Patriots Fantasy Advice: Who To Start, Who To Sit For Browns Matchup
Mac Jones in, all receivers out
Gillette Stadium will play host to a highly important — and fantasy-relevant — game Sunday when the Patriots play the Browns.
Both teams are 5-4 and jockeying for playoff position in the wide-open AFC. Both New England and Cleveland have players with high fantasy upside, but also have more than a few who are frustratingly difficult to forecast on a weekly basis.
Ahead of the Week 10 contest, we came up with three Patriots players you should start in your fantasy football lineups, and three you should sit.
Let’s get into it:
START
Hunter Henry, TE
Henry has found the end zone in five of his last six games and has emerged as Mac Jones’ favorite red-zone target. He can’t be relied upon for huge yardage totals, but you can’t ask for much more from a fantasy tight end than a touchdown nearly every week.
Mac Jones, QB
The rookie has struggled the last two weeks but also hasn’t been asked to do much. That might change in this game, with the Browns featuring one of the best run defenses in football. If your QB1 is on bye, Jones makes for a decent fill-in.
Nick Folk, K
Folk only has missed two field goals this season, and both were 50-plus-yarders. He’s money in the bank at this point and could have a strong fantasy day playing for a Patriots team that might regularly stall in the red zone against a good defense.
SIT
Patriots defense
The last time New England faced a truly multi-dimensional offense, it nearly gave up 600 total yards to the Dallas Cowboys. We don’t expect that kind of performance from Baker Mayfield and Co., but we also don’t expect them to turn the ball over at the rate the Los Angeles Chargers and Carolina Panthers did in Weeks 8 and 9, respectively. Temper expectations for the Patriots defense.
Patriots receivers
Someone in this group will have a good game Sunday, but it’s impossible to predict who. The entire Patriots receiving corps is maddeningly inconsistent, with the usually reliable Jakobi Meyers coming off arguably his worst game as a professional. Avoid him, Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor until further notice.
Patriots running backs
Damien Harris is out, leaving Rhamondre Stevenson, J.J. Taylor and Brandon Bolden — and maybe Jononu Smith — to handle the workload. We don’t feel great about that. Plus, the Browns have a great rushing defense.
