Ask the Experts

ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them:

Is the Patriots' offense doomed without Tom Brady?

DAVID DOREY

Honestly, life without Brady may seem scary and while it will not be as productive, it still can be okay. There are big unknowns with Matt Cassell and whomever else they get in but with Randy Moss, Wes Welker and that scheme – the Patriots will remain competitive. Both Moss and Welker had decent showings after Brady was gone from the game. This will lower the ceiling for what Moss and Welker can do but they still are very good fantasy options. This could actually spark more in the rushing game if only you could actually rely on any particular runner each week.

Dorey is the co-founder and Senior NFL Analyst at The Huddle since 1997. He has produced award winning rankings and has projected the fantasy stats for every game over the last 13 years. David produces the bulk of The Huddle rankings and his “Predictions and Projections” breaks down every single NFL game every week through the Super Bowl. You can find more about David at TheHuddle.com.

LOUIS TRANQUILLI

There are two answers in my opinion, and I've considered this since the news hit he could be done. The patriots have proven time and again they will not stop their method of operation for any one player. While that may work for the middle linebacker spot or the defensive line; that won't work when applied to the best offensive player they have and the one that makes the others go. So it's a significant hit on Randy Moss and Wes Welker, however it should finally INCREASE the value of Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris as solid weekly starters. So while two will suffer, two should increase in weekly production.

Louis Tranquilli is the founder and the primary "brains" (if you stretch it) of BFDFANTASYfootball.com. BFD is about giving advice to players from a player. Lou's been a highly successful owner in many high stakes contests. BFD is giving away 50 fantasy football teams in 2008.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI

No radical adjustment is needed on Randy Moss, but Wes Welker takes a major hit - he shifts from a solid No. 2 fantasy WR to someone I'm not even sure I want to use in three-receiver leagues. I saw some sleeper value in Jabar Gaffney and Benjamin Watson, but that was tied to Tom Brady - forget it now. There's a strong possibility the Patriots upgrade the quarterback position; Matt Cassel probably isn't a full-season answer.

Pianowski is a fantasy expert for Yahoo! Sports. His work regularly appears on Yahoo's Roto Arcade Blog (rotoarcade.com), and you can also email him at pianowski31@yahoo.com.

SCOTT ENDSLEY

There’s no question that the Pats offense will look much different without Brady. WRs absolutely get knocked down for fantasy owners. It will be very tough to sit Randy Moss any given week but the concern here could be that Moss gets unhappy and becomes a problem for the team – keep an eye on this, it could happen rather easily if he’s not putting huge numbers for a few weeks and no longer winning. There is less of a hit to their running backs who may see more action certainly but of course defenses know that as well so the bump does did offset a bit so the upgrade would not be considered significant.

Endsley is co-owner and a senior fantasy football consultant for FantasyDraftEdge.com offering customizable fantasy football cheat sheets and professional VIP advice all season long. For more info, go to www.fantasydraftedge.com.

IAN ALLAN

Prior to the Tom Brady injury, I had New England projected to average 280 passing yards per game and finish with 36 TD passes. Now, I expect them to fall down to about 225 yards per game and 23 TD passes for the year. So that’s 55 receiving yards per game and 13 TD passes that will have to come out of everyone else’s projections — that’s why you see all of those guys falling a few notches on my board. In terms of rushing, I don’t expect to see much of a change at all. The Patriots might even run the ball slightly better now that Brady is gone. Certainly, I think you’ll see them call more running plays.

Allan is the senior writer for Fantasy Football Index magazine. He’s also one of the main content contributors for that company’s website, www.fantasyindex.com. His IAN ALLAN’S MAILBAG column is posted on Fridays.

JEFFREY KAMYS

Moss takes a hit, but he will still be valuable, the adjusted stats look like 8-10 TDs and 1100 yards. The bigger issue with Moss is will he stay focused and happy with another QB other than Brady. Welker takes a hit but will still have value as well, probably a 20 percent decline in production. The rest of the Pats' WR corps and TEs now become very iffy. One would think that Maroney's value has to go up, now that the Pats will be forced to be more of a balanced attack on offense.

Kamys is president of Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports. His company, via the web, offers player news, injury reports, cheat sheets, projections, weekly matchups, statistics, and a customized team tracker. Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports also e-mails preseason newsletters and reports throughout the season. For more info visit www.docstats.com or send email to webmaster@docstats.com.

BOB HECK

During the Belichick Era the Patriots have done a brilliant job of adapting their playbook and play-calling to their personnel. Back in 2001, the playbook for Drew Bledsoe was a chuck it down field type, but when Brady took over a very different style playbook was put in where the Pats lived off of screen passes. For the first few three years with Brady at the helm he was unable to hit the long passes consistently, so they kept the passes short for Brady's abilities and the abilities of possession receivers Deion Branch and David Patten. Expect the Patriots to come up with a playbook that will be adapted to Matt Cassel's strengths, which will likely be similar to the dink and dunk style first employed when Brady took over. Expect all 4 RBs to get additional carries and looks in the passing game, expect Wes Welker to continue to get looks over the middle. Moss will no longer be as big a deep threat as he was, but expect him to see a significant number of targets on screen plays where his speed in the open field can be best utilized in the new offense. Obviously the receivers take a bit of a hit, but it won't be as significant as you'd think.

Heck is a founding partner at Dynasty Rogues, a fantasy football website filled with football enthusiasts, run by football enthusiasts. The company provides year-round dynasty and redraft fantasy football coverage and analysis, including Dynasty Rogues Radio and the Rogues Forum. The site can be reached at www.dynastyrogues.com.

SAM HENDRICKS

Coach Belichick will RUN, RUN, and RUN some more with an occasional pass to Randy Moss. Look for disappointing numbers from J. Gafney and less catches from Wes Welker as well. Moss will still get his touches, as Matt Cassel will go with “the man” more often than not. The RBBC (Maroney and Sammy Morris) will get a boost as the Pats try and run and take some of the pressure off their new starting QB. New England’s kicker Gostkowski may even be a better play now as more FG attempts should come vice the XPs he kicked last year.

Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook and the recently released Fantasy Football Almanac 2008 which are both available at his website, www.ffguidebook.com, at all major bookstores, and at www.amazon.com. He is an 18-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) and will participate this year in the inaugural season of the Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).

ANDY RICHARDSON

I'm not going to bet against Randy Moss, although I certainly wouldn't have taken him in the first round as I did in one experts league. Certainly all these receivers slip a little bit. And I'm not convinced the running game will be better; arguably Brady was part of the reason guys like Maroney and Morris had big holes to run through in the first place. I think the biggest concern is that New England will end up using multiple quarterbacks this season, and that will hurt the rest of the team's offensive players. I'm just not sure Matt Cassel is good enough to keep the job for long.

Richardson has been a columnist and contributor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and web site for the past seven years. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections, as well as various site features. He has run the magazine's annual draft and auction leagues since their inception. His A DAY OF FOOTBALL wrap-up column appears Mondays during the NFL season. For more information go to www.fantasyindex.com.

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