The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key New York Giants players heading into their matchup with the New England Patriots to help you craft a winning lineup.
Jameis Winston, QB
My goodness, did we get the full Jameis Winston experience last week in Detroit?
- 366 passing yards (on just 18 completions)
- 2 passing TDs (distances of 12 and 39 yards)
- 1 interception (nearly crippling in the fourth quarter)
- 1 receiving TD (33 yards, a contested grab with a broken tackle)
He came out firing, as only Jameis Winston can, and never backed down. It was great fun, and we all enjoyed it, but if you showed up late, you missed out.
In the second half, the Winston bubble burst. He was two-of-eight with an interception when pressured, and that is a situation he figures to find himself in regularly this week should he get the start again for Jaxson Dart (concussion).
Chaos can be fun, and last week, it happened to be productive, but this supporting cast isn’t exactly built for that style of play. He used Wan’Dale Robinson like he was Mike Evans, and forgive me if I don’t think that is a sustainable path to profit, given the nine-inch height difference.
He’ll rank outside of my top 15 at the position should he get the nod, behind a widely available QB in Tua Tagovailoa (vs. NO).
Jaxson Dart, QB
The Giants are working with an interim coach and navigating a franchise quarterback who is progressing slowly through concussion protocol (consecutive DNPs).
That’s not exactly a profile I like leaning into with one of the better AFC teams on the schedule, but the results of Jaxson Dart demand that we consider him as a viable option if active and, to be honest, closer to a lineup lock.
The rookie has run for a touchdown or thrown 40+ passes in every start of his young career, and the reckless play that landed him on the sidelines last week is exactly what makes him a difference maker in our game.
It’s a fine needle to thread for a team going nowhere in 2025. If this were a team making a serious run, I don’t think I’d be far from ranking Dart as a Tier 1 fantasy QB: we’d have no reason to think that his style of play was at risk of changing, and with an offense like the Lions on the other side, we’d love the script potential.
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But after a Week 12 DNP, we are left with more questions than answers.
I don’t think they can change Dart’s approach to the game overnight. His duality and bold play are what got him to this point, and I can’t imagine this is the first time there have been discussions about how he goes about his business.
That said, this is very much a franchise that needs to take a long-term view. They are already without two skill-position players who figure to impact their future in a major way: the training wheels will come off this offense next year at full strength, but that won’t matter if the bike isn’t in pristine condition beforehand.
Should he get cleared, I’ll have Dart ranked as a top-12 QB this week, with the expectation that he’ll continue to challenge defenses on the ground in a significant way. That’s the fantasy cheat code, but we have also seen some subtle passing growth despite a limited crew of pass catchers by his side:
- Weeks 4-7: 41.2% complete on ball thrown to (or past) the sticks
- Weeks 8-10: 52.8% complete on ball thrown to (or past) the sticks
Devin Singletary, RB
Devin Singletary holds a role in this offense that can be productive in the right spot. I just don’t think this is anything close to the right spot.
He’s a grinding back that has the inside track to early down and red zone work. At face value, that’s encouraging, but with a sub-20 implied point total this week against arguably the best run defense in the league, you’re grasping for straws.
Singletary offers little upside per carry (none of his 74 rush attempts this season have gained even 15 yards), and with just one target against 30 carries over the past two weeks, he’s very unlikely to bail you out with work in the passing game.
I’m aware New England struggled against Chase Brown on the ground last week. If you want that single data point to weigh heavier than what we collected during the first 11 weeks of the season, go nuts.
If you like fantasy points, that’s not the decision I’d be making.
Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB
Tyron Tracy out-carried Devin Singletary 20-14 in the overtime loss to the Lions last week, a nice boxscore difference, but not one that I’m too confident is predictive.
Tracy started and handled the first drive, but it was then Singletary for the second drive, before Tracy got the nod on drive three. This is a limited offense hamstrung by injuries, looking for a spark anywhere they can find it.
Even with him getting the start, Tracy trailed Singletary in carries 8-6 at halftime, a sign of just how fluid this sort of situation can be.
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That said, he was responsible for all four of the RB targets last week, and I don’t think that’s a mistake. Tracy is a former receiver, and we saw some of that open-space ability on this 42-yard catch-and-run (though you could also credit the Lions with falling asleep at the wheel for that play).
If we are stacking up these profiles against one another, Singletary gets the slight edge in scoring equity, while Tracy figures to see the bulk of the routes run. In an average offense, those two roles would be close to even, but in an environment like this, I lean toward Tracy, understanding they will often be trailing and rarely in scoring positions.
That certainly projects to be the case against a Patriots defense that has muted run games all season, except for Chase Brown last week.
I’m flexing Tracy in PPR formats with the thought being that he has a very good chance to at least reach 10 PPR points in any given week.
Darius Slayton, WR
Amidst all of the chaos in the Jameis Winston experience last week, Darius Slayton earned just two targets on 25 routes, scoring 3.3 PPR points in the process.
The worries only grow when you realize that his 23-yard catch came on the very first offensive play of the afternoon.
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Wan’Dale Robinson was the star (9-156-1 on 14 targets), but Isaiah Hodgins earned three times as many targets as Slayton. At the same time, Theo Johnson and Tyrone Tracy finished with more receptions than Slayton did targets.
If you told me that there was a DFS build that made sense with Slayton ceiling case in a matchup that figures to make New York pass heavy, I’d listen. When it comes to season-long, with no teams on a bye, I’ve got a hard time believing that you need to go this far down the WR rankings to fill your flex spot.
Wan’Dale Robinson, WR
The spike plays aren’t going to come in bulk like they did last week.
That much we know.
He scored from 39 yards down last week on a third-down flea flicker that required an agile Jameis Winston cut to have time to get the throw off. Robinson was featured in a variety of ways early, reaching triple digits in receiving yards in the first quarter, the best single quarter of his career.
By 45 yards.
He finished the week with 199 air yards, more than he had in the first three weeks of November combined, and paid it off with a 9-156-1 final line. He’s seen an end zone target in consecutive games and 45 targets over his past four, volume that I’m comfortable betting on, even if the type of opportunity rarely looks the way it did over the weekend.
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New England’s run defense showed some cracks last week against the Bengals, but I’ll go ahead and trust the first 11 weeks over the last four quarters. Assuming they remain one of the best units in that regard, projecting a high pass count is reasonable, and if that happens, Robinson is likely to make good on your faith.
I have him ranked as a low-end PPR WR2, leading the tier of receivers that fit this general profile (Khalil Shakir and Michael Pittman).
Theo Johnson, TE
Seemingly, everyone has fun when Jameis Winston is under center: fans, teammates, and opponents, there are literally no exceptions.
We saw some of that fun spill over in the direction of Theo Johnson, as the elite athlete had a pair of chunk plays (catches of 24 and 39 yards) in the overtime loss to the Lions over the weekend.
For the season, Johnson is averaging 10.9 yards per catch and brings an interesting dynamic to this offense, one currently built around Wan’Dale Robinson. I like how he projects in this unit as a whole, and while the Pats are a tough matchup, they have allowed a tight end to clear his season average in eight of the past nine weeks.
I don’t think the Giants will move the ball with great levels of consistency this week, but I do think it’s fair to expect their starting tight end to flirt with double-digit PPR points, and that’s enough to justify streaming him.
New York goes on bye after this game, and that means you might have to cut him loose, but if he can put together another strong 60 minutes of film, I’d reconsider.
- Week 15 vs. Commanders
- Week 16 vs. Vikings
- Week 17 at Raiders
