Fantasy Football Rankings: Patriots Lack Stars, Stats?
FOXBORO -- With the summer heat building and NFL offseason starting to wrap up, football season is just around the corner. Which, of course, means so is fantasy football season.
Pro Football Focus has dropped its list of its Top 150 fantasy football players, and the list contains some familiar names for New England Patriots fans.
The operative word there is "some." After an offseason that was met with much scrutiny by the general football media and the Patriots offense being so heavily underrated as a result, no one really expects much from the young squad.
The highest-ranked New England player on the list is running back Damien Harris who comes in at a whopping 94th place. Harris is also ranked as the 34th running back.
The fourth-year power back from Alabama has quickly become on of the best pure runners in the NFL, consistently generating extra yardage after contact. In 2021, the bell cow logged 929 yards and 15 touchdowns on 202 rush attempts for a fantastic 4.6 yards per carry.
Considering the youth of the team's pass attack, Harris will likely continue to see a large volume of carries for the team this season.
Next on the list is wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who is ranked at No. 115, or 56th out of all wide receivers.
Meyers' low ranking in fantasy somewhat makes sense; the fourth-year receiver set the NFL record for most catches without a touchdown before his inaugural score in Week 10 against the Cleveland Browns.
The only other Patriots player on the list is running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who comes in at No. 134 overall and No. 45 among all running backs.
Stevenson was a rare running back selection by Bill Belichick in that he didn't have a traditional "redshirt" year. As a rookie, there were moments were the entire New England offense ran solely through Stevenson.
While Harris and Stevenson are both top notch running backs, their low fantasy rankings somewhat check out. The offense has traditionally operated with a committee approach at the position, and there is no indication that this will change, even with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels' departure.
The Patriots offense clearly lacks true superstars. However, given the team's track record over the last 20 years, there remains hope that the offense can recapture the firepower that once defined a dynasty.
