The New England Patriots will face the Indianapolis Colts in Week 13. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Patriots skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 13 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Drake Maye, QB
Drake Maye shows flashes of potential seemingly every week, but stringing together 60 strong minutes has proven to be a tough ask. The rookie hasn’t finished better than QB15 since Week 7 and that’s the general range in which I have him ranked for this home game.
The Colts own the second-lowest deep touchdown rate allowed (1.3% of attempts) while posting the sixth-highest interception rate on such passes. If they aren’t vulnerable down the field on Sunday, I’m having a hard time thinking that Maye dinks and dunks his way to viability.
You might be able to talk me into Maye as a viable streaming option in Week 15 (at Arizona after the bye week), but I’ll pass for Week 13.
Rhamondre Stevenson, RB
Rhamondre Stevenson hasn’t scored in three straight games, and his production relative to expectations over that stretch is -41.1%. He now has five games this season with single-digit PPR points — three games with under five points to offset his three 20+ point games.
The game script was an issue for New England last week (five carries for 11 yards in the first 30 minutes with the Pats down 24-0) and, as expected, Stevenson was rendered useless in the second half.
I’m confident that Stevenson is the featured back in this offense, but I’m just as confident that he can’t make the carries count (2.8 yards per carry over his past six games). He’s as underwhelming as any featured back in the game and thus checks in as nothing more than an average Flex.
DeMario Douglas, WR
DeMario Douglas has just one top-25 finish on his 2024 resume and Week 12 was a good reminder of just how sideways an offense led by a volatile rookie can go. New England had 49 passing yards in the first half of the loss to the Dolphins and not a single Patriot had multiple receptions over the first 30 minutes.
At the end of the day, Douglas was able to get you to double-digit PPR points last week (five catches for 62 yards) and that’s all you’re asking for from him. The Colts allow the highest slot completion percentage through 12 weeks (79%) and that gives me confidence that we get exactly what we expect from Douglas.
The ceiling is only so high, but there is comfort in stability, and over the course of 60 minutes, I think that’s enough to Flex Douglas if you’re labeled as a favorite.
Kendrick Bourne, WR
Kendrick Bourne managed just 30 yards on 25 routes last weekend in Miami, and with just one game of 50 air yards this year, we are looking at a player who needs to score to pay off.
If you’re in a spot where you’re considering Flexing a TD-dependant player on a team with an implied total hovering around 20 points in an offense led by a rookie signal caller — well, if that’s the case, I’d recommend stumbling upon this content earlier next season
I’m not making it a priority to start any Patriot this week, and with him ranked as my third favorite receiver on this team, he’s not in the zip code of mattering.
Hunter Henry, TE
Drake Maye is peppering the TE position with targets these days but hasn’t featured one exclusively, which makes both Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper difficult to count on.
Over the past three weeks, Henry has earned 21 targets to Hooper’s 12. That’s encouraging, but his lead in the reception department over that stretch is just 12-11. Add in the consistent role of DeMario Douglas (27 targets in November) and the involvement of the running backs — there’s just not much upward trajectory for any pass catcher in this offense.
I prefer Henry to Hooper if you’re in the tortured spot of having to decide, but there are 15 players at the position I like more than either, so you can do better in most situations.