Fantasy Football: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Week 3 Patriots Edition
The fantasy season is officially underway, and PatriotMaven is here to help you decide what to do with the Patriots stashed on your roster.
The beginning of the post-Tom Brady era has resulted in a win and a loss for New England, as well as a good look at the team’s new signal-caller and revamped offense.
The Raiders, following their first ever game in their new home of Las Vegas, will visit Foxboro as one of the league’s few 2-0 squads. Even with their perfect record, there have been noticeable holes for the Raiders, and the Patriots’ notable fantasy players could find a way to take advantage Sunday afternoon.
All scores are calculated using half-point PPR, ESPN standard scoring
Start ‘Em: Cam Newton
At this point, Cam Newton is a must-start every week until he proves otherwise.
The newly-minted Patriots quarterback is one of three players to break 60 fantasy points so far this season, with his 30.1 points per game more than doubling the outputs of Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Even the last two league MVPs, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, are lagging well behind Newton in terms of fantasy production in 2020.
Now, Newton shouldn’t be expected to be a top-three fantasy quarterback for the entire year, but he is nearly locked into being a top-eight signal-caller moving forward. That’s the kind of player you start no matter the matchup.
Luckily for Newton’s fantasy owners, the Raiders don’t pose much of a threat.
Las Vegas did limit Brees to 14.4 fantasy points Monday night, but Brees did not record a single carry, didn't have Michael Thomas to throw to, and has shown he is well past his prime. The more important recent matchup to keep an eye on is Teddy Bridgewater’s 19.2-point performance against the Raiders in Week 1.
Bridgewater and Newton have very different builds and playstyles, but both play in a run-first offense and are relatively mobile themselves. If Bridgewater can flirt with a 20-point game against Las Vegas, Newton can surely do much better.
The Raiders’ linebackers and secondary are not the reason they’ve opened the season 2-0, and Newton is in a prime spot to take full advantage of that come Sunday.
Sit ‘Em: Patriots D/ST
One early pick-six saved the Patriots’ defense from having a horrendous fantasy performance against the Seahawks.
The Raiders may not have MVP front-runner Russell Wilson calling the shots, but their offense has been just as explosive through two weeks this fall.
Derek Carr ranks fifth in the NFL in completion percentage and Las Vegas has scored the fourth-most points in the league. Henry Ruggs III, Darren Waller and Josh Jacobs all present difficult matchups for a New England defense that was carved up by Seattle a week ago.
Opposing defenses are averaging just 0.5 fantasy points per game against the Raiders, partially due to the fact that Las Vegas has turned the ball over just once so far this season.
The Patriots defense’s 12-point fantasy performance against the Dolphins was a fluke – picking off a quarterback three times in a game is near-impossible when that quarterback isn’t named Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jameis Winston or Daniel Jones. Carr is a precise, safe quarterback who has just one multi-interception game in his last 16 starts.
And unless New England can force the Raiders to cough the ball up multiple times Sunday, they don’t boast a start-worthy fantasy defense in Week 3.
Start ‘Em: Julian Edelman
Any doubts about the on-field chemistry between Newton and Edelman were thrown out the window in Seattle last weekend.
Edelman put up a career-high 179 yards on eight receptions, good for 21.9 fantasy points – his most since Week 8 of last season. Seattle’s secondary showed major holes Week 1 against Atlanta, but Edelman still carved up a talented, Pete Carroll-coached defense in primetime.
The Panthers’ top-two receivers – D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson – put up a combined 29.8 fantasy points against the Raiders in Week 1, but Emmanuel Sanders and Tre’Quan Smith combined for just 13.4 points in the Saints’ loss Monday night.
That is mostly due to not having Thomas and the fact that Brees is seemingly afraid to throw downfield. With an aggressive Newton and creative Josh McDaniels controlling the Patriots’ offense, Edelman should fare much better.
Las Vegas' two starting corners – Trayvon Mullen and Damon Arnette – are sophomores and rookies, respectively. Even though they were high picks in recent drafts, neither of them are experienced enough to shut down a veteran like Edelman.
N’Keal Harry is worth rostering after a career game against Seattle, but Edelman is the safer play for now.
Edelman has scored in double digits in both games so far in 2020. Expect him to do the same Sunday afternoon in Foxboro, making him a reliable WR2 start and a high-floor flex option in Week 3.
Sit ‘Em: Sony Michel, Rex Burkhead
The Patriots’ running game is going to be a major focal point for its game plan moving forward, even with James White potentially missing another game.
That doesn’t mean any of them are worth a fantasy start, however.
Michel is overly-reliant on touchdowns, and has been for almost his entire career. In his 20 career appearances in which he did not score a touchdown, Michel is averaging 5.8 fantasy points per game. Considering he has failed to reach the end zone in almost two-thirds of his games in the NFL, he has an extremely low floor week in, week out.
Burkhead is best suited to take over for White as a receiving back when the latter isn’t available, but he isn’t nearly as effective.The former Bengal has only broken double-digit fantasy points four times dating back to start of last season, and he has failed to break the four-point threshold in seven of his last 12 games.
Both Michel and Burkhead have had their moments over the years, but they are too inconsistent and unpredictable to rely on in fantasy lineups this year.
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