Perhaps you missed the memo, but quarterback Tom Brady left the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and, in the process, left future Hall of Fame head coach Bill Belichick to choose from Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer. Oh, it remains possible the Patriots will look outside the organization for their new quarterback, and a former league and fantasy MVP remains out there; but for now, this is it. Belichick will select from a 23-year-old chosen in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, with four NFL passes to his credit, and a 34-year-old journeyman with one win in his past 12 starts.
Fantasy managers, not surprisingly, want little to do with either quarterback option. And for standard leagues, while we must avoid being overly dismissive about any possibility, it is tough to make the case for them at this point. There is so much fantasy depth at quarterback -- where the likes of Philip Rivers and Kirk Cousins go undrafted -- why take a chance on an unknown Patriot? However, we also should've learned to trust Belichick and his process, whatever it is, and grant that he can find a way to win football games even sans Brady. You know, the recent version of Brady, statistically, was not exactly a prime Dan Marino.