New England Patriots vs. New York Jets Fantasy Football Matchup Breakdown For Week 6
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New England Patriots vs. New York Jets Fantasy Football Matchup Breakdown For Week 6

John Laghezza breaks down the AFC East matchup between the Jets and Patriots for the Week 6 fantasy football slate.

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Two weeks ago, my Jets heading to Foxboro might not have felt so overmatched, and despite just beating the Browns, only one of these teams truly feels like it's heading in the right direction. Can you guess which?

Patriots (3-2) vs. Jets (2-3) Matchup Breakdown For Fantasy Football Week 6

NYJ_jets-logo.svgNew York Jets Fantasy Preview For Week 6

J-E-T-S wound up being spelled L-U-C-K-Y on Sunday, though it goes in the history books as a win all the same. After another anemic offensive display, Cleveland all but had the game won until punter Corey Bojorquez fumbled a snap deep in his own territory late. Keep in mind at the time CLE led by two points when NYJ ran the shotgun draw on 3rd & 9 that went for a 23-yard TD scamper by Braelon Allen. Point being, New York struggled to throw all game essentially, and by all intents and purposes was willing to settle for a field goal. New England’s a far better tackling team than Cleveland, making for a very tough matchup all-around Sunday.

Geno Smith’s logged precisely one very predictable top-20 finish against Detroit, and it’s really starting to feel like it. Granted, the recent dip’s not all his fault — a 69.4% completion rate, 104.2 passer rating, and 7.4 yards/pass attempt can be a solid foundation for strong QB projections. The problem suddenly’s NYJ’s surrounding talent. First, Breece Hall (quad). Then, Adonai Mitchell (finger). Now, Kenyon Sadiq (concussion). The fact is, New York needed all available weapons healthy for Geno to facilitate a successful offense. Early hopes for competing are beginning to fade as the Jets settle in closer to the bottom-5 unit many feared as an outcome this summer.

Not to crush Braelon Allen in Breece Hall’s stead, who’s been all managers could hope for from a backup these last two weeks (13.7 fantasy points/game, 81 UR, 93% backfield opportunities, 4.5 yards/touch) — he’s just very clearly a step down in the pass game, which hurts the entire offense’s versatility. Obviously, a workload that robust deserves a weekly spot in fantasy; just keep in mind it occurred with a bit of a rabbit’s foot attached. On another plane of the multiverse without that botched punt, Cleveland gets a couple first downs for the win, leaving Braelon Allen at 23-87-0; 1-0-0 for the hardest-earned, yet disappointing 9.7 points in fantasy history.

Assuming Kenyon Sadiq’s missing this contest, Mason Taylor’s going to project as a perfect streaming candidate, regardless of matchup. He’ll likely play second fiddle over Tim Patrick and behind Garrett Wilson, who’s going to project among the top WR1s despite a tough opposing defense. So long as Adonai Mitchell’s finger keeps him out, and with it, the Jets’ ability to win man coverage over the top, New York’s likely going to continue suffering on the scoreboard.

  • Start: Braelon Allen (RB14), Garrett Wilson (WR7)
  • Sit: Geno Smith (QB26)
  • Sleeper: Mason Taylor (TE22)

NE_patriots-logo.svgNew England Patriots Fantasy Preview For Week 6

Looking for the sign of a truly great quarterback? Elevating their game as things worsen around them is a great place to start — and that’s exactly what last year’s runner-up MVP Drake Maye’s done after a perplexing 1-2 start. Currently working on back-to-back overall QB1 finishes, Maye’s gone fully nuclear over the last two weeks in an attempt to reclaim his sophomore trajectory, as well as the Patriots’ playoff chances (0.52 EPA/attempt, 123.2 passer rating, 9.1 yards/pass attempt). Hopefully you stayed the course on Maye, who’s already up to the QB5 overall …

The murkiness of New England’s twin RB approach helped absolutely no one in fantasy circles, perhaps until now. Unfortunately, TreVeyon Henderson left Sunday’s game with a high ankle sprain, expected to keep him out for multiple weeks. Well, if chaos is a ladder, then Rhamondre Stevenson should get prepared to climb. The trusted vet shouldered almost all of the Patriots’ load Sunday, or at least until the game got out of hand. At that point, it all went to Corey Kiner — who should be rostered as a deep contingency plan and direct heir to a strong offense’s backfield in case of emergency.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Drake Maye’s re-ascension is the lack of talent it’s happening with. DeMario Douglas, Kyle Williams, and Eli Raridon all got in on the action as a credit to Maye as well. Also, shoutout to me for highlighting New England’s Week 5 target leader Efton Chism, “the second-year UDFA put up a nice game (2-42-1), filling an every-down role mixing both out wide and from the slot as the Pats’ WR2 behind Romeo Doubs. Add him now and ask questions later”. If he can keep up the advanced metrics we saw against Las Vegas (21.4% target/route, 2.04 yards/route), Chism could be a sneaky flexworthy rest-of-season value add.

  • Start: Drake Maye (QB3), Rhamondre Stevenson (RB11), DeMario Douglas (WR54), Hunter Henry (TE14)
  • Sit: Romeo Doubs (WR29), Eli Raridon (TE32)
  • Sleeper: Efton Chism (WR53)
     

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