Is there fantasy value on the Patriots offense this season? | Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast
In the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast, Matt Harmon and Frank Schwab break down what they expect to see from the New England Patriots offense this season, and debate if there is fantasy value anywhere on the team.
Video Transcript
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MATT HARMON: But I want to talk about the Patriots offense specifically. Because it was about as much of a clown show, not from an on-field perspective, but who's calling plays at what time of the game. You got Matt Patricia and Joe Judge on the sideline together.
But you know what, Frank, there's a part of me that thinks, because it's Bill Belichick and because it's the Patriots-- and I know that's kind of crutch analysis-- but what if this works? Because I still-- I don't know about you. I still believe in Mac Jones. And I'm watching Jakobi Meyers right now charting his routes and stuff like that, and I think he's still a pretty good player. And I think they have pretty good players from a pass-catching standpoint.
So where are you at with this Patriots offense after what we've seen in preseason and, obviously, the extremely weird headlines all throughout training camp?
FRANK SCHWAB: You know, I write, obviously, these team previews every summer, and I've done it for 10 years. And I'm to the point where I just treat the New England Patriots differently than everybody else. Any other headlines that would affect different teams, whether it's weirdness in a coaching staff or losing personnel guys, it just doesn't affect the New England Patriots.
And that's because Bill Belichick is the greatest coach of all time. He is. I'm sorry. I know people are-- oh, my God, I hate the Patriots. Well, that's fine. Bill Belichick is genius. He is. And it works out for the Patriots better than everybody else. So do I sit here and say, oh, I think Matt Patricia's going to be fine as an offensive coordinator? No, I don't. I don't think that, logically. But I also time after time, this works out for the New England Patriots.
Everybody's freaking out about those camp reports about, oh, they can't block anybody. How many times-- Matt, how many times have we gone through an NFL season where we're even, mid-October, like, oh, this is it, Patriots are done. They're screwed. And then they just figure it out and win the rest of the season. When I did my rankings, the two teams I got the most grief about were having the Cowboys too high-- I had them five-- and I had the Patriots at nine.
MATT HARMON: Oh, wow.
FRANK SCHWAB: Yeah. Yeah, we can get into that. The Patriots at nine, and you know why? It's because I looked at what they did last year-- and I don't overrate what you do in the playoffs. Yes, the Patriots got blown out by the Bills last year. You know what else? They were a top-10 team all season. They led the AFC East over the Bills after that big wind game where the Patriots ran 38 straight times. The Patriots were a good football team last year.
Now Josh McDaniel is a great offensive coordinator. I get that. But let's not completely throw out the Patriots just because you hate the Patriots and because there's been weirdness. They always figure it out. They were a really good team last year. They had a top-10 DVOA offense last year with a rookie quarterback, who's going to get better. They added DeVante Parker, who is a pretty good receiver. I know they lost some stuff on the line and all that.
But they still have two really good running backs. And if you can figure out that running back situation, you could profit on their ADP. And receivers-- like you said, Meyers is a good player who's due for some positive touchdown regression. DeVante Parker-- when the Patriots go get a guy, especially a guy from the division, I listen because Bill Belichick knows what he's doing, generally. Maybe not at receiver all the time. But in trades, he's a little bit better.
And Hunter Henry is a viable tight end. So if you're just like, oh, the Patriots offense is going to be awful this year, I'm fading them all, I think that's wrong. And I think you can pivot off that and find some good value with that offense.
MATT HARMON: And I think Mac Jones might be pretty good.
FRANK SCHWAB: I do too.
MATT HARMON: And that--
FRANK SCHWAB: Why have we completely-- we have completely disregarded that possibility all offseason. It's not that I think the Patriots going to be a top-five offense because I really don't. But it's that everybody has jumped ship on the Patriots now. Everybody thinks they're going to be the worst offense in the league, if you listen to some people. And that's when you swoop in and you say, uh uh, they're not that bad. There's an overreaction here, and I could profit off it.
MATT HARMON: Hunter Henry scored all those touchdowns last year. He's going as like tight end 20 in consensus ADP.
FRANK SCHWAB: Nobody likes him. I don't like him, to be honest.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, it's like whatever. I don't think he's going to score those touchdowns again with the amount of wide receivers that they have there. But, yeah, I'm a big Jakobi Meyers fan. And even Tyquan Thornton, their rookie receiver--
FRANK SCHWAB: He's looked good.
MATT HARMON: --might--
FRANK SCHWAB: He's looked good.
MATT HARMON: He's looked good. And it might all be-- I think all of these guys are role players, but they fit really well within their roles. Tyquan Thornton, if he can make an impact as a rookie just as a speed guy, I think that's going to-- that might push Nelson Agholor off the roster. He might be a guy that they trade close to the roster cut time. So, yeah, I think there's some reason to kind of feel like the Patriots offense is a little underrated, or at least can be values for fantasy.
