
QB
(+) He still has the ultimate weapon to throw to in Randy Moss, still throws the best long-ball in the game, and is now two years removed from his knee surgery
(+) Welker is cutting in OTAs and looks like he could be good to start in Week 1
(+) Gisele only bangs him during the weeks after he has a 300-yard game
(+) New England has been a pass-heavy team the past 5 years and Bill Belichick loves to run up the score
(–) New England has been in the top-6 in rushing TDs each of the past 4 years
(–) The surgeries and infections following his 2008 injury will affect his knee for the rest of his career
(–) The Patriots look like a team on the downside of the bell-curve
RB
(+) Maroney is the RB1 on a Patriots team that has been in the top-3 in rushing TDs over the past 5 years
(+) He finally seems to get it as he set career highs in carries and TDs last season
(+) Laurence is a former 1st-round pick who still feels he has something to prove
(–) Welker could still be out for a good amount of games in 2010 – Maroney had his worst games of the season when Welker was out in 2009
(–) The Patriots own one of the most crowded backfields in the NFL (Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, BenJarvis Green-Ellis)
(+) The RBBC committee that the Patriots employ should provide Fred Taylor some carries
(–) Fred has struggled to stay healthy his entire career and now he’s 34-years old with 2,491 carries (21st all-time) and 11,540 yards (15th all-time); he cannot be a workhorse
(–) It’s very difficult to predict what Belichick will do with his RBBC, but you have to lean towards Maroney getting the biggest cut of carries
(–) This offense will live and die on Brady’s shoulder, and while there could be some nice Red Zone chances for an RB on this team, Taylor offers little in the pass game
(+) Faulk still remains the 3rd-down back on a team that passes the ball well and often
(+) Makes the most of every play and is one of coach Belichick’s favorites
(+) Has great hands out of the backfield, runs the draw and screen plays well, and is a good blocker despite his diminutive size (5’8”, 202 lbs)
(+) He has a decent amount of value in PPR leagues
(–) Will never take on more of a role than as a change-of-pace back
(–) Has never been much of a touchdown guy in his career (31 TDs in 11 years)
(–) At 34-years old, he could be on his last legs
WR
(+) Moss has double-digit TDs in 9 of his 12 years in the league
(+) Put up 1,000+ yards in every year he played 16 games (which is 10 out of 12 years)
(+) Even at 33 years old, he still has better skills than 99% of WRs in the league
(+) Contract year baby!
(+) Tom Brady throws the best long-ball in the NFL
(–) Wes Welker’s injury
(–) Plays against Darrelle Revis twice a year, plus he’s prone to taking the occasional game off
(+) Welker missed 3 games and still had 123 catches and 1,348 yards on the season
(+) Tom Brady may sleep with Gisele on most nights, but he sleeps with Welker on Sundays
(+) Each year, Welker is an undersized underdog that continually feels the need to prove his critics wrong – 2010 will certainly be no exception
(+) If there’s a PPR Hall-of-Fame, Wes would be the first inductee
(–) In the past three years, he has 347 catches (most in the NFL), yet only 15 touchdowns
(–) Welker is coming back from offseason ACL/MCL surgery along with lingering shoulder problems
(–) Due to his competitive nature, he may come back before he’s fully healed
(+) The Wes Welker injury could limit him more than most think, and Edelman is a clear plug-in for a lot of targets if that should come true
(+) When Welker was out last year (4 games, including playoffs), Edelman caught 27 balls and 2 TDs
(+) Brady should be back to his old tricks feeling more confident with his rebuilt knee, and if he looks anything like he did in ’07, we all know there will be plenty of lovin’ to go around in this offense
(–) We haven’t really seen what a team can do defensively against Edelman if they try to game-plan for him
(–) New England has a pretty lousy pass schedule this year coming in at 23rd
(–) If Welker is able to come back and make an impact, Edelman’s targets will be down a ton
TE
Alge Crumpler

































