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The New England Patriots added a slew of players in free agency and will get back a good group of COVID-19 opt outs from last season. They will be a better team, but are still missing that key piece at quarterback. They are bringing back Cam Newton, but there’s no doubt they want to upgrade while also finding their quarterback of the future.
With the No. 15 pick, it will be tough to get one of the Top 5 quarterbacks. We know Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson and a third quarterback between Mac Jones, Trey Lance and Justin Fields will be gone in the first three picks. That leaves two quarterbacks that will need to navigate through 11 teams and teams that could trade up to grab them. Could the Patriots be one of those teams? That isn’t the usual tactic Bill Belichick takes, but he also usually doesn’t go hard after free agents. If they can make a deal work, I wouldn’t put it past him this season.
A rookie might not elevate the Patriots fantasy players, but adding a young guy to compete with Newton this season couldn’t hurt. But, overall, this team could again have a dearth of fantasy playable names.
New England Patriots 2021 Draft selections
No. 15: Mac Jones, QB
No. 38. (via CIN): Christian Barmore, DL
No. 96: Ronnie Perkins, LB
No. 120: Rhamondre Stevenson, RB
No. 177: Cameron McGrone, LB
No. 188: Joshuah Bledsoe, S
No. 197: William Sherman, OT
No. 242: Tre Nixon, WR
Fantasy football impact
Is Mac Jones the second coming of Tom Brady? Probably not. But Jones is NFL ready and can fit in Bill Belichick’s offense from Day 1. The Patriots got lucky here and that’s usually bad for the NFL. We can’t expect an offensive explosion out of the Patriots fantasy players, but this pick gives them a better chance this year.
Rhamondre Stevenson
Stevenson is a power runner, who isn’t going to make many guys miss in the open field. But there is value in just how powerful he is. Bill Belichick utilizes three backs usually, and Stevenson could easily find work as early as this season if he can make an impact in short yardage. His upside in fantasy will be low, but if LeGarrete Blount can put up fantasy numbers in this offense, so can Stevenson.