Patriots Trade for Smith Creates Logjam at TE

While the Patriots may not have felt this way, the majority of fantasy owners looked at the team’s running back situation last season as being too overstocked. You didn’t know who would have the greatest fantasy impact in a given week when Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris, LaMont Jordan, Kevin Faulk, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis all had an equal shot at running the ball.

Now, it seems as if the Patriots are going to play that game with tight end. Yesterday, the Patriots traded an undisclosed 2010 draft pick to Tampa Bay for Alex Smith. Belichick talked about him at a press conference last night, and the keyword was “versatile.” Knowing Belichick, this means we’re going to see Smith all over the place. He’ll be blocking on the line, catching passes down field, lining up in the slot or possibly on the outside, and you know he’ll get a start at fullback. The problem is, this is the second tight end that the Patriots have brought in this year and they now have six on the roster.

Here’s a quick look at how the six stacked up against each other statistically in 2008:

Ben Watson    - 22 rec / 220 yds / 2 TD

David Thomas  -  9 rec /  93 yds / 0 TD

Chris Baker   - 21 rec / 194 yds / 0 TD - With NY Jets

Alex Smith    - 21 rec / 250 yds / 3 TD - With Tampa Bay

Tyson DeVree  - Patriots Practice Squad/Special Teams in 2008

Brad Listorti - NY Jets Practice Squad in 2008

As far as the fantasy aspect of this position… you may as well consider it dead in standard leagues. Smith and Baker could each provide to be great redzone targets, but with so many weapons at Tom Brady’s disposal it will be stunning if they can really make a statistical impact.

Ben Watson has been the darling of a lot of Patriots fans/fantasy football players ever since that fateful playoff game against the Denver Broncos where he ran down Champ Bailey to save a touchdown. His raw athletic ability was going to take him to the next level. The Patriots even decided to allow Daniel Graham to walk because they felt Watson was the future. A look back over the last couple of years only points to Watson as a bust. Yes, he has had flashes of greatness, but based on the numbers he is no better than the Baker’s and Smith’s of the world.

So what does this mean?

As a Patriots fan, I am glad to see the team bring in another weapon. Ideally, Watson, Baker, and Smith will all make the squad while the rest clear out of town. Belichick will be able to rotate the freshest guy(s) in and out of the lineup to maximize blocking and we’ll have one more reliable outlet for Brady.

As a fantasy owner, this blows. I used to have three guys that I could look to pick up off of the waiver wire based on match ups in a given week. Now, I have significantly less. It’s either bump a TE up the draft list, or here I come David Martin.

Tags: Alex Smith, Ben Watson, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Bill Belichick, Chris Baker, fantasy football, Kevin Faulk, LaMont Jordan, Laurence Maroney, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Sammy Morris, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Trade