on 59 carries in the last three games. Oh, and he scored four times. He's entering his third season, and now the Patriots have signed on Lamont Jordan. That hurts his fantasy value, right? Well, yes and no. He'll be spelled by Jordan for sure, but that's only gonna keep him fresh throughout the season. Also, it's probably gonna scare off owners and make him a lot cheaper than he should be. Get him as your third RB, and you'll reap the rewards.

The Bust
If you can stay with me in the reality that a bust is defined as someone who fails to live up to expectations, both Tom Brady and Randy Moss are busts for this season. Brinson already covered them in a great post, but the bottom line is that you'll have to use a first-round pick on either guy, and neither is worth it when you consider a myriad of factors.

The Depth Chart
QB1 - Tom Brady
QB2 - Matt Cassel
RB1 - Laurence Maroney
RB2 - Lamont Jordan
RB3 - Sammy Morris
RB4 - Kevin Faulk
WR1 - Randy Moss
WR2 - Wes Welker
WR3 - Jabar Gaffney
WR4 - Chad Jackson
TE1 - Ben Watson
TE2 - Marcus Pollard
K - Stephan Gostkowski

The D/ST
They were a top-five unit last year -- shocking, I know -- but there are some issues that would concern me. I know, I know ... you have the guru/genius Bill Belichick at the helm, so everything's always rosy (seriously, Boston, get over yourselves already). They are getting old -- Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, etc. -- and they lost a playmaker in Asante Samuel. Downgrade them a bit and take them in the later top ten of fantasy defenses. Still usable, but don't pay for last year -- just like the rest of the team. It was a one-time ride that we won't see again for many years, if ever.

The Skinny
They're loaded for sure. Really loaded. Brady, Moss, and Welker are all elite studs, while Maroney, the D/ST, and the kicker (I'm done using their names in these for obvious reasons) are solid starts. Watson will produce better numbers than last year and be startable as well.

Still, they aren't going undefeated again, Brady and Moss aren't setting records again, and even Welker's gonna be hard pressed to repeat those numbers. The whole team just seems too overvalued right now, so just please be careful on draft day.