Monday Night Football Starts and Sits: Broncos vs Patriots

UPDATE: TheBroncos-Patriots game has been cancelled for Week 5. It is postponed from Monday October 12th, and moved to next Sunday October 18th.

For the second week in a row, COVID-19 concerns have pushed a New England Patriots game to Monday night. This time, it's a home game against the Denver Broncos. What will New England do at quarterback? Will this game feature a single moment of offense? Will people watch a game happening in the afternoon on a Monday? It's the NFL in 2020, y'all!

Let's talk about the matchup and what to expect from certain players. You can read about the matchup breakdowns and start/sit recommendations for the Chargers vs. Saints Monday Night Football game as well.

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Denver Broncos at New England Patriots

• Game time: Monday 10/12 @ 5:00 EST
• Game line: N/A
• Over/Under: N/A

Must-Starts

Melvin Gordon III (RB, DEN)

While New England is allowing the eighth-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing running backs, you've got to start Melvin Gordon, who is coming off a 23-carry, 107-yard Week 4 performance against the Jets. Yes, there are significant differences between the Jets Defense (which is bad!) and the Patriots Defense (which is not bad!), but Gordon has 70 or more rushing yards in three of four games. He's also got four total touchdowns already, including a pair last week. Gordon's an RB2 play.

Jerry Jeudy (WR, DEN)

The rookie did see a pretty big drop in targets last week, with just four of them. He caught two passes for 61 yards and found the end zone for the first time as a pro, though. The thing with Jeudy is that while he's a rookie, he's also the best receiver on this team and his dip in targets should be seen as a fluke. He'll have a full-go this week and should be a solid WR3 option at worst for fantasy managers, even with all the question marks that this team has under center.

Julian Edelman (WR, NE)

Not a great stretch for Edelman, who has five catches in his last two games. He's also dealing with a knee injury. Those two facts do make me very tentative about playing Edelman in DFS, but as a season-long play, Edelman is a must-start as a third receiver. He'll face a banged-up Broncos secondary and will be the one real safe option for quarterback ??? to throw the ball to. It's not the kind of matchup I feel great about, but you gotta do what you gotta do in season-long leagues sometimes.

Consider Sitting

All The Quarterbacks (QB, DEN/NE)

Both teams face a lot of uncertainty under center, and with this game happening on Monday, managers in season-long leagues might just want to avoid this situation completely.

For Denver, we're still not sure if it will be Drew Lock (shoulder) will be back or if Brett Rypien gets another shot. The Patriots passing defense isn't the 2020 Patriots, but I'm still not sure that I want to play Lock coming off an injury or Rypien in his first start back against them.

For New England, Cam Newton (COVID-19) could be back, though it should be safe to assume he won't be. You can't rush a guy back from coronavirus, right? The other options are Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer, neither of which excite me. Hoyer was benched for Stidham last game, so I think we should assume that Stidham gets the start. He completed 38.5 percent of his passes last week with two interceptions and an adjusted yards per attempt of -0.77. Yikes.

Phillip Lindsay (RB, DEN)

While Lindsay is expected to return, this is (probably) Gordon's backfield for now, with Lindsay coming back slowly and not getting enough touches for fantasy relevance. Intriguing contrarian play in a Showdown slate, though, if you're looking for one of those!

James White and Rex Burkhead (RB, NE)

Damien Harris grabbed the lead back reins last week, leaving White and Burkhead behind. Burkhead had 12 touches, a number that likely drops a little. White had seven receptions and is a fine play in full PPR, but he only had 38 yards on those catches, so even in half-PPR, I think the floor is too low to justify a spot for him this week.

N'Keal Harry (WR, NE)

Yes, Harry had a touchdown last week, but he also had just three catches for 21 yards. Ever since his eight-catch game in Week 2, Harry's volume has been declining. If that trend continues, Harry has the chance to really sink your fantasy lineup.

Potential Sleepers

Damien Harris (RB, NE)

Suddenly, Harris went from the IR to being the lead back for the Patriots. He turned his 17 carries last week into 100 yards. Harris isn't yet to "trust every game" level because we can't really ever trust a Belichick early-down back that much and the Broncos are only allowing the fourth-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs. But hey, if the volume sticks around, he can be a solid RB3 play.

Damiere Byrd (WR, NE)

If you're a fan of chasing the targets, may I interest you in Damiere Byrd, who was targeted 10 times last week, catching five of them for 80 yards? He was also targeted nine times back in Week 2, so this isn't the only time he's seen heavy usage. Byrd isn't a super consistent play, but I like his upside if you need a flex in a deep league.

Tim Patrick (WR, DEN)

Is Patrick still a sleeper? He's had a great season so far and face a Patriots defense that won't have Stephon Gilmore, which should make things easier for him this week. He's had touchdowns in consecutive weeks and is a WR3 play on Monday night.

Jake Butt (TE, DEN)

It appears that Noah Fant (ankle) won't play, so if you're looking for a deep-league streamer or a potential DFS value at tight end, maybe you want to look at Jake Butt??? Sure, he was targeted just one time last game, but he played 49 percent of Denver's snaps. Maybe this is finally the moment that the once-promising tight end gets his first career touchdown? I'd play Butt in a Showdown slate, though yeah, I'd stop short of using him in season-long.

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