Thursday Fantasy Fliers, Week 7: Brandon LaFell, Jace Amaro

Who, exactly, demanded another prime-time matchup involving New England and New York?

The Pats are like the NFL equivalent of a reliable seven-passenger vehicle with a respectable safety record. The Jets are a sinkhole of despair. The Julian and Geno show is happening, tonight. Hooray, AFC East. Woo.

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Here's a pair of widely available names, both approved for use if you're dealing with injuries and/or bye-week issues...

WR Brandon LaFell, NE (24 percent owned, 11 percent started) – Over the past four weeks, LaFell has seen 26 targets, catching 15 for 282 yards and three scores. Yeah, this is the same guy who was a mild disappointment in each of his four seasons in Carolina, but the team context is different these days. LaFell is on pace to establish new career highs in receiving yardage and touchdowns.

Here are the usage stats for the Pats receiving corps in Week 6, via Pro Football Focus:

Julian Edelman – 69 snaps, 11 targets
Rob Gronkowski – 59 snaps, 9 targets
Brandon LaFell – 53 snaps, 6 targets
Michael Hoomanawanui – 41 snaps, 1 target
Danny Amendola – 24 snaps, 0 targets
Tim Wright – 16 snaps, 1 target
Aaron Dobson – 11 snaps, 1 target
Brian Tyms – 8 snaps, 2 targets, one big play

So LaFell is pretty clearly Plan C, and he's a better bet than Edelman to find the end-zone. New York's defense has allowed a league-high 15 touchdown passes while ranking dead-last in interceptions (just one), so the matchup couldn't be much friendlier.

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TE Jace Amaro, NYJ (6 percent owned, 3 percent started) – Yup, he's a rookie tight end, and those guys almost never pay the fantasy bills. So that's strike one. And yes, Amaro has had a couple ugly drops this season. So that might be strike two. But Amaro is coming off a 12-target, 10-catch week, finishing with 68 receiving yards and an end-zone spike in the Jets' home loss to Denver. Amaro is a promising player, and his workload is clearly growing. If you're without the injured Jimmy Graham or the vacationing Zach Ertz this week, Amaro is a reasonable fill-in. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if he delivered 50-plus yards and a score.