The New England Patriots will face the Tennessee Titans in Week 9. 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 9 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Drake Maye, QB
Jerod Mayo was surprised when the medical staff told him that Drake Maye had to go into the blue tent following his head injury but admitted that “pulling him out of the game and putting him in protocol is above my pay grade.”
It doesn’t sound like a lasting injury and reporting out of New England is painting an optimistic picture that their franchise QB will not miss any time.
Maye has a fantasy-friendly skill set and had a pair of top-12 QB finishes prior to the injury. Asking him to be a weekly option for your team this season is a bit optimistic, but assuming health, I don’t think his days as a viable streamer are over.
The Patriots get a nice three-game run to round out the month (Rams, Dolphins, and Colts), a stretch where I could see playing Maye in a pinch.
The Titans defense is quietly top five in completion percentage, yards per attempt, and first-down rate, rankings that have me off of Maye this week, but don’t lose track of him — he’s already an asset in our game, even if the product is raw.
Jacoby Brissett, QB
If Brissett gets the nod this week, it adds value to the Titans’ D/ST, and that’s about it.
That’s not true, it makes me more interested in betting the under as well. But in terms of fantasy value, this hopefully would mean nothing to you. This would hurt people looking to start Hunter Henry and/or Rhamondre Stevenson as the offensive environment as a whole suffers.
Brissett has thrown 159 passes this season and two of them have resulted in scores.
No bueno.
Antonio Gibson, RB
Antonio Gibson has played under one-quarter of the snaps in half of New England’s games this season. With two of those coming over the past two weeks, he is comfortably off of fantasy radars in all formats.
Of course, like so many running backs in the NFL, Gibson is a single injury away from extended usage. But does that matter?
Over his past three games, the 26-year-old has produced 49% below fantasy expectations, the type of inefficiency that wipes him off of the rosterable handcuff tier.
Rhamondre Stevenson, RB
A hard-nosed, three-yard score was good to see last week, and with multiple receptions in six of seven games, Stevenson’s role is what you’re investing in more than anything.
Am I looking to bet on this offense? Of course not, but touches are gold this time of year, and Stevenson has at least 16 of them in five of seven contests. He’s my RB28 this week, a ranking that will improve by a few spots should Drake Maye be ruled active.
DeMario Douglas, WR
“Pop” averages just 9.7 yards per catch this season, something I’m willing to overlook if the volume is safe, but it hasn’t been. Not consistently, at least.
Douglas has exactly three or nine targets in six straight games. Not only is that one of the weirder stats I’ve crossed this week, but it’s enough to outright dismiss the chain mover as a viable option. This offense is too limited to invest in inconsistencies, and that’s what we are currently getting from Douglas.
There’s a world in which a player like Douglas thrives in a Drake Maye system, but we aren’t close to that at the moment.
Ja’Lynn Polk, WR | NE (at TEN)
The rookie has passed through concussion protocol and was not listed on New England’s final injury report.
Polk went through the entire month of October without a multi-catch effort, and his 0.44 yards per route this season is closing in on disturbing. Dynasty managers will be watching any reps with Drake Maye carefully, but that’s the extent of the fantasy interest right now in the 37th overall pick.
Hunter Henry, TE
Henry is averaging 13.3 PPR points over his past three games, earning 20 looks across those games and proving that he is capable of leading this otherwise unproven roster of pass catchers. How much does his value hinge on the signal caller?
Those charts look pretty similar, right? The playbook isn’t any different, but the reads are. Under Maye, Henry has produced 29.9% over fantasy expectations while averaging 2.1 yards per route run, a drastic improvement from his marks under Brissett (18.2% below expectation and 1.5 yards per route).
The Titans have allowed the fifth-highest short-touchdown pass rate this season, and that puts Henry on the low-end TE1 radar, but he’ll flirt with my top 10 should the rookie be back under center.
New England Patriots at Tennessee Titans Insights
New England Patriots
Team: The Patriots beat the Jets on Sunday with 247 yards of offense. Surprisingly, that was the eighth time in eight weeks a team has won with under 250 yards of offense (the Broncos also did it to the Jets in Week 4).
QB: Jacoby Brissett has yet to clear 5.5 yards per attempt in a game this season and has two touchdown passes on 159 attempts (Will Levis thinks that’s a low rate; he has five on 125 attempts this season).
Offense: The Patriots have converted six of seven red zone trips into touchdowns over the past three weeks (Weeks 1-5: 4-of-13).
Defense: New England’s defensive game plan adjusts as much week over week as any. They blitzed 17.2% of the time on Sunday – they’ve been at 25%, the lowest in four games, but also at 40% or the highest in three games, including Weeks 6-7).
Fantasy: Rhamondre Stevenson scored a pair of touchdowns on Sunday, but his 27 carries over the past two weeks have gained just 66 yards, and if Drake Maye misses time, even more running lanes are likely to close.
Betting: The Patriots are 1-3 ATS on the road this season – they’ve had plenty of issues since Tom Brady left town, but they’ve yet to have a losing ATS road record since his departure.
Tennessee Titans
Team: The Titans have been blown out in back-to-back weeks by Super Bowl contenders, but they own a +9 point differential this season in three games that are sub-.500 this season.
QB: Mason Rudolph averaged 15.6 yards per pass in the first quarter on Sunday and 3.9 the rest of the way.
Offense: The Titans converted 46.2% of their third downs in 2020. That number dipped to 43.6% in 2021, 36.5% in 2022, and 33.5% in 2023. Through eight weeks this season? The trend continues: 30.6%.
Defense: The Titans have failed to force a turnover in five of seven games this season.
Fantasy: Calvin Ridley had 118 first-quarter receiving yards, the 10th most in a first quarter since the start of 2015. He entered the game with 56 receiving yards in his four games prior.
Betting: The Titans have failed to cover all three home games this season and are just 1-5-1 ATS over their past seven in front of their fans.