Fantasy Football Thursday Night Football Preview, Week 5

We have two of the more glamorous quarterbacks in the game this week on Thursday Night Football and we’re here to break down the fantasy plays from the game!

The schedule maker had to think this Thursday Night Football game would be pretty solid with Tom Brady and Andrew Luck facing off on Thursday and it’s really a shame that Indy is so banged up. They’re missing Marlon Mack, Jack Doyle and T.Y. Hilton, leaving Luck with some mediocre weaponry in this spot on a short week. That’s not great and we’ll dig in to see who we can play from both sides.

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Indianapolis Colts

The star of this game is going to have to be Andrew Luck but going on the road with major parts of the offense missing is going to make his life difficult. Luck himself is tough to start in a one quarterback league, but in a two quarterback league you can chase what should be the volume of 50 or so passing attempts. Who’s going to catch the passes might be little tougher to figure out. My main two targets from this game are Eric Ebron and Nyheim Hines since Ebron has seen double digit targets in both games that Doyle has missed and Hines has proven himself to be the pass catching running back in the offense. Robert Turbin is back from suspension to siphon some fo the work away but it would sure seem like Hines has a secure role. I think he should see at least 8-10 targets and in a PPR league, he’s a definite starting option.

The receivers may as well be throwing darts. Ryan Grant and Chester Rodgers saw over 75 percent of the snaps while Zach Pascal was under 50 percent. All of these players saw at least seven targets but it’s hard to project which one stands out above the others. Even the red zone data doesn’t help because they’re all tied at two targets a piece on the season. I think that you can only start one of them if you’re in a deep league and in a pinch that you just can’t avoid. Obviously, we don’t start the defense in New England.

Starter – Eric Ebron, Nyheim Hines

Probable Starters – Ryan Grant, Chester Rodgers, Zach Pascal

New England Patriots

Some of the decisions here are regarding the health of players. Rob Gronkowski is dealing with an ankle injury and has been on the injury report for the last three weeks. There’s a chance they just sit him out on a short week so Gronk owners need to have a backup plan just in case. If he’s active, you have to play him. You don’t leave Gronk on the bench. If he’s out, that raises my interest in Julian Edelman. He’s back from his ACL tear/suspension and I’m typically a little cautious with injuries and returns. Sometimes that works out(Dalvin Cook) and sometimes it doesn’t(Alshon Jeffery) but the nice thing is you know Edelman and Tom Brady are on the same page. If Gronk is on the sidelines, he should see plenty of targets. I’m not ready to go to Josh Gordon yet since he only saw 18 snaps last week. That’s too few to bank on.

The running game is very simple because it’s Sony Michel and James White. Michel is seeing a ton of work, maxing out at 25 carries last week. If the Pats are up big, Michel could be grinding that clock for a significant portion of the game. White might see a couple less targets with Edelman back in the fold but he should still see at least 10 touches, if not more. Given the running back landscape, I’ll take my chances with that number of touches from the New England offense. I could be talked into the Patriots defense but it’s far from the most comfortable option. Even though Luck doesn’t have his main players, it’s still Andrew Luck.

Starters – Tom Brady, Sony Michel, James White, Rob Gronkowski(if active)

Potential Starters – Julian Edelman

Final Score – Patriots 28, Colts 17

Next. Week 5 NFL game by game breakdown. dark

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