Finally, no COVID-19 scares potentially messing up our lineups this week!
Of course, now that I put that thought out there in the ether watch something happen as your reading this.
Sorry for that.
And on that cheery note, LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS!
Here is a list of teams that are on a bye this week:
- Colts
- Vikings
- Miami
- Baltimore
Here are your 4-EYED Starts & Sits For Week 7!
Quarterback
Justin Herbert vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: START
Coming off of his Week 5 performance where we saw him throw for 264 yards, 4 TDs, & 27.4 fantasy points, Justin Herbert faces a Jaguars team in Week 7 that has allowed on average 274 passing yards & 20.8 fantasy points per game to opposing QBs. The Jaguars’ pass rush ranks 30th among NFL teams, they’ve allowed the 5th most passing yards on the season to opponents, and both starting cornerbacks have allowed a passer rating above 120 out of 158.3 which bodes well for the receiving options for the Chargers. In other words, Herbert should have ample time to find his receiving targets and provide you with another high fantasy floor in this matchup.
Derek Carr vs. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers: SIT
Fresh off of holding Aaron Rodgers to 5.8 fantasy points this past Sunday the Bucs square off against a Raiders’ team whose offensive line was just sent home due to COVID-19 concerns. Last time I checked a QB needs a healthy and intact offensive line to be productive when playing football. If that wasn’t a disadvantage for Derek Carr, the Bucs have only allowed on average 14.1 fantasy points per game to opposing QBs. In other words, look elsewhere this week!!
Running Back
David Johnson vs. The Green Bay Packers: START
Through five games this season the Packers have allowed an astounding 31.4 half-PPR fantasy points per game to the running back position. David Johnson, in his last two games played after Bill O’Brien was fired as head coach, has averaged 86 total scrimmage yards on 21 attempts per game. Look these numbers aren’t mind-blowing, but they do provide a safe floor for you as at least a FLEX. This week, he’s in a great position to exceed his 12.4 fantasy points per game average over the last two game period and is worthy of an RB2 start this week!
David Montgomery vs. The Los Angeles Rams: SIT
In Week 6, David Montgomery tallied 97 total yards from scrimmage on 23 touches and scored you 11.3 fantasy points against a Panthers’ defense that usually allows opposing running backs to average 28.4 fantasy points per game on the season. In other, words give the match up his performance was kind of a letdown. This week he faces the Rams team that, while they have allowed on average 16.9 fantasy points per game to the position defense, held one of the better running offenses in the 49ers in check from a fantasy standpoint on SNF. Given how bad the Bears offense has looked lately look for Montgomery to underperform again this week.
Wide Receiver
Travis Fulgham vs. The New York Giants: START
With no Alshon Jeffery starting this week, Eagles fans will once again be looking to see if Travis Fulgham can continue his hot steak in terms of touchdowns and fantasy points scored that he started three weeks ago. The big concern with Fulgham, however, is the passer rating allowed when targeted by defensive back James Bradberry of the Giants. Only allowing a 77.5 out of 158.3 passer rating is pretty solid from a defensive standpoint and one of the best in the league. That being said he does have a high catch rate allowed in 72.1% which bodes well for those in half and pull PPR leagues. Look, folks, when push has come to shove, Carson Wentz has gone to Fulgham early and often in this passing game the past three weeks. Coming off of averaging 94.7 receiving yards and 18.5 fantasy points over the past three games against TOUGH defensive matchups look for Fulgham to have a high reception and fantasy point floor on TNF making him a must-start. I, would, however, temper expectations in yardage earned.
Odell Beckham Jr vs. The Cincinnati Bengals: SIT
With Baker Mayfield at QB over the past two weeks, OBJ has only averaged 6.2 fantasy points per game in half PPR scoring. Things are starting to come apart in Cleveland offensively the past couple of outing, and as long as Mayfield is still at the helm I would temper expectations on all Browns receiving options.
Tight End
Dalton Schultz vs. The Washington Football Team: START
Picking a solid tight end matchup this week was NOT easy, but if there was one I felt the most confidence in it would be Dallas’ Dalton Schultz. Why? The RedZone targets. All of his catches on MNF in Week 6 came when the Cowboys were in scoring position. Every time the Cowboys needed to move the chains against the Cardinals on scoring drives they looked to Schultz to pick up the necessary yardage to put them in scoring position. Facing a Washington Team allowing the 5th most fantasy points per game to tight ends on the season, Schultz is a sneaky start this week.
Rams Tight Ends vs. The Chicago Bears: SIT
With Gerald Everett back in the fold at the tight end position for LA, both he and Tyler Higbee have, on average, have been targeted fairly equally in the passing game as well as in terms of fantasy point production over the past few weeks. What does that mean? It means their both being on the field cancels out their fantasy production. The Bears are allowing 7.8 fantasy points per game to the position on the season which doesn’t bode well for any one of these tight ends to have a productive day on Sunday.
IDP CONTENT
As we do every week, when discussing IDP players we reference their fantasy point production using the FantasyPros IDP scoring rubric:
Linebackers
Tyrell Adams vs. The Green Bay Packers: START
With Bernardrick McKinney being unavailable for the Texans in recent weeks, Tyrell Adams has been playing lights out in recent weeks for the Texans. 12 total tackles in Week 5 and 8 total tackles and a sack in Week 6, both he and Zach Cunningham are turning into quite the linebacker tandem in Houston. Given the game script the Texans are sure to face on Sunday, look for Adams to be on the field quite often putting him in a position to equal or exceed his 17.5 fantasy point per game average over the past couple of weeks
Leighton Vander Esch vs. The Washington Football Team: SIT
I LOVE ME some LVE! But look, he only played in 51.6 percent of snaps in Week 6 and will likely see a similar snap count this week due to the Cowboys easing him back into his every-down role that we’re used to him having. If his snap count percentage creeps higher in Week 7 then consider him a safe play going forward, just not this week.
Defensive Backs
Taron Johnson vs. The New York Jets: START
The gist of Taron Johnson is that he’s not exactly the greatest DB on the field for the Bills, but his uptick in snap percentage coupled with him having the second-highest tackle % among all DBs on the Bills can only bode well for his fantasy output this week against a putrid Jets offense. Coming off of average 8 total tackles per game and 12 fantasy points over the past four weeks, look for him to exceed that trend this week given the matchup.
Carlton Davis vs. The Las Vegas Raiders: SIT
Look I’ve been preaching about Carlton Davis since the preseason as someone to keep an eye on in IDP circles, and he hasn’t disappointed this season with the one exception facing the Denver Broncos. What do the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders have in common? Poor-ish receiving options. On top of that, the Bucs defensive line should be feasting against this Raiders offensive line due to the reason I mentioned earlier when discussing Derek Carr making Davis’ services kind of obsolete.
Defensive Linemen
Jason Pierre-Paul vs. The Las Vegas Raiders: START
All the Raiders starting offensive linemen were sent home on Wednesday due to COVID. Jason Pierre-Paul, against healthy competition this season has tallied 5.5 sacks this season and 10 tackles/1.5 sacks over the past two weeks. You better be down with JPP this week against the Raiders
Trey Hendrickson vs. The Carolina Panthers: SIT
If you’ve been following my work here at Fantasy In Frames or over on FantasyData, you more than likely have heard me mention how solid Trey Hendrickson has been this season with Marcus Davenport missing time due to injury. Well, Marcus Davenport returned to action two weeks ago, while albeit in a limited fashion, and with a bye week to get even more healthy look for the Saints to start letting him earn more snaps this week thus limiting Hendrickson’s upside against Carolina.
Thanks for reading, #4EYEDfans!
Good luck in Week 7!
*References provided by: