The New England Patriots are an enigma. Their quarterback, Drake Maye, is a young Justin Herbert. Right down to a pretty bad room of weapons around him to start his young career. They tried to rectify that situation in free agency and the draft, spending big on Stefon Diggs and adding TreVeyon Henderson to the team. What can we expect from the 2025 iteration of the New England Patriots’ offense for fantasy football? Let’s get going!
Overdrafted:
TreVeyon Henderson, Running Back (RB22, Pick 60 Overall)
Don’t get me wrong, TreVeyon Henderson is an eminently talented player. He and Quinshon Judkins made sweet music at Ohio State, with TreVeyon Henderson going for the big play role in the offense. That’s something that he could do again in this offense, if a lot of things go his way. With an iffy offense and even iffy offensive line, I doubt the Patriots will have enough high power in them to make drafting TreVeyon a fruitful endeavor.
This is doubly true when you consider that he and Rhamondre Stevenson likely end up in a 60/40 split, which significantly reduces his upside in the Patriots’ offense. Rhamondre is no slouch and is an excellent complement as a grinder next to Henderson’s long-range touchdown ability. While Rhamondre’s efficiency has waned in recent years, he saw the writing on the wall with the Henderson selection and whipped himself into shape, accepting that this will be a timeshare.
He’s going in the same range as D’Andre Swift, who is a no-questions-asked starter if you need a running back in his range, but I would prefer a wide receiver there (Tet McMillan, Jaylen Waddle & Travis Hunter are all available in Henderson’s range).
Underdrafted:
Hunter Henry, Tight End (TE24, Pick 182 Overall)
Henry was one of the most targeted tight ends in the league last year, garnering 97 targets in 16 games, which ranked fifth in the league. He only finished as TE15 because the touchdowns didn’t come, despite his volume.
Henry was TE15 in fantasy points per game last year, but he was seventh in targets, sixth in receptions, and eighth in receiving yards. He was a top-ten tight end seven times, but rarely ended up with a big game, scoring only two touchdowns all season long. The offense caps his upside, but he’s firmly inside the blob, getting at least 4/40 9 times in 16 games last year. Fortunately for Henry, draft clickers, he is due for massive touchdown regression: only one of his six end zone targets turned into touchdowns. League average is 48% of TE end zone targets turning into touchdowns, and he converted 12 of his 20 end zone targets into scores between 2021 and 2023. So, he’s due for some of that regression to hit.
Sleeper:
DeMario Douglas, Wide Receiver (WR75, Pick 190 Overall)
DeMario “Pop” Douglas is probably the most consistent receiver that the Patriots have had since the Wes Welker days gave way to the Julian Edelman days. I mentally put him to bed with the Stefon Diggs signing as Diggs thrived in the slot last season with Houston, and I figured that he would man the slot in New England, where Douglas has 166 targets, 115 receptions, and 1182 yards in his 31 career games, playing in the slot at about a 70% clip last season.
But that doesn’t seem to be the case. The Patriots are playing Diggs out wide and keeping Douglas in the slot, which makes him an intriguing cheap version of Jakobi Meyers. Meyers thrived in this offense after his third-year breakout, averaging 122 targets, 83 catches, 916 yards, and 4.5 touchdowns in his two years with McDaniels in New England (he continued to thrive under McDaniels in Vegas). If the Raiders turn Douglas into the New Jakobi Meyers, then he will absolutely smash his WR75 ADP and turn into a weekly starter in PPR leagues.
