If you own New York Giants sophomore wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in fantasy football, you're obviously starting him this week against the New England Patriots. That's a given as ODB has four 100-yard outings this season and currently ranks fourth in receiving yards (759), sixth in receptions (59), second in receiving touchdowns (7) and sixth in targets (92). Those are all WR1 numbers, in case you weren't aware.
But the Pats have been increasingly stingy against No. 1 WRs this year. The only player to top 100-yards receiving against New England this season was Antonio Brown back in Week 1. Otherwise, the Pats have kept the likes of Sammy Watkins, Allen Robinson, T.Y. Hilton and Brandon Marshall relatively quiet. That suggests that maybe, just maybe, New York's No. 2 WR Rueben Randle is the better play this week.
"One of the Giants-fan highlights of the Super Bowl XLVI video is of Bill Belichick yelling, 'Make them throw it to Manningham!' Obviously, we know how that turned out," ESPN Giants reporter Dan Graziano wrote. "The flip side of Belichick's week-to-week determination to take away his opponent's best offensive weapon is that the secondary ones get a chance to shine. The Giants fully expect the Patriots to lock in on Odell Beckham Jr. and try to take him away in the passing game, so look for a lot of first-read looks for Rueben Randle if Eli Manning wants to go downfield in this game. Randle is an inconsistent week-to-week performer in fantasy (and in real life!), but this could be a game where he gets a lot of targets."
Randle is averaging just 5.6 targets per game this year but, as Graziano mentioned, could see more volume this week. New England's defense ranks 20th in receiving yards per game (268.3) and receptions (194). Plus, secondary receivers have caught four touchdowns against New England since Week 2 so Manning may look his way in redzone situations.
Overall, Randle has caught 36 passes on 51 targets for 424 yards and three touchdowns. You're not going to start him over Beckham as that would be absolutely crazy. But don't be surprised if Randle quietly has a good day.
