Giants vs Patriots Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 6

• The Patriots are 15-0 against first-year starting quarterbacks at home since Bill Belichick took over as head coach in 2000.
• New England has won those games by an average of 17.5 points. 
• Those starting quarterbacks have completed 54.3% of their passes for an average of 183 passing yards per game and a combined 11 touchdown passes with 23 interceptions. 
• The Patriots are the seventh team in NFL history to not allow a touchdown pass through the opening five games of a season and the first since 1988.
• The Giants have turned the ball over on 21.9% (7-of-32) of their possessions over the past three weeks with Daniel Jones under center, 29th in the league.
• Offenses facing New England have trailed by an average of 14.2 points at the start of each possession this season, the largest differential in the league.
• The Giants are allowing 9.2 yards per pass play (31st) while New England is allowing 5.0 per pass play (first).

Trust (spike production for that player)

• Tom Brady: Brady bounced back after a down game with 342 passing yards and 23.9 fantasy points (QB6). He runs into another sweet matchup at home against a Giants defense allowing 17.9 passing points per game (26th) and has allowed four top-10 scorers in five games. 
• Julian Edelman: Coming off an 8-110-1 game on nine targets, the Giants rank 31st in fantasy points allowed per target to opposing wideouts (2.40). 
• Josh Gordon: We’re still chasing a big game from him, but everything lines up once again for us to keep pursuing it. Gordon’s 35 targets trail just Edelman (41) on the team and he leads New England in air yards (356). Gordon will spend nearly all his night against Janoris Jenkins (who has allowed the seventh-most receiving yards for any corner in the league) and DeAndre Baker (third-most). 

On the Cusp (proxy of a player’s average)

• Sony Michel: He cashed in a great matchup last week with 16-91-1 rushing, but he also added a career-high three catches and 32 yards receiving while running a season-high 18 pass routes. That receiving work could stick with Rex Burkhead out, but even if not, Michel has another favorable spot as a huge home favorite for rushing work. The Giants have allowed 211, 144, and 151 rushing yards in three of their past four games surrounding limiting Washington to 55 yards on the ground.
• James White: White has received 10 and nine targets over the past two weeks with catching 14 total passes. The Giants have a plethora of injuries to an already lackluster linebacking unit and are coming off a game in which Minnesota backs caught seven passes for 85 yards.

Bust (down-week production for that player’s standards)

• Daniel Jones: After a strong opening start, Jones has struggled to QB19 and QB20 performances over the past two weeks. We highlighted the down performances that rookie QBs had against Mike Zimmer defenses last week and now Jones gets the best defense in the league that has devoured rookie passers at home under Belichick. To top it all off, he may be without Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram. 
• Jon Hilliman: With both Saquon Barkley and Wayne Gallman out, Hilliman will face a Patriots defense allowing just 1.46 points per game to opposing backfields (second). Hilliman has totaled 57 yards on 20 touches so far the past two weeks and this offense is running out a second-string unit in totality, leaving him as a touch-based FLEX.
• Evan Engram: Monitor his status, as it’s been reported he has an MCL issue that could keep him out Thursday and it is expected that he won’t play.The Patriots have allowed a league-low 11 receptions to opposing tight ends, but have faced the worst opening slate of opposing options at the position. If he’s unable to play, Rhett Ellison is more of a blocker than pass catcher.
• Darius Slayton: With Shepard out, Slayton will continue to be locked into a role in the passing game. In Jones’s three starts, Slayton has caught 9-of-12 targets for 157 yards and a touchdown with a gaudy 17.3-yard average depth of target. That would be worth a look in most situations, but with the Patriots not allowing a passing touchdown yet on the season and Slayton now set up to see Stephone Gilmore, we’ll chase another week down the road. 

If You Must (intriguing bench option or deeper league play) 

• Jakobi Meyers: With Phillip Dorsett forced to the sideline early, Meyers was on the field for 20 pass routes last week. The Patriots went to more two-tight end sets with Dorsett out, but with Dorsett questionable on a short week, Meyers would be a deeper dive that would draw a handful of targets against a Giants secondary allowing 210.4 yards per game to opposing wideouts (31st).
• Matt LaCosse: LaCosse ran 42 pass routes (four targets) last week after running 21 routes on the season coming in. Even though Ryan Izzo snagged the touchdown, Izzo ran just seven pass routes.