Anyone who watched Thursday night's Jets/Patriots battle could see it plain as day -- New England has a problem at wide receiver.
Rookies Kenbrell Thompkins and Aaron Dobson certainly have talent; they have the athletic ability to get open and make big plays. But their hands are suspect and their awareness appears to be lacking at times. In an ideal situation, these raw projects wouldn't be anywhere near a leading role on a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
But circumstances have forced them into action. After catching just four-of-14 targets in Week 1, Thompkins saw half as many looks and had half as many receptions in Week 2. He also could not hold onto a touchdown pass late in the second quarter, though it would have been a nice diving catch.
Meanwhile, Dobson was targeted 10 times on Thursday, catching three of them for 56 yards, though most of that came on his first reception, a 39-yard touchdown after the Jets bit hard on a play fake.
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Tom Brady (19-of-39, 185, 1 TD) was clearly upset by the miscues of the duo, which led to the force-feeding of Julian Edelman (18 targets). Danny Amendola has a two-to-six-week time table for his groin injury, and Rob Gronkowski is no certainty to play Week 3. Shane Vereen is definitely out until Week 11, and no Patriots running back stepped up to fill his void in the passing game last night either.
That means unless the Patriots bring in a veteran there are going to be continued opportunities for both rookie receivers going forward. Is either a good start in fantasy at the moment? Absolutely not. But fantasy owners in need of a flier or two at wide receiver can roll the dice with Dobson or Thompkins. They're going to get chances to put it all together, and if one of them can, they could pick up some WR3 value.
Meanwhile, Brady owners have to just hope Gronkowski and Amendola return soon. While it wasn't Brady's fault, the bottom line is he was held under 200 passing yards on Thursday for the first time since a loss to the Steelers in Week 8 of 2011. Fantasy owners don't get extra points because Brady's wideouts let him down.
With unreliable weapons, Brady is, himself, not a sure thing from a fantasy standpoint. If Gronkowski isn't back for Week 3 and Darrelle Revis is there to shut down Edelman, it may be time to consider something seemingly unfathomable -- sitting Brady for the Tampa Bay game.