Stop if you have heard this story before. The calendar flipped to November and the New England Patriots suddenly cannot lose football games. The Patriots routed the Cleveland Browns on Sunday for their fourth consecutive victory, but the individual players who scored most of the fantasy points remain largely available in ESPN standard leagues.
Perhaps this part will change before the Patriots hit the road in Week 11 for an attractive Thursday night matchup in Atlanta against the enigmatic Falcons.
Quarterback Mac Jones and running back Rhamondre Stevenson were high school players the last time these franchises met, in the fall of 2017 (eight months after their Super Bowl meeting), but today they are becoming interesting to fantasy managers. Maybe. Jones tossed three touchdown passes -- with only four incompletions -- in the 45-7 win over the Browns, those scores featuring Kendrick Bourne, Hunter Henry and Jakobi Meyers. The rookie from Alabama is more about efficiency than big numbers, but his top two statistical outings have come during this four-game winning streak, and the Falcons are, well, rough defensively.
Stevenson (rostered in 9.9% of ESPN standard leagues) obviously offers more fantasy upside, but even that one comes with a caveat on whether starter Damien Harris will play. Harris missed the Week 10 game because of a concussion, and he might retain his volume upon his return since he has scored touchdowns in his past five games. Stevenson scored a pair of touchdowns Sunday, and he caught four passes as well, scoring 27.4 PPR points. That tops any outing for Harris (only 11 catches) this season. Perhaps this gets interesting after all, but it seems clear the Patriots will run the ball effectively on the Falcons, so invest where possible.
As for the passing game, Meyers entered Week 10 one of the more underrated yet unlucky players in the NFL. His 46 receptions ranked him tied for 18th in the league, but of the 55 players with 32 or more catches, Meyers was the only one who had failed to score a receiving touchdown. Even that changed on Sunday with his memorable 11-yard score in the closing minutes, the first career touchdown for Meyers in his 39th game.
As Jones matures -- he was more accurate and made better decisions Sunday -- and gets more chances to throw the football downfield, perhaps Meyers becomes more relevant to fantasy managers. He entered Week 10 among the top 50 PPR wide receivers despite scoring nary a touchdown, and he is available in more than 33% of ESPN standard leagues.
(For those wondering, and I suspect you are because I certainly was, the new leader for receptions sans a receiving touchdown this season is Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette, and he last caught a receiving touchdown in 2018. Few complain about Fournette, a clear RB2, though, and he has four rushing scores. The Jacksonville Jaguars' Laviska Shenault Jr. and Dan Arnold are next on the list, with 35 and 34 catches, respectively, and no touchdowns. C'mon, Trevor Lawrence, get this offense moving already.)
If one is to make a case for any rookie passer the rest of the way, it might be for Jones, although he has no more games with the New York Jets. Still, watch his progress. Meyers and Henry should pique the interest of fantasy managers, too. Meyers is surely capable of scoring more touchdowns. Henry, who used to be a TE1 with the Los Angeles Chargers, scored two touchdowns on Sunday and has seven on the season, one off his career high. Henry might be returning to that TE1 level, especially if Jonnu Smith (shoulder) continues to miss time. The Patriots are a run-first team playing excellent defense, and both Harris and Stevenson demand our attention, but keep an eye out on the passing game, too.
As for the Falcons, they are quite difficult to predict from week to week, with running back Cordarrelle Patterson and rookie tight end Kyle Pitts the main options in fantasy lineups on any consistent basis. Patterson comes off his worst fantasy performance of the season in the 43-3 demolition loss to the Dallas Cowboys with 4.9 PPR points. Chalk that one up to the game flow rather than a key change in value. Pitts caught four of seven targets for 60 yards, reaching 10 PPR points but for only the fourth time all season. Is he still a TE1, as he sits on one touchdown, and against a thriving Patriots defense? Perhaps not this week.
Quarterbacks rusty or not
Things look positive in the recent reunion of quarterback Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. Newton, signed back to his original team just days before Sunday's stunning road win over the Arizona Cardinals (who were missing QB Kyler Murray), ran for a touchdown on his first play and threw a TD pass to Robby Anderson on his second play. P.J. Walker started the game, but it seems likely Newton gets the call for the Week 11 home game against Washington. Fantasy managers need to take this situation seriously. As noted by ESPN colleague Eric Moody, Newton is clearly fantasy relevant, and Sunday's game notwithstanding, Washington has struggled defensively.
As for the Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson, he returned sooner than expected from finger surgery in Sunday's shutout loss to the Green Bay Packers, and scored 5.64 PPR points; he averaged more than 22 PPR points in his first four full games. Wilson and the Seahawks -- who had not suffered a shutout in the Wilson era -- host the Cardinals in Week 11. While we should give the Packers' defense major props for shutting down Wilson, Patrick Mahomes and Murray the past three games, Wilson will need to play better -- and get more time to throw -- to be a fantasy factor.
The injury report
Unfortunately, there is no shortage of names to keep an eye on for this week. At quarterback, it seems likely the Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers will get veterans Murray (ankle) and Ben Roethlisberger (COVID-19 reserve list) back for their games against the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Chargers, respectively. Murray is a clear fantasy starter. Roethlisberger, at this stage of his career, certainly is not. Cleveland's Baker Mayfield (knee) should play against the winless Detroit Lions, but as with Roethlisberger, fantasy managers should look elsewhere at the position anyway.
The Browns could get running backs Nick Chubb (reserve/COVID-19) and Kareem Hunt (calf) back against the Lions, which would obviously harm the value for promising D'Ernest Johnson, who scored 22.7 PPR points Sunday. New Orleans Saints star Alvin Kamara (knee) should return for a road tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles, similarly affecting the value for Mark Ingram II, coming off his best performance of the season. The Packers lost Aaron Jones (knee) during their win over Seattle, and AJ Dillon feasted in relief. At wide receiver and tight end, we await further word on the Cardinals' DeAndre Hopkins, Steelers' Chase Claypool and the Eagles' Dallas Goedert (concussion).
Monday night outlook
Then there are the New York Giants, a team consistently featured in the injury section of this weekly article. They come off their bye week but offer little clarity as of today. Running back Saquon Barkley (ankle) last played in Week 5, but he could return for Monday night against Brady and the Buccaneers. Rookie wide receiver Kadarius Toney (thumb) piqued our collective interest in Week 5 but has only eight receptions since and -- keeping with a theme -- has no touchdowns. As with Toney, veteran Kenny Golladay (knee) played in Week 9, but he also achieved little statistically. Two of the Giants' wins have come against the NFC South, for what that is worth.
Brady hopes to have wide receiver Antonio Brown (ankle) and tight end buddy Rob Gronkowski (back) in the lineup, but if he continues to throw the football to the other team, it might not matter. Brady threw a mere three interceptions over his first seven games, strengthening yet another MVP case. He has four interceptions in the past two games, road losses to the Saints and Washington. Brady remains one of the top scorers for the season in fantasy, and an obvious play against the Giants, but turnovers can derail fantasy value quickly, as we have seen with Kansas City Chiefs star Mahomes.