2013 new england patriots Fantasy Preview
The fantasy dominance of the Patriots will continue in 2013. Tom Brady is still one of your top four fantasy quarterbacks, and Rob Gronkowski is still your number one tight end, even coming off his injury from a year ago. Despite re-breaking his arm in the playoffs I'm not concerned about him being at full strength for the regular season. It's a long way from now until mid-September. And remember, despite missing five full weeks in 2012, he still had the second-most fantasy points for tight ends (Jimmy Graham). Stevan Ridley took over as lead running back and finished 11th overall in fantasy points at the position, but New England swung a deal for LeGarrette Blount during the draft anyway. Ridley won't be able to be comfortable for a second with Blount, Shane Vereen and even Brandon Bolden right behind him. Owners will be nervous about selecting him early and I can't blame them. Why would New England make this trade and introduce another ball-carrier into an already crowded backfield? One or two fumbles at the wrong time (Ridley's bugaboo) and the curtain could close on his act.
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Tom
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QB - Patriots
A complete makeover in the wide receiver department. New England basically exchanged Wes Welker for Danny Amendola and let go disappointing Brandon Lloyd. While Tom Brady will make a weapon out of anyone, can he make this group of WR's fantasy relevant? Amendola becomes the No. 1 WR with Michael Jenkins and Donald Jones newcomers in the mix at the position. I'm not sold on either of the latter two being fantasy relevant enough to draft - after all, Brady was still a machine despite not getting anything out of wideouts not named Welker last year. Rookies Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce will have the opportunity for playing time, but are they draftable? Not right now.
There's not a lot you can call a 'sleeper' in New England - even the defense ranked 4th overall in fantasy points in 2012. But if I had to, I would say Shane Vereen. Even despite Ridley's breakout season a year ago, he wore down a little at the tail end of the season to go along with his ball-security issues. I can't see Vereen eating into Ridley's production enough for him to be fantasy relevant off the bat, however it's possible as the season goes on his role increases, especially if Ridley continues to fumble. Blount will also have an opportunity for carries but I like Vereen a little bit more. Especially with Danny Woodhead gone, Vereen is the in position for a larger workload by default, since he'll inherit Woodhead's snaps. Amendola is a big risk for me. It's naïve to think he's suddenly going to duplicate Welker's production just because he's stepping into his position. But bigger for me is that he simply can't stay on the field. He' s going to rise up draft boards because owners will salivate over his potential, but I can't suddenly think he's going to play 16 games. It's going to be very hard for me to draft him because of that.
| POS | FIRST | SECOND | THIRD | OTHER |
| QB | Tom Brady | Ryan Mallett | Tim Tebow | - |
| RB | Stevan Ridley | Shane Vereen | Brandon Bolden | LeGarrette Blount |
| WR | Danny Amendola | Aaron Dobson | Kenbrell Thompkins | Michael Jenkins |
| TE | Rob Gronkowski | Jake Ballard | Michael Hoomanawanui | - |
| K | Stephen Gostkowski | - | - | - |
( ) Projected Round
| # | Name | Pos. Rank |
| 1 | Tom Brady | 5 |
| 2 | Rob Gronkowski | 2 |
| 3 | Stevan Ridley | 14 |
| 4 | Danny Amendola | 18 |
| 5 | Patriots defense | 6 |
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Top 30 Fantasy PlayersIn recent seasons, the New England Patriots have been a gold mine for fantasy owners looking for talent. But did anyone else join Stevan Ridley on the list of top fantasy options for the 2013 season? View
