Life comes at you fast in the NFL -- even if you're the mighty New England Patriots.
Just two seasons ago, the Patriots rolled to their sixth Super Bowl title behind a Tom Brady-led offense that boasted Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon and Rob Gronkowski.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished 5-11 during that 2018 campaign.
Fast forward to 2020, where Brady and Gronkowski are somehow both members of a loaded Tampa Bay offense following Tuesday's shocking Patriots-Bucs trade.
As for the Patriots? Let's just say the shoe is on the other foot. For context, here are both teams' current projected skill position starters and primary backups for 2020:
Buccaneers
Quarterback: Tom Brady, Blaine Gabbert
New England Patriots
Running Back: Ronald Jones II, Dare Ogunbowale
Wide Receiver: Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Justin Watson, Spencer Schnell, Scotty Miller
Tight End: Rob Gronkowski, O.J. Howard, Cameron Brate
Patriots
Quarterback: Jarrett Stidham, Brian Hoyer
Running Back: Sony Michel, James White, Rex Burkhead
Wide Receiver: Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu, N'Keal Harry, Damiere Byrd, Jakobi Meyers
Tight End: Matt LaCosse, Ryan Izzo
All right, ready for the ugly part?
The Patriots actually have the superior running back group at the moment. But the other three positions? Yikes.
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Below is a breakdown of each position group's total production in 2019 (in Gronkowski's case, 2018). For example, the Bucs' QB stats include Brady and Gabbert's 2019 numbers, while the Patriots' account for Stidham and Hoyer's stats.
Bucs
Quarterback: 4,057 passing yards, 24 TDs, 8 INTs
Running Back: 741 rushing yards, 8 TDs
Wide receiver: 181 receptions, 2,849 yards, 20 TDs
Tight end: 155 receptions, 1,452 yards, 8 TDs
Patriots
Quarterback: 386 passing yards, 4 TDs, 5 INTs
Running Back: 1,477 rushing yards, 11 TDs
Wide receiver: 229 receptions 2,460 yards, 11 TDs
Tight end: 19 receptions, 245 yards, 2 TDs
Godwin and Evans alone accounted for more receiving yards than the top five wideouts on New England's depth chart.
But the most laughable discrepancy is at tight end, where Brate and Howard (who will both back up Gronk in 2020) both had more receptions and yards than LaCosse and Izzo combined.
The Patriots still can beef up at receiver and tight end via the 2020 NFL Draft. But for once, they're currently in the NFL's "have-nots" category, while their former QB has an arsenal of weapons he only could have dreamed of in New England.