Tom Brady's Updated 2014 Fantasy Outlook Heading into Week 4

More often than not, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's fantasy value isn't questioned. After all, he's been one of the most productive NFL signal-callers for the better part of the last 13 years. However, much to the chagrin of his fantasy owners, he's begun the 2014 season in sluggish fashion.

The Patriots offense has been geared more toward the ground game this year—a trend that began late in 2013. That shouldn't surprise fantasy owners, as this offensive strategy saw Brady end last season ranked 14th in fantasy points among quarterbacks, according to FFToday.com.

While Brady attempted 56 passes in a loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 1 and then followed it up with just 21 attempts in a rout over the Minnesota Vikings, what we saw in Week 3 against the Oakland Raiders may turn out to be par for the course in 2014.

Steven Senne/Associated Press

The Patriots offense was balanced against the Raiders, with Brady completing 24 of his 37 passing attempts for 234 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. Meanwhile, the team combined for a total of 76 yards on 32 carries.

Brady's fantasy owners should expect a similar amount of passing attempts going forward this season, as New England will surely be looking to maintain a similar balanced approach. However, that doesn't mean the quarterback isn't in line for big numbers in any given week.

Each time the Patriots marched deep into Raiders' territory and faced a 3rd-and-goal situation, Brady was given the nod to throw. The quarterback simply couldn't connect with his intended target on each occasion.

Much of the failure in this end of the field had to do with lackluster pass protection. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), the Patriots are ranked 31st in the league in that category with a negative-18.3 rating.

CBS analyst Trent Green spoke of New England's trouble along the offensive line, via NFL on CBS:

ESPN's Mark Schlereth weighed in as well:

We should expect head coach Bill Belichick to make fixing this unit his primary concern. He already spoke of the line's issues after the teams' Week 1 loss, via Anthony Gulizia of The Boston Globe:

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In this game we planned on playing all of our linemen, which we did. We used four guys to play three positions inside. I think they all played well and deserved to play, so I played them. I would say we didn't really have a lot communication issues. We had more fundamental and technique breakdowns—an assortment of mental errors. I don't think it was a game where there was a lot of missed assignments. It was more, I would say, a lack of execution of good fundamentals.

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With the Patriots line still a work in progress, at least the receiving corps is already showing signs of improvement.

Julian Edelman has quickly emerged as Brady's favorite target. The shifty receiver has no trouble separating from coverage and is dangerous when in the open field. The quarterback has already begun improving his chemistry with Brandon LaFell, per a tweet from Doug Kyed of NESN.com:

Still, Brady needs a healthy Rob Gronkowski to become truly effective.

During a press conference after the team's Week 3 contest, via Jennifer Toland of Telegram.com, Gronkowski spoke of his constant attempts to improve and regain his form.

The tight end said, "There are always a lot of improvements—starting with myself. I could make a lot better blocks, better routes. So we've just got to go out there in practice and have the offense clicking together as one and bring it out to the games."

Expect better results in the red zone once Gronkowski is fully up and running.

Again, there's no reason to panic over Brady's lack of fantasy production to this point in the season. Fantasy owners don't need to jump ship or comb the waiver wire looking for a potential replacement. With tough matchups against the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals, Brady may not produce immediately; however, things begin look up shortly after.

The veteran signal-caller should be able to get things going in Week 6 against the Buffalo Bills and their pass defense that's giving up an average of 267.3 yards per game. The following week, New England faces the New York Jets and their decimated secondary—and there's plenty more scoring opportunities thereafter.

The moral of the story here is this: Be patient with Brady. He's still a high-end starting quarterback for fantasy purposes, and it won't be long until his numbers begin to reflect that.