Fantasy Football: 5 Passing Games With the Most Available Volume in 2019
New England Patriots
If we operate under the assumption that the New England Patriots will be without Josh Gordon, who was suspended indefinitely again, they stand to lose over one third of their targets from the 2018 season.
In only 11 games in New England, Gordon managed to rack up 12.2% of the team's total targets for the season. They don't stand to lose anybody with a target market share higher than Gordon's, but it's the number of skill position they stand to lose that could make a huge impact.
In addition to Gordon's questionable (at best) status, Phillip Dorsett, Chris Hogan and Cordarrelle Patterson are all set to become unrestricted free agents in March.
That trio combined for 125 targets in the regular season, which was good for 22.5% of the team's total. Adding in Gordon, that's 34.7% of the looks up for grabs.
Those four were also the only Patriots wide receivers not named Julian Edelman to record a target last season.
Obviously, no matter what roster moves happen around him, Edelman is all but a lock to continue seeing serious volume next year, but it's how the rest of the offense plays out that will be interesting.
James White saw a team-high 22.1% target market share, and Rob Gronkowski ranked third at 13.0%. Both of them figure to continue to see solid volume as well, but even still that leaves plenty of work up for grabs for the wideouts.
The first thing to watch is whether the Patriots re-sign any of those three, especially Hogan and Dorsett, as they both saw significantly more targets than Patterson (55, 42 and 28, respectively). If they bring back both Hogan and Dorsett there may not be much fantasy value, but if only one comes back, they could be worth a look with a mid- to late-round fantasy football pick.
If none of that trio returns for the 2019 season, we can expect the Pats to add a few pieces through free agency and the draft. There's a chance we get a repeat of 2018, with a handful of low-volume receivers combining to take up a significant share of the work, but if there's anyone that stands out (a high draft pick or a pricey free agent), they could be a good bet to see targets into the triple digits.
