While plenty of attention has gone to New England’s offensive upgrades and what that means for the win column, the offseason changes are also drastically influencing fantasy football considerations.
According to ESPN’s Field Yates, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye may be the biggest fantasy beneficiary of the upgrades.
Yates cited Maye’s moderate output last year as a rookie with a less than stellar group surrounding him.
“This was a complete nonfunctioning offense," Yates said of the 2024 team. “The Patriots offense was a disaster in pretty much every way, shape, and form besides Drake Maye last year.
“He was the only part of that offense that was relatively passable."
One major failing that Yates pointed out was the use of Maye as a threat running the ball. The analyst felt that New England’s play callers did not take advantage of Maye’s athleticism enough, but also noted that the quarterback gained plenty of yards with his feet anyway.
“The Patriots did not use Drake Maye as a designed runner once until week 16, week 16,” Yates said. “He averaged 7.8 yards per carry because it was all scrambles, terrible offensive line. Maybe the scrambles go down a little bit but there’s been some suggestions out of New England that Drake Maye could be utilized as a designed runner.
“He’s not a good athlete, he’s not a great athlete, he’s an elite athlete. I think the Josh Allen comps are sort of unfair to anybody because Josh Allen is the NFL’s reigning MVP, but there are some shades of Josh Allen."
Entering year two of Maye, Yates sees a much improved cast around the young quarterback. From the coaching staff to the running backs next to him, Yates sees it all as a benefit to Maye and his fantasy football stock.
“Everything around him is better," Yates said. “It’s a dramatic, and let me emphasize, a dramatic coaching upgrade, about as big as I can recall in a long time.
“Even if the Patriots wide receiver group is not totally certain, just having Stefon Diggs gives them a massive boost. There’s been some solid reviews for their third round pick Kyle Williams who I liked a lot coming out of Washington State.”
As it stands, Yates said that Maye is currently going as the 19th quarterback in ESPN fantasy drafts and the 156th player overall. Based off of what he’s seen, he believes that figure can and should bump up as the regular season approaches.
With all the improvements around him, and with a year in the NFL under his belt, Yates said Maye has the potential to even jump into the top 10 of fantasy quarterbacks at the end of the season.
“The Patriots running game should be better, there will just be more trips to the redzone," Yates said. “It was as bad as it could possibly be. I think there’s real upside here. I think that J.J. (McCarthy) may have a steadier week to week floor, but if you told me that one of these guys made it to quarterback eight, I think Drake Maye has a higher chance of getting there.”
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