Fantasy Football: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Week 16 Patriots Edition
Championship week is here – but not for the New England Patriots, obviously.
New England is all out of things to play for, with the AFC East title looking to go to Buffalo and a Wild Card spot now officially out of reach. That doesn't change the fact that Week 16 is championship week for standard fantasy football leagues, meaning any Patriots left on rosters will be playing for the fans this time around.
All scores are calculated using half-point PPR, ESPN standard scoring
Start 'Em: Nick Folk
It says a lot about the Patriots when their most reliable fantasy threat is a kicker, but it's true.
Since missing his first two attempts of the season, Folk has drilled 25 field goals in a row. If there's anyone fantasy owners can count on to avoid a negative performance, it's Folk.
Folk broke double digits for the fourth time of the season against the Dolphins last weekend, and his 15 fantasy points were tied for his season high. Since New England's Week 5 bye, Folk is 20-of-20 on field goals, 16-of-17 on extra points and has only failed to score seven-plus points on two occasions.
The entire fantasy season has come down to this, and who better to rely on than the league's most accurate kicker over the past 10 weeks?
Sit 'Em: Damien Harris
The fact that Harris missed last week's game against the Dolphins and is questionable again this week is cause for concern, but the reasons behind benching him go beyond that.
Harris was averaging 6.3 fantasy points per game in his last three appearances before his missed outing against Miami, a far cry from his 11.8 average in the four prior games. Assuming he does return, Harris will have to compete for carries with Sony Michel, who was still on injured reserve when Harris began to break out midseason.
All of those internal factors are working against Harris, and it certainly doesn't help him that he's going up against the Bills, either.
While Buffalo has a below-average fantasy rush defense, it has yet to allow a 100-yard rusher since its Week 11 bye. Considering Harris has only found the end zone twice this season, he is the kind of guy who needs yards to be fantasy relevant.
Since he'll be facing a smaller share of the carries and the Bills don't present the best matchup, Harris shouldn't be a fantasy starter this championship week.
Start 'Em: Devin Asiasi
Ok, this one isn't for anyone actually competing in their fantasy championship games.
Outside of Folk, there isn't really anyone left on the roster who can be trusted to come through in the biggest fantasy matchup of the year.
This one goes out to everyone who's been following along with PatriotMaven's fantasy football coverage the entire season. We predicted Asiasi would be a dark horse, potentially roster-spot worthy Patriot in fantasy, considering how high he was picked in the 2020 NFL Draft and how little competition he had at tight end.
That hasn't turned out to be the case, as Asiasi didn't get a single target until Week 14, and he has a grand total of zero receptions on the season.
But with the playoffs out of reach and the offense stalling as of late, maybe this is the week the rookie actually gets to be part of the game plan.
Dalton Keene has two catches all year and Ryan Izzo is on injured reserve. Asiasi proved at UCLA he could be a big play guy, and now is the time for him to prove he can do the same in the pros.
Don't count on Asiasi if you're playing for a title, but you might as well roll the dice on a breakout performance if you're in the consolation bracket.
Sit 'Em: Patriots D/ST
One outlier performance made New England's defense look like a real fantasy weapon, but as of late, they haven't been reliable in the slightest.
A 28-point explosion got them back on people's radar when they shut out the Rams, and the fact that the Patriots still have that potential up their sleeve made them valuable to stash over the past few weeks.
But taking out the Rams game, the Patriots defense is averaging 2.9 fantasy points per game since Week 7 after averaging 8.0 in their first five games of the year.
In addition to cooling off in the second half of the season, Week 16 also doesn't present a very friendly matchup to New England on that side of the ball.
Behind Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs and others, the Bills offense is allowing 2.1 fantasy points per game to opposing fantasy defenses. That's good for 4th-fewest in the league, and they have forced two negative performances in the last three weeks.
It's an imperfect storm for the Patriots' defense, so avoid starting them at all costs.
