Mac Jones start or sit: Week 12 fantasy football advice

The New England Patriots have their sights set on a potential four-game winning streak as they face the Minnesota Vikings on Thanksgiving day. Mac Jones has yet to put on a dominant offensive performance so far this season, but perhaps a matchup with a Vikings defense that surrendered 40 points last week can do the trick. Should fantasy managers consider the second-year signal caller as a starter in fantasy lineups for Week 12?

Fantasy Football analysis: Patriots QB Mac Jones

Jones threw for 246 yards without a score as New England won a low-scoring affair with the Jets last week. While the small volume of scoring may have been an outlier, the lack of production for Jones through the air continues a similar trend. The second-year quarterback finished with just 10.14 fantasy points in Week 11 and he’s finished with 15+ fantasy points in just one game this season. The game plan for the Patriots has been simple: lean heavily into the run game and ensure that Jones plays mistake-free football.

While that works for New England in the regular season, it largely means that Jones is fantasy irrelevant on a given basis. As the Patriots prepare for the Vikings on a short week, Bill Belichick is unlikely to stray away from keeping defense at the forefront with the run game helping them win the time of possession. Jones ranks 30th among all quarterbacks with 195 total pass attempts this season, which only furthers the belief that his fantasy ceiling will be consistently low each week.

Start or sit in Week 12?

If the Patriots hope to win on Thanksgiving it will largely be off the back of their defense and an efficient run game. Jones will not play an impactful role, thus he should be kept on the bench this week accordingly.