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It’s no secret that the New England Patriots haven’t exactly had the ideal offseason. They failed to resign Wes Welker, lost Brandon Lloyd, watched Aaron Hernandez land in jail and aren’t sure quite when Rob Gronkowski will step foot on the field in 2013.
Yikes …
Sure, the team did add Danny Amendola to help fill the void, but he is unproven and has missed 22 games due to injury already in his career. If healthy, Amendola will be an extremely productive part of this Patriots offense, but if the first four seasons are any indication, there may be some bumps and bruises along the way. With that being said, someone else will have to step in and play a huge role in 2013. Knowing the Patriots, it will be difficult to determine just exactly who that might be, but for fantasy owners looking for a late round flier in their drafts this season, here are the candidates to emerge as the Patriots number two wideout across from Amendola.
Julian Edelman
In my eyes, Edelman makes the most sense to step in and produce as the Patriots number two wideout. Among the others in the race to earn the spot, Edelman knows the offense better than anyone, having played with Tom Brady and company all four years of his career. Remember, Edelman showed some flashes as Brady’s guy towards the start of 2012, often lining up in Wes Welker‘s spot. In nine games last year, Edelman caught 21 balls for 235 yards and three scores. A former college quarterback, Edelman has the athleticism and versatility that the Patriots need in their lineup. He’ll line up all over the field for the Patriots, and has a tremendous chance to put up some serious numbers with Brady tossing him the ball. Of course, it’s going to come down to durability, an issue for Edelman thus far in his career. In four seasons, he has yet to play a full 16-game season, missing 16 games during that span. If Edelman can stay on the field, he has the opportunity and talent to make for a major sleeper in 2013.
Donald Jones
A former member of the Buffalo Bills, this may be a bit of a homer pick here, but Jones has some overlooked skills. He doesn’t have breakaway speed by any means (4.56), but has decent size at 6’0″, 208 lbs. Jones will have an opportunity to land a job out of training camp, and like me, the Patriots must have seen something out of the 25-year old when they signed him during free agency. Maybe because Jones has had some of his best games as a professional against the Patriots. Over his last three games against New England, Jones has caught 13 balls for 265 yards and two touchdowns. Perhaps that caught the Patriots’ eyes, but the fact of the matter is, Jones is a sleeper in this receiving corp. He is strong enough to go across the middle and possesses good hands to make the difficult catches. Don’t be surprised if Jones plays a large part in New England’s offense this year.
Aaron Dobson
Dobson is the rookie that has everyone’s attention, but I think people need to slow down the hype train a little bit. There is no denying that Dobson has talent. He was a 2nd round draft pick from the Patriots this season, has a terrific combination of size and speed, as well as very good hands. However, putting your money on a rookie stepping in and playing a huge role in an offense like New England’s. Rookie wide receivers in general rarely produce like top tier fantasy receivers, let alone guys from the Patriots. Their offensive system isn’t the easiest to adjust to. I mean, we have recently seen guys like Chad Johnson and Brandon Lloyd struggle to play like they typically do when under Bill Belichick and company. He has typically been the guy that most fantasy owners have been taking lottery ticket shots on towards the end of their drafts, but quite frankly, I just don’t see it.
If I had to put my money on one of these guys, it would probably be Edelman, barring injury. He knows the system the best, is the guy Brady trusts most and has the track record. Of course, these are all lottery tickets after all, so expect some hiccups over the course of the season.
Adam Pfeifer is a featured fantasy sports columnist for Rant Sports.
You can follow him on Twitter @aPfeiferRS.
