Fantasy Football: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Week 7 Patriots Edition
The fantasy season is well underway, and PatriotMaven is here to help you decide what to do with the Patriots stashed on your roster.
New England is trying to get back to .500 on the season with the San Francisco 49ers coming to town for a Sunday afternoon matchup. The COVID-19 outbreak that cost Cam Newton, Stephon Gilmore and others appearances and practice time seems to have run its course, so it is back to business as usual in Foxboro – at least, as close to usual as is possible in 2020.
Poor offensive production across the board in the past few weeks has hurt many Patriots’ fantasy value, but there are still a few worth starting against the 49ers this week.
All scores are calculated using half-point PPR, ESPN standard scoring
Start ‘Em: James White
New England's receivers and their lack of production was a major storyline following the team’s loss to Denver in Week 6.
It is true that their receivers hauled in just six passes on the day, but White’s performance out of the backfield was something to take comfort in.
White caught eight of his nine targets for 65 yards, both of which were season highs for the pass-catching specialist. In the two games since he returned from personal time off, White has averaged 10.4 fantasy points per game with a total of 15 catches and 132 yards from scrimmage.
While he hasn’t found the end zone yet in 2020, White has proven in the past that he can score touchdowns in droves. Back in 2018, White scored seven touchdowns in the first seven games of the season, and he is well-positioned to rattle off a similar run sometime soon.
Simply saying “He’s due” isn’t enough to warrant a starting spot in fantasy, but his production despite not scoring touchdowns speaks for itself. Pencil him in your flex spot and chalk him up for a double-digit points performance against the 49ers this week.
Sit ‘Em: Cam Newton
A hot start to the season got a lot of people talking about how Newton was a must-have fantasy gem, myself included.
Since then, Newton missed a game due to a positive COVID-19 test and is averaging just 14.5 fantasy points when he is able to take the field. Taking out the points he’s racked up on the ground, Newton is averaging 5.4 fantasy points since Week 3.
A negative touchdown-to-interception ratio, the inability to break 170 passing yards and a serviceable 49ers defense all stand in Newton’s way of turning his fantasy season around. Kyler Murray was able to put up 26.6 points against San Francisco back in Week 1 despite a sub-80 passer rating due to 91 yards and a touchdown on the ground, but Newton has a woefully unstable offensive line in front of him.
Newton’s skills as a runner and his high ceiling make him a solid enough fantasy player moving forward, but owners can’t justify starting him until he proves he can get perform at that level consistently.
Start ‘Em: Nick Folk
The Patriots’ skill players have been struggling as of late, and there are too many hot waiver wire names out there for owners to settle on blindly starting them.
Instead, they should turn to Folk, who is available in 98.9% of ESPN fantasy leagues.
Folk had a rough start to the season, missing his only attempt against Miami and going 1-of-2 against Seattle. Since then, however, Folk is perfect on field goals and is averaging eight fantasy points per game.
Jason Sanders, Justin Tucker and Roberto Blankenship – the top-three scoring kickers in fantasy so far in 2020 – are all on bye for Week 7. San Francisco has also allowed at least five fantasy points to kickers in every game this season, meaning Folk's potential of busting is low.
The 49ers also rank 25th against fantasy kickers this year, as they average 9.8 points per game against them through six weeks.
Folk is out there and has proven he can produce at a respectable level with some form of consistency. Take a flier and start him this week if you’re looking to shake things up at kicker.
Sit ‘Em: Rex Burkhead
New England running backs not named James White have been famously unreliable and inconsistent, and Burkhead is not an exception.
After putting up 31.3 points against Las Vegas in Week 3, Burkhead has since totaled just 6.9 points. In his four appearances against teams other than the Raiders this season, Burkhead hasn’t scored a touchdown, broken 50 yards from scrimmage or topped 7.0 fantasy points in a single game.
Burkhead got a season-low five carries Week 6 against Denver, and he didn’t get a target in the passing game either.
It doesn’t help that the 49ers defense ranks second in the league against opposing fantasy running backs, only allowing 14.7 points per game to the position. Considering the fact that New England will utilize three running backs at varying capacities, that can’t bode well for Burkhead, who has gotten the short end of the stick in back-to-back matchups, with the emergence of Damien Harris having a lot to do with that.
Burkhead may be worth stashing on your bench in case he explodes for another 30-point performance, but he shouldn’t come anywhere near owners’ starting lineups in Week 7.
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