The first game of the NFL week on Thursday night is always tricky for fantasy football mangers who want to make sure they get off to a good start — either by starting the right players or avoiding certain players.
Week 3 brings to us another heated division rivalry between two more AFC East teams with the New York Jets hosting the New England Patriots (Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video). Here's a start 'em and sit 'em breakdown of the potential low-scoring affair, including some DFS recommendations.
Start 'Em: New England Patriots vs. New York Jets must-plays
Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets
The Patriots' running back defense has some holes. The Bengals did well with limited volume and Zach Charbonnet made some key plays for the Seahawks. Hall has a lot more dual-threat talent than those other backs and should be the focal point of a positive game script, as the Jets will try to improve to 2-1 with a lot of running to support a dominant defense at home.
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Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots
The Jets have a nasty pass defense when it can avoid some lapses, which won't happen much vs. Jacoby Brissett and a limited receiving corps. But Stevenson should be pounded often to give the Patriots their only shot, with a run-heavy attack.
Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets
Wilson has been disappointing early in tough matchups as they haven't needed him much yet with Aaron Rodgers. His numbers are looking much like last season's weekly output minus Rodgers. But he can get going here, even though the Patriots have rising star Christian Gonzalez at cornerback. Wilson should see a good chunk of Marcus Jones, too. Look for something like 7-80-1 from him as he has his best game with Rodgers to date.
New York Jets D/ST
The Jets should get after Brissett with their pass rush and should be ready to tee off looking for takeaways, boosted by the emotional prime-time bump at home. They are up there among the elite plays of the week, which also includes the Browns and Buccaneers.
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Hunter Henry, TE, New England Patriots
Henry is easily the best thing the Patriots have in the downfield passing game with limitations at wide receiver. Henry should be targeted often to avoid the Jets' cornerbacks and can put together another solid game as the most productive Patriot in the passing game.
Thursday Night Football sleepers
Braelon Allen, RB, New York Jets
The rookie from Wisconsin scored twice last week in a shock behind Hall. That should give him more chances to form a formidable 1-2 punch in a run-heavy attack. If you're hurting at RB and need someone to roll off into producing from a positive game script, you could do a lot worse than FLEXing Allen.
Antonio Gibson, RB, New England Patriots
Gibson cracked the century mark in scrimmage yards last week, helping out Stevenson and Henry as a runner and receiver. He should be busy on short passes underneath the secondary as Brissett tries to check down and get the ball out earlier, making him a sneaky option in deeper PPR-leaning leagues.
Sit 'Em: Thursday Night Football bust
Aaron Rodgers, QB, New York Jets
There's no discount double-check needed here. Rodgers isn't going to force lighting it up as a 40-year-old coming off a torn Achilles'. He's smartly being calculated with his passes, knowing the running game and defense will take care of a lot of the winning burden for the Jets in such matchups with overwhelmed offenses. That formula is great for the Jets winning, but it gives him little fantasy appeal beyond a low-ceiling superflex necessity.
WEEK 3 DFS ADVICE
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DraftKings mock Showdown lineup for Thursday night
- Captain (1.5x): Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets ($17,700)
- FLEX: Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots ($11,400)
- FLEX: Mike Williams, WR, New York Jets ($6,200)
- FLEX: New York Jets D/ST ($5,400)
- FLEX: Braelon Allen, RB, New York Jets ($5,200)
- FLEX: Antonio Gibson, RB, New England Patriots ($3,600)
FanDuel mock single-game lineup for Thursday night
- MVP: (1.5x): Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets ($16,000)
- AnyFLEX: Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots ($15,000)
- AnyFLEX: Braelon Allen, RB, New York Jets ($10,000)
- AnyFLEX: Greg Zuerlein, K, New York Jets ($8,500)
- AnyFLEX: New York Jets D/ST ($8,500)
This is obviously targeting the two most reliable parts of the offenses on the ground with Hall and Stevenson, and extending where possible to their respective backups, Allen and Gibson. Then the Jets' D is a no-brainer vs. Brissett, while Williams gives us a Rodgers wild-card big-play target, and Zuerlein gives us a potential field-goal bonanza.
