James White start/sit update, 4:07 p.m.

The Patriots are not expected to have Rex Burkhead active when they face the Giants on Thursday Night Football, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Burkhead was inactive in Week 5 with a foot injury, and although he got in three limited participation workouts this week, it appears that it was not enough to get him ready. In his absence, James White should see more work in the passing game — although he is already a prolific pass catcher out of the backfield. Burkhead gets some work in the run game as well, so it will be interesting to see if White gets more of that, or if Sony Michel gets even more of a workload in what could be a run-heavy game.

When 7:00 p.m. ET rolls around and the dust settles on the Twitter influx of injury reports, James White and his fantasy football owners could have gigantic smiles on their faces. The Patriots have already ruled out WR Phillip Dorsett. More targets. RB Rex Burkhead is questionable. Oh baby, even more potential targets! WRs Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon are also questionable. This feels a lot like those Vince McMahon GIF progressions doesn’t it? You get the idea though.

If New England is without it’s three top WRs and another receiving back, White is the defector No. 1 option in the passing game. Now, it’s unlikely all three of those guys are out, but in a perfect world White is lined up for at least double-digit targets regardless of game script.

Fantasy Football Analysis, New England Patriots RB James White

Let’s talk about the game script a little bit. The Patriots are heavy favorites at home, so it’s safe to say we can anticipate a decent amount of points on offense. The last two weeks also tell us that White isn’t really game script dependent in PPR formats for fantasy output. In Week 4 against the Bills, White saw 10 targets, hauling in eight for 57 yards, finishing with 13.8 FPTS; that game was 16-10. Last week against Washington, White saw nine targets (and six carries) for 72 total yards and 13.2 FPTS. Now those aren’t gigantic FPT totals, but that’s the floor we can expect from White against the G-Men. The ceiling, well, did you watch Super Bowl LI vs. the Falcons?

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