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Okay, let's debut our 32 NFL Teams In 32 Days series by starting with the AFC East. New England remains the dominant team in the AFC East, so we'll lead this off with the team that finshed second in the division at 11-5 despite losing Tom Brady for all but a few minutes of the 2008 season.

What we'll do with this series is analyze last year's performers, take a look at the depth charts for each team, look at the top players' current ADPs and ask our members for a little insight on each team. It would be great if NFFC members who live in those parts of the country can give us some inside camp news or insights and add to the data we've already presented. We have owners in every part of the country, so let's help each other out and keep each of these threats current with news.

Here's a look at the Patriots for 2009:

Projected lineups, with starters first:

QB: Tom Brady, Kevin O'Connell, Matt Gutierrez

RB: Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney, Fred Taylor, BenJarvus Green-Ellis

WR: Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Joey Galloway, Greg Lewis, Brandon Tate, Sam Aiken, Julian Edelman

TE: Ben Watson, Chris Baker, Alex Smith

K: Stephen Gostkowski

2008 Record: 11-5, First Place
2009 Prediction: 10-6, First Place

Current Average Draft Positions on MockDraftCentral.com using NFFC scoring system:

Tom Brady: 26th, ranked 21st in Fantasy Sports Magazine
Randy Moss: 14th
Wes Welker: 28th
Stephen Gostkowski: 133rd
Sammy Morris: 139th
Laurence Maroney: 141st
New England D: 160th
Kevin Faulk: 197th
Ben Watson: 289th

Analysis: Brady's stock is on the rise and he's now going No. 1 among QBs, even ahead of Drew Brees. He's been going 20th or earlier in several pay leagues recently. He won't approach 2007's record breaking season of 50 TD passes and 4,807 yards, but a season of 4,000 yards and 28-30 TD passes is certainly in the cards.

Randy Moss remains a solid pick at the first-second round turn and that won't change if Brady remains healthy. We're projecting a season of 85 catches, 1,310 yards and 12 TDs, up from last year's season of 69-1,008-11.

Welker is going early in the third round and is a Top 11 wideout in most drafts. He has had back-to-back seasons of 112 catches for 1,175 yards and 111 catches for 1,165 yards and with Brady back we are projecting similar numbers of 105-1,140-7.

The backfield is a mess for the Patriots, but what's new? Owners are unsure of this situation and are taking Morris and Maroney around the start of the 10th round. Bill Belichick seems to favor the tougher veteran Morris, who rushed for 727 yards and 7 TDs last year in 13 games. We're predicting a season of 720 rushing yards, 155 receiving yards and six total TDs. But Maroney is the upside play here if he ever can stay healthy. He's apparently fully recovered from last year's shoulder injury, but let's see how long that lasts.

Gostkowski is being the first kicker taken after leading the league last year with 148 points. He converted 36-of-40 FG attempts last year, including 9-of-11 from 40-49 yards.

Defensively, the Patriots are being picked higher than expected. They forced only 29 turnovers last year with only 31 sacks and had just one defensive/special teams TD. We have them ranked 14th among all defenses.

The Patriots have three veteran tight ends, but none of them are fantasy worthy this year. Watson just can't stay healthy and is nothing more than a backup fantasy TE these days.

This team scored 410 points without Brady last year -- second highest in the AFC. With a healthy Tom Brady back, this team has the potential to lead the NFL in scoring, in total offense and in passing yardage. Brady is hungry for a successful return and that could lead to increased production for everyone involved. The key, of course, is his knee. Let's see how it looks in live action and act accordingly.

Who has some inside info or insights into this team? Thoughts on the Patriots for 2009? Predictions on the team's record or our projected stats? Let's see them and keep this thread current throughout the off-season. Thanks all.

[ July 17, 2009, 12:56 PM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

nice job!!!

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
Brady is hungry for a successful return and that could lead to increased production for everyone involved. The key, of course, is his knee. Let's see how it looks in live action and act accordingly.
This is BY FAR the key to Tom Brady....seeing how he does when he ISN'T wearing the red jersey.

Luckily I will be going to the Redskins-Patriots 3rd preseason game (normally the one where the starters play at least a half), and will be curious to see how Brady handles the rush (that is if the Redskins have one! )

Until preseason, it is all just speculation on how Brady looks this year at QB.

Well, I'll start with giving you guys a quick background of myself.

This will be my 1st year in the NFFC. I will be doing the Main Classic. I felt it was time to join the high stakes game after doing very well in lower level leagues and some local leagues for the last few years. I have been doing Fantasy Football since 1998. I also joined the NFBC this year too. After speaking with Shawn Childs I felt this was the place I needed to compete in moving forward (The best of the Best). I currently live about 1 hour 1/2 north of NY city. I'm married with 1 boy and own my own business. I moved here 6 years ago from Boston and I'm a big Pats fan. OK, thanks for listening guys and let's move on to the topic of this thread.

Pats record 09 - 14-2

I think the projected stats for Moss and Brady are pretty conservative. When you look at their schedule I don't think there is a team defense that will be able to match up with Brady and Moss. FYI: Ravens D will regress. Reason: Key personnel losses in off-season.

That being said I do think that to start the year the Pats will take advantage of their stable of backs and run the ball more than people expect. This will also allow Brady to get comfortable back there, under real game conditions. I don't see Belichick playing Brady much in the preseason.

Running backs:
The most valuable RB for Fantasy and real life will be Faulk. Taylor, Morris and Maroney will cancel each other out. Unless someone gets hurt Faulk is the guy to have and based on where he is being selected, a pretty good value.

TE's:
Not worth talking about as Baker and Smith were brought in to block and Watson sees a small amount of targets in their base 3 WR set.

Defense:
I think this defense will surprise people. Adding Springs and Bodden is an upgrade from what they had last year and they got very young through the draft by selecting FS-Chung, CB-Butler and DT-Brace all in the 2nd rd. The other thing that will help this defense is the offense. Chances of the other team making mistakes and turnovers become much higher when you have to play from behind.


Look forward to contributing on these boards now and in the future. Thanks

The Patriots cheat.

That is all.

Signed,
Jets_Fan

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

RB: Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney, Fred Taylor, BenJarvus Green-Ellis Wait a second. Laurence Maroney is 3rd on the depth chart? This can't be right. I thought he was the real deal!

Originally posted by Pats_12:
Well, I'll start with giving you guys a quick background of myself.

This will be my 1st year in the NFFC. I will be doing the Main Classic. I felt it was time to join the high stakes game after doing very well in lower level leagues and some local leagues for the last few years. I have been doing Fantasy Football since 1998. I also joined the NFBC this year too. After speaking with Shawn Childs I felt this was the place I needed to compete in moving forward (The best of the Best). I currently live about 1 hour 1/2 north of NY city. I'm married with 1 boy and own my own business. I moved here 6 years ago from Boston and I'm a big Pats fan. OK, thanks for listening guys and let's move on to the topic of this thread.

Pats record 09 - 14-2

I think the projected stats for Moss and Brady are pretty conservative. When you look at their schedule I don't think there is a team defense that will be able to match up with Brady and Moss. FYI: Ravens D will regress. Reason: Key personnel losses in off-season.

That being said I do think that to start the year the Pats will take advantage of their stable of backs and run the ball more than people expect. This will also allow Brady to get comfortable back there, under real game conditions. I don't see Belichick playing Brady much in the preseason.

Running backs:
The most valuable RB for Fantasy and real life will be Faulk. Taylor, Morris and Maroney will cancel each other out. Unless someone gets hurt Faulk is the guy to have and based on where he is being selected, a pretty good value.

TE's:
Not worth talking about as Baker and Smith were brought in to block and Watson sees a small amount of targets in their base 3 WR set.

Defense:
I think this defense will surprise people. Adding Springs and Bodden is an upgrade from what they had last year and they got very young through the draft by selecting FS-Chung, CB-Butler and DT-Brace all in the 2nd rd. The other thing that will help this defense is the offense. Chances of the other team making mistakes and turnovers become much higher when you have to play from behind.


Look forward to contributing on these boards now and in the future. Thanks Great post with lots of opinions. Now this is what we're looking for. Welcome to the NFFC boards and to the NFFC Classic. Shawn didn't lead you astray when he sent you here and you're off to a good start already in baseball, so good luck the rest of the way.

I have a feeling those Jets fans won't agree with all of the predictions by you, but that's the beauty of it. They don't have much to brag about right now. We'll feature the Jets tomorrow morning and try to make this a daily morning feature going forward. Thanks again and good luck to your Pats this year.

Anyone else have some New England insight?

I'll comment on the RB situation. The Pats are like Indianopolis in that you know they are going to score, one of these mediocre RB's could easily rush for 10+ TD's, but you don't know who that is going to be.

I agree with Pats Fan 1 2 that they are going to run more this year. That 2007 group just wasn't a Belichick team. They lost to the Giants because they couldn't pound the ball when they finally needed to. I see them trying to balance the two this year.

When you watch the reports out of camp, the key guy to watch is Maroney. They would like him to do well, but the organization HAS HAD IT with him. He ran off a long run in a playoff game 2 years ago. Kraft was caught in an NFL Films clip saying something along the lines of, "its about time that he did something." If they liked Maroney, they would not have brought in Taylor. I believe that Maroney is in the last year of his contract. They may cut him if he has a bad camp. If he has a good camp, they will mix and match healthy bodies from week to week.

They like Morris, and he will perform well . . . when he plays . . . which is probably 5-8 games per year.

That brings us to Fred Taylor. I agree with Snake that they didn't bring in Fred Taylor to sit on the bench as the #4 RB. If he is in shape, he will get carries. But when healthy, Morris is the better back. I don't see Taylor as the 1st & Goal guy, barring injuries.

Kevin Faulk is getting too much love lately. The Boston Globe just wrote a piece this week suggesting that he should be the starting RB. That is bull****. He has never performed well as an every down back. But in certain games, the Pats dink-and-dunk their way down the field and he puts up good numbers, especially in the NFFC scoring format. Good late round Draft Champion pick, or super-emergency RB, but nothing else.

BJGE is a worthy waiver wire pickup if someone goes down. Wish we had a 41 round DC so that I could stash him somewhere.

I'll probably take my boys to a training camp practice or two (ironically, they do not allow any cameras, don't understand why???????). I'll post if I see anything interesting.

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
Okay, let's debut our 32 NFL Teams In 32 Days series by starting with the AFC East. New England remains the dominant team in the AFC East, so we'll lead this off with the team that won the division at 11-5 despite losing Tom Brady for all but a few minutes of the 2008 season.

What we'll do with this series is analyze last year's performers, take a look at the depth charts for each team, look at the top players' current ADPs and ask our members for a little insight on each team. It would be great if NFFC members who live in those parts of the country can give us some inside camp news or insights and add to the data we've already presented. We have owners in every part of the country, so let's help each other out and keep each of these threats current with news.

Here's a look at the Patriots for 2009:

Projected lineups, with starters first:

QB: Tom Brady, Kevin O'Connell, Matt Gutierrez

RB: Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney, Fred Taylor, BenJarvus Green-Ellis

WR: Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Joey Galloway, Greg Lewis, Brandon Tate, Sam Aiken, Julian Edelman

TE: Ben Watson, Chris Baker, Alex Smith

K: Stephen Gostkowski

2008 Record: 11-5, First Place
2009 Prediction: 10-6, First Place

Current Average Draft Positions on MockDraftCentral.com using NFFC scoring system:

Tom Brady: 26th, ranked 21st in Fantasy Sports Magazine
Randy Moss: 14th
Wes Welker: 28th
Stephen Gostkowski: 133rd
Sammy Morris: 139th
Laurence Maroney: 141st
New England D: 160th
Kevin Faulk: 197th
Ben Watson: 289th

Analysis: Brady's stock is on the rise and he's now going No. 1 among QBs, even ahead of Drew Brees. He's been going 20th or earlier in several pay leagues recently. He won't approach 2007's record breaking season of 50 TD passes and 4,807 yards, but a season of 4,000 yards and 28-30 TD passes is certainly in the cards.

Randy Moss remains a solid pick at the first-second round turn and that won't change if Brady remains healthy. We're projecting a season of 85 catches, 1,310 yards and 12 TDs, up from last year's season of 69-1,008-11.

Welker is going early in the third round and is a Top 11 wideout in most drafts. He has had back-to-back seasons of 112 catches for 1,175 yards and 111 catches for 1,165 yards and with Brady back we are projecting similar numbers of 105-1,140-7.

The backfield is a mess for the Patriots, but what's new? Owners are unsure of this situation and are taking Morris and Maroney around the start of the 10th round. Bill Belichick seems to favor the tougher veteran Morris, who rushed for 727 yards and 7 TDs last year in 13 games. We're predicting a season of 720 rushing yards, 155 receiving yards and six total TDs. But Maroney is the upside play here if he ever can stay healthy. He's apparently fully recovered from last year's shoulder injury, but let's see how long that lasts.

Gostkowski is being the first kicker taken after leading the league last year with 148 points. He converted 36-of-40 FG attempts last year, including 9-of-11 from 40-49 yards.

Defensively, the Patriots are being picked higher than expected. They forced only 29 turnovers last year with only 31 sacks and had just one defensive/special teams TD. We have them ranked 14th among all defenses.

The Patriots have three veteran tight ends, but none of them are fantasy worthy this year. Watson just can't stay healthy and is nothing more than a backup fantasy TE these days.

This team scored 410 points without Brady last year -- second highest in the AFC. With a healthy Tom Brady back, this team has the potential to lead the NFL in scoring, in total offense and in passing yardage. Brady is hungry for a successful return and that could lead to increased production for everyone involved. The key, of course, is his knee. Let's see how it looks in live action and act accordingly.

Who has some inside info or insights into this team? Thoughts on the Patriots for 2009? Predictions on the team's record or our projected stats? Let's see them and keep this thread current throughout the off-season. Thanks all. Ummmm....the Patriots didn't make the playoffs last year.

I heard from a friend that Moss will be throwing a few times this year.