Overview
- Head Coach: Bill Belichick
- Defensive Coordinator: Matt Patricia
- Defensive Back Coach: Josh Boyer and Brian Flores
- Base Defense Scheme: 3-4
- Transactions: CB Tarell Brown signed
- Draft Picks: CB Darryl Roberts, SS Jordan Richards
Projected Starters
| CornerBack # 1: | Malcom Butler | |
| CornerBack # 2: | Tarell Brown | |
| Strong Safety : | Pat Chung | |
| Free Safety : | Devin McCourty | |
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The Numbers
Total Fantasy Points Allowed to WR: 305.92 Average Fantasy Points Per game against to WR: 17.6 Total Receiving Touchdowns Allowed: 24 Total Receiving Yards Allowed:2,434 Average Receiving yards per game against: 152.13
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Strengths
The New England Patriots lost some big pieces of their secondary this offseason as Darrell Revis, Brandon Browner, and Kyle Arrington are no longer with the team. However, it’s not all bad news for the Patriots as they still have a strong safety duo in Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty. This unit was ranked third in pass coverage last season and surrendered just 24 receiving touchdowns, as well as holding receivers to 17.6 fantasy points per games, but you have to expect them to drop off a little bit with some of the studs they lost. That being said, Bill Belichick usually finds a way to make it work on the defensive side of the ball. Malcom Butler who caught the interception heard around the world in last year’s Super Bowl and Tarell Brown will be the two starting cornerbacks. While this secondary isn’t as strong as it was last year, it also isn’t a walk in the park either.
Weaknesses
With how dominant this unit was in 2014 it was only a matter of time before the rest of the league came to pillage their talent. New players will be asked to take on bigger roles at the cornerback position. Tarell Brown is the veteran who reports out of camp are saying has the starting corner position locked up. Malcom Butler went undrafted in 2014 which tells you everything you need to know about his measurables. Will he be known for the one super bowl winning play or can he carve out a career in this league? This year will do a lot to build up either one of those narratives.
Overall Outlook
I think savvy DFS players will notice the massive amount of turnover experienced at the corner positions and realize it might be a spot to exploit early in the season. Unfortunately their first game falls on National TV on Thursday Night so if Antonio Brown and the Steelers can exploit this unit it will be fair game in coming weeks. Still they don’t have a scary matchup again until week 4 where they could again be an after thought. Depending on how the Jaguars play in the early part of the year I think they could be a team to stack in Week 3 against the Pats. We will update each week to give you the latest info on how this unit is playing.
