2025 Team Previews: New England Patriots
New England Patriots 2025 Team Preview
All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros.
** = target in drafts at this ADP
Relevant Players
TreVeyon Henderson, RB (ADP: 61, RB24): Henderson is the earliest-drafted Patriot, and for a rookie to be the top fantasy option from a team, it means they’re coming from a bleak place. The optimism for Henderson is very interesting. On one hand, he’s arguably the best big play threat in the 2025 rookie RB class, which says a lot because it was a loaded RB group. He’s also a vaunted pass blocker, all but guaranteeing him a fantasy-relevant offensive role even if he’s not the bell cow from Week 1.
On the other hand, Henderson has a veteran to deal with in Rhamondre Stevenson who has been a top back himself, and is also a proven pass-catcher. While Henderson excelled at Ohio State, he’s never crossed the 200-carry threshold, and maxed out as a freshman in 2021. This doesn’t mean Henderson can’t be a lead back, but it does mean he’s very likely to be in a full on timeshare with Stevenson, and that limits his ceiling in Year 1. Henderson’s talent is tantalizing; he averaged 7.1 yards per carry last season, and 6.4 yards per carry across four seasons with the Buckeyes. But at this ADP, he’s going ahead of players like Aaron Jones, Tony Pollard and Isiah Pacheco who have shown they can be volume-heavy lead backs in the NFL and are positioned to do so this year. It’s known that every season there are several impactful rookie RBs, but this year’s class is deep. I believe in Henderson as a player, but I do think he’s being overdrafted.
Stefon Diggs, WR (ADP: 90, WR42): Diggs’ move to the Texans seemed like a perfect fit for the stage he’s at in his career. Diggs will turn 32 this season, and in his final year with Buffalo, it became clear that he was diminishing as a full field alpha receiver, but could still cook people in the short and intermediate game. It’s no surprise that before tearing his ACL, Diggs was hyper-targeted by C.J. Stroud, drawing as many per game as Nico Collins.
He’s no longer with Houston though. Now, he’s turning 32, trying to recover from a major knee injury, and being thrust back into the position of being a team’s WR1. He’s also trying to recapture his former glory with a QB in Drake Maye who is promising, but is not as polished as Stroud as a passer. The way he is used will determine how successful he is in New England, and they’ve got a new staff in there so we won’t have answers before the season. Assuming he recovers well from the ACL – a big if – Diggs had already declined significantly in his ability to get separation down the field. In the rosiest view, Diggs will be a high-volume receiver who thrives on short targets, and hopefully spikes in the TD category because he can get open in tight quarters near the end zone. The decline does appear to be built in, as Diggs is a name that used to be treated as a first round-caliber WR, but that doesn’t mean this ADP is necessarily a value. I think it’s fine, as long as he is ready for Week 1, but managers should draft him as depth and not as someone they’re counting on to vastly outperform the ADP.
Rhamondre Stevenson, RB (ADP: 114, RB40): After the 2022 season, Stevenson looked like one of the NFL’s best RBs. He had amassed 1,461 yards from scrimmage, topped 1,000 yards rushing and caught 69 passes. Instead of building on that and becoming a cornerstone for the Pats and for fantasy, he hasn’t gotten back to 1,000 scrimmage yards, let alone rushing as he’s dealt with injuries and fumbles that keep landing him in the doghouse. Now he’s clinging to relevance while a rookie threatens to nuke his role entirely.
The fumbling was a major issue last season, as he let the ball hit the ground seven times in 2024. But fumbling can be worked on, the real issue was inefficiency. Now the Patriots had one of the NFL’s least intimidating offenses, and their receiver room was arguably the worst in the league, but his efficiency has been down bad for two straight seasons. Stevenson was never a burner to begin with, so he needs volume to thrive if he’s going to hover around 3.9/4 yards per carry, and that volume is absolutely getting cut with Henderson in the picture. His 2022 receiving numbers also appear to be an outlier, as he hasn’t even gotten to 40 receptions before or since.
Now, he looks like he’ll probably have an early down role for this team while Henderson has passing downs on lock, with the rookie also just owning entire series too because he’s the better player at this point in their careers. Stevenson will have a bell cow role again should Henderson get banged up, but this ADP, while jarring at first, is probably the right spot for this fading star.
Interesting Sleeper(s)
Drake Maye, QB (ADP: 113, QB17): Maye is a very popular player at the moment, because many see the cannon arm, the Josh Allen-esque build, and the rushing capability. All of that is there, and it’s exciting, but I’d argue it might be blinding folks to the reality of Maye. This is a QB entering Year 2 who averaged 175.1 passing yards per game last season, and whose PFF passing grade checked in below Justin Fields. You can blame the meager passing stats on having a below-average – I’m being kind – receiving corps, but the big upgrade this offseason was a WR who will turn 32 and tore his ACL last year. Not inspiring!
Maye has the build to do damage on the ground, especially near the goal line, but his rushing production last year was just solid. He put up fewer rushing points per game than Bryce Young, who nobody would confuse with Josh Allen. He rushed 4.2 times per game, fewer than Brock Purdy. Again, I’m not downing what he’s capable of, but if you’re banking on it you’re doing so based on pure projection and hope, not anything he actually did last season. This, plus his middling TD:INT ratio (15:10), mediocre TD rate (4.4%), and still underwhelming pass catching crew make him a shaky bet for season-long relevance. He’s talented, but I will need to see it first before I trust him, and I’ll live if he makes me look silly.
**Kyle Williams, WR (ADP: 163, WR64): Williams was a fifth-year wonder at Washington State, blowing away all his previous seasons and finishing the year with 70 catches, 1,198 yards and 14 touchdowns, and that’s after Cam Ward left. Look, the Patriots receiver room ain’t easy to parse, but when clarity can’t be found, try to bet on talent. Williams absolutely has that in spades.
Williams has 4.4 speed, and despite being a smaller player, had big time success rates vs. man coverage (73.3%, 75th percentile) and press (73.5%, 82nd percentile) while mostly lining up as an outside receiver. He was no slouch vs. zone either, posting an 81.5% success rate there and offering upside should the Pats see his size and decide he’s a better fit in the slot. Where Williams does struggle a bit seems to be downfield, making him somewhat similar to Diggs. This could mean he struggles to find playing time as a rookie, or he could become interchangeable with Diggs and make for a surprisingly good duo. Either way, someone will likely emerge from this team’s WR room with value, and based on ADP, my favorite one to pick is Kyle Williams.
Notable Players
Hunter Henry, TE (ADP: 164, TE19): Hunter Henry led the team in targets, receptions and yards last season. If that makes you think, then why isn’t he better than TE19, that’s because it was 97 targets, 66 catches and 674 yards that were accompanied by just two touchdowns. Henry is entering his 10th NFL season, and while he’s a very solid real life TE, he’s always been a touchdown-dependent fantasy option who has only scored more than five touchdowns three times. He’s a spot start through and through.
DeMario Douglas, WR (ADP: 195, WR71): Douglas was a fairly promising rookie, and many of us had our eyes on him as a potential breakout in 2024 due to the Patriots’ glaring need for someone to step up and be the leading pass catcher. Instead, he was just okay. He finished with 66 catches for 621 yards and three touchdowns without really showing much room for growth. Douglas is a small receiver, built for the slot, but with a skill set that works better on the outside. With Diggs and now Kyle Williams in the mix, those two should monopolize most slot and flanker reps, and Douglas is definitely not playing the X. He’s a rotational receiver, and if this WR room gets ravaged by injury, he could worm his way into FLEX consideration in full-PPR formats. Beyond that, not very interesting.
Kayshon Boutte, WR (ADP: 308, WR99): Boutte wound up having some of the success many people expected from rookie Ja’Lynn Polk last season, as he scored three touchdowns and was the Pats’ big play threat with an average of 13.7 yards per reception. Still, the Patriots needed a go-to threat all year long, and while Boutte served a purpose, he could not emerge. I don’t expect him to now with a high-profile rookie and an established veteran coming to town.
Ja’Lynn Polk, WR (ADP: N/A): Polk had buzz last season as someone who could grab that WR1 role on the Pats, and instead turned in a completely disastrous rookie year. Polk caught 12 passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns across 15 games, winding up chained in the coaching staff’s doghouse and losing his role entirely. Now, Reception Perception noted that Polk’s usage was brain melting, as they force fed him X receiver reps when nothing in his profile whatsoever pointed to him being able to do that. But his route tree and success rates showed that he couldn’t really do much of anything besides dig routes. It’s a new coaching staff coming in, so if Polk has a clean slate with them it’s not inconceivable for him to put his Chernobyl-esque rookie campaign behind him and be successful. He has a lot of names to get through though, and the results were not encouraging.
Javon Baker, WR (ADP: N/A): Baker was someone I expected to get on the field and make some big plays because of how wide open the path to playing time was. He wound up with one catch for 12 yards on four targets. I still think he’s talented, but he can’t be drafted.
Handcuffs
Antonio Gibson, RB (ADP: 313, RB85): For most of his career Gibson has been an efficient rusher, a capable pass-catcher, and a player coaches have no faith in to be a lead back. That’s been the case in New England too, and now he’s buried even more with Henderson in the fold, and Stevenson still around.