Week 7 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Analysis for Every Player in Every Game

In many fantasy football leagues, this is the halfway point of the regular season. I say that not to scare you but to highlight the urgency of getting your roster in a good spot. We talk roster construction all week on the PFN Fantasy Podcast, so make sure to check that out for long-term advice. As for Week 7, here’s where I stand on the slate ahead!

Bye Weeks: Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, and Houston Texans

Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!

Jacksonville Jaguars at New Orleans Saints

• Spread: Saints -1
• Total: 39.5
• Jaguars implied points: 19.3
• Saints implied points: 20.3

Quarterbacks

Trevor Lawrence: He suffered a knee bruise late in the convincing win over the Indianapolis Colts, which requires monitoring. We need to pay attention to not just his activity in practice but also the words surrounding his mobility, as he has run for 15+ yards in five of six games — putting him on pace for 416 yards on the ground (previous career high: 334).

The Jacksonville Jaguars managed to play from ahead in Week 6 thanks to some strong running from Travis Etienne Jr., which put Lawrence in position to disappoint his fantasy managers again. He has yet to score 18 fantasy points in a single game this season (under 16.5 points in five straight), a mark that both Zach Wilson and Mac Jones have hit this season.

On the bright side, Lawrence has completed at least two-thirds of his passes in five of six games this season, and when paired with the rushing, that gives him hope. However, his only games with multiple touchdown tosses this season have come against the Colts, a team he won’t see again until 2024.

There are six teams on a bye this week, and that is the reason Lawrence remains in my top 10 (assuming health).

Derek Carr: He piled up 353 yards through the air in the 20-13 loss to the Houston Texans but managed only one score on 50 pass attempts (32 completions). For the season, Carr is averaging a touchdown once every 40 attempts, a rate that simply makes fantasy relevance impossible for a pocket passer.

For what it’s worth, he has looked healthier (shoulder) with each passing week, though his 51-yard completion to Rashid Shaheed was a ball that looked like Carr put everything he had into, and it still required the receiver to come back to the ball as opposed to hitting him in stride.

Running Backs

Travis Etienne Jr.: Etienne may have averaged only 3.1 yards per carry against the Colts last week (his third game this season under 3.5 YPC), but he checked every other box you could ask for in the win.

On 21 touches, he finished with 83 yards and a pair of scores, the second of which came on a direct snap (22 yards). The Jaguars are committed to unleashing their second-year back, and his blend of power/speed/versatility makes him an easy RB1 the rest of the way.

The Week 7 contest with the Saints looks tough on paper, and while it’s not a plus-matchup, I’d caution against worrying too much in this spot.

New Orleans played Derrick Henry in Week 1 but since hasn’t faced much in the way of fantasy viable running backs. That’s not to say they’re a bad run defense, we just don’t know that they’re as good as the raw numbers (under 4.0 yards per carry and top 10 in rushing yardage allowed per game) suggest.

Alvin Kamara: He is averaging 25 touches per game this season (three games played), and while the efficiency leaves plenty to be desired (3.8 yards per touch without a gain of more than 15 yards), that role is nothing short of elite.

Will this workload sustain with Jamaal Williams eligible to return from IR this week? Not likely, but in the short-term, Kamara is an easy RB2, even against a Jaguars defense that is better than league average in both red zone conversion rate and yards per carry.

Kamara’s lack of scoring upside will catch up to him as the usage dips, but considering that he accounted for 101.5% of Saints’ RB rushing yards last week against the Texans (you read that right!), there should be no hesitation about locking him into lineups in all formats.

Jamaal Williams: The Saints’ offense ranks fifth-worst at turning red zone trips into scores (36.8% – only the Titans, Giants, Jets, and Steelers have been worse). This is a clear indicator to me that Williams will fill a similar role that he held in Detroit last season, with Kamara being a version of 2022 D’Andre Swift.

No, that doesn’t mean I think Williams will lead the league in rushing scores from this point forward, but it does mean that once he proves his health, he can be a viable flex option as we get into the grind of the season.

If he’s available in your league, while your league-mates may wait to see him prove his health, I’d scoop him up now. I’m just going to start listing teams, and you let me know when I get to an imposing defense that scares you:

Colts, Bears, Vikings, Falcons, Lions, Panthers, Giants, Rams, Buccaneers

I know this is a written medium, but I doubt you tried to stop me. Those are the opponents the Saints have after this week for the remainder of the fantasy season (a second meeting with the Falcons in Week 18 if your league extends that far). If he carves out even an 8-12 touch role, he could well be a weekly option.

Kendre Miller: He might be the running back of the future, but he’s certainly not the running back of the present in New Orleans. Miller hauled in Carr’s second pass of Week 6 and went on to touch the ball only two more times the rest of the afternoon.

He ran a route on 66.7% of his snaps last week, and that would be a valuable role if this backfield was just he and Williams, but with Kamara profiling as the lead back, this offense has the pass-catching RB role satisfied.

In August, we wanted to bet on the draft capital spent on Miller (third-round pick) and embrace the uncertainty of this backfield. It made plenty of sense then, but it doesn’t now. The rookie doesn’t need to remain on rosters now, with every bench spot mattering and requiring a more clear path to starting consideration.

Wide Receivers

Calvin Ridley: Eight targets against the Colts were what we expected (at least seven targets in five of six games this season), but being held to 40 or fewer yards for the fourth time in five games was not.

The looks have been there, but the lack of efficiency has been officially upgraded from concerning to red flag territory. You can expect one of Amber Alert-like notifications on your phone any minute now as we here at Soppe HQ have deployed the troops in an effort to find the connection between Lawrence and Ridley — it looked so promising in Week 1 (eight catches on 11 targets against the same Colts that held him in check last week) and in London (nine catches on 10 targets).

In his past three games stateside, Ridley has caught nine of 23 targets for 102 yards and zero touchdowns. With Marshon Lattimore likely in his vicinity this weekend, Ridley is my second favorite Jaguar receiver for the first time this season. You hate to see it.

Christian Kirk: Another week, another double-digit fantasy point effort from Kirk. That gives him five in a row, all of which have included a catch that gained over 25 yards.

His profile is soaked in potential upside like Ridley’s, but his ability to earn valuable looks from the slot and over a full season of experience with Lawrence is proving valuable. He has scored or cleared 75 yards in every game since the Week 1 dud, and nothing in the numbers suggests that he is producing above his head.

As long as Lawrence is deemed healthy, Kirk should be viewed as a solid WR2. Even if Lawrence were to sit, his precise route running and depth of target make him less QB-sensitive than a player like Ridley. He’s easily looking like the best draft-day value among the Jacksonville receivers.

Zay Jones: Jones sat out Weeks 3-4 with a knee injury and was forced to miss Week 6 after hurting the knee late in Week 5. It’s worth noting that Jones was initially labeled as day-to-day coming out of Week 5, so there is hope he can return to action this week.

That said, at best, he’s a sneaky DFS play or a hopeful Flex in times of desperation. The Jags went to more two receiver sets last week (Jamal Agnew was the WR3 and only on the field for 31.3% of snaps), and that could be a result of Jones sitting rather than a change in scheme, but it’s something worth monitoring.

If Jones passes all health hurdles AND you’re afraid of the Lattimore matchup for Ridley, you could talk yourself into Jones being an upside Flex play in his return to action. At the moment, there is too much risk for me to rank him as such (outside of my top 35 at the position), but the path to production is at least reasonable.

Chris Olave: It feels as if we are teetering on a breakout Olave game. He totaled 96 yards on 10 targets against the Texans last week (his fourth double-digit target effort of the season), and that was with some food left on the plate courtesy of an errant Carr throw.

His season game log is basically a barometer of Carr’s health.

• Week 1: 8 catches for 112 yards
• Week 2: 6 catches for 86 yards
• Week 3: 8 catches for 104 yards
• Week 4: 1 catch for 4 yards (Carr injured)
• Week 5: 2 catches for 12 yards and a TD (Carr limited)
• Week 6: 7 catches for 96 yards (Carr nearing full strength)

The Jags are a bottom-10 defense in terms of yards per pass attempt and sacks, two flaws that lead me to believe Olave should continue to produce at his usual star level.

Lock him in as a top-12 receiver and buckle up – that explosion week is coming sooner than later!

Michael Thomas: Through six weeks this season, there is no easier player to project than Thomas in the NFL. He has seen 6-9 targets and produced 45-65 yards without a touchdown in all six games this season. Until we see that change, you know (almost exactly) what you’re getting from him.

Now, that will hold more value this week than others, given the volume of byes and assortment of injuries, but his value to you is largely dependent on your situation.

If you’re a 2-4 team looking for a midseason spark, Thomas isn’t your guy, and you’d be wise to deal him for a player with more of a ceiling (maybe like Gabe Davis or, further down the board, Rashee Rice). If you’ve built a powerhouse team and are fine with 7.5-9.5 points weekly, hold tight — there isn’t a player better suited for that role.

I have him ranked outside of my top 35 this week, in the same range as the aforementioned Rice and not too far ahead of his boom-or-bust teammate…

Rashid Shaheed: With a 40+ yard play in seven of his past 12 games, Shaheed is the perfect — “I need upside during this tough bye week” — play. Obviously, the floor is as low as it gets (seven catches over the past month), but there’s no denying the upside when a healthy Carr looks his way.

He scored from 34 yards out against the Texans on a skinny post where Carr hit him in stride and then pulled down a 51-yard rainbow that was poorly thrown. Two catches, 15.5 fantasy points.

In the scope of WR3s on his own team, I prefer to chase the ceiling of Shaheed over players like Jayden Reed or Tutu Atwell. He’s outside of my top 40 at the position this week, but much like Thomas (in a completely different way), your willingness to plug-and-play him hinges on the roster you’ve built.

Tight Ends

Evan Engram: I mentioned the narrow range of outcomes for Michael Thomas within the receiver writeups, and Engram has proven to be the TE version of that (7-8 targets in five straight games, 41-67 yards in five of six this season).

Like Thomas, Engram has yet to score. When he does, he’ll post a top-five week, given that this level of volume is difficult to find at the tight end position.

Different from Thomas is the state of the position. While a boring/consistent stat line relegates you to the bench at WR, at TE, it’s almost God-status. He is my TE3 this week, with T.J. Hockenson and Sam LaPorta in more difficult spots. Engram is a rare player at the position who allows you to gain ground on the majority of your league consistently.

Taysom Hill: The offensive weapon that is Hill is coming off of easily his best day ever as a pass catcher. He caught six of Carr’s first 16 completions, and his seven catches matched Olave for the game-high.

Hill carried the rock once and threw a pass in the win, but with Juwan Johnson (calf) out, Hill ran a route on 70.8% of his snaps. He is the unquestioned TE with Johnson out (19 more routes run in Week 6 than Foster Moreau), and ranks inside my top-15 at the position this week.

Las Vegas Raiders at Chicago Bears

• Spread: Raiders -3
• Total: 37.5
• Raiders implied points: 20.3
• Bears implied points: 17.3

Quarterbacks

Jimmy Garoppolo: The back injury suffered last week against the Patriots will keep him out of action this week, a status that needs to be tracked for the value of the accompanying pieces – not for Garoppolo himself. He has one game this season over 11 fantasy points and is a below-average option in two-QB formats.

Justin Fields: The star quarterback is dealing with a dislocated thumb. All signs point toward him sitting out this week. Keep tabs on this situation, but as it stands right now, Fields is a hold and hope.

Running Backs

Josh Jacobs: He has seen at least five targets in five straight games, helping him offset his inefficient ways on the ground (2.9 yards per carry). The volume (20+ touches in four straight) locks him into lineups, and the versatility lands him in my top 10 on a weekly basis.

In a favorable spot, Jacobs could have a 15+ yard rush and a 10+ yard catch for the third straight game and prove to be a strong DFS option.

Khalil Herbert: Prior to the loss to the Vikings last week, Herbert (ankle) was placed on IR, ruling him out through Week 9 (Week 10 vs. Carolina on Thursday Night). He had begun to pick up steam before getting hurt in Washington (179 yards on his past 28 carries) and deserves to be rostered while we wait for a more firm timeline.

The Bears end the fantasy season by hosting the Cardinals and Falcons, a pair of favorable matchups should Herbert regain his spot atop this backfield.

Roschon Johnson: The rookie sat out last week after suffering a Week 5 concussion and will sit OUT this plus-matchup (LV: below league average in rushing yards and yards per carry against). I had him penciled as the lead back in Chicago with relative ease this week, flirting with a top-20 ranking, but that optimism will have to wait at least one more week

D’Onta Foreman: With Herbert and Johnson out, Foreman was forced into action, and … he didn’t get the first running back carry. That honor went to Darrynton Evans, a player with 30 career carries through 3+ seasons prior to last week.

That tells me all I need to know about how the Bears feel about Foreman. He ended up out-snapping Evans 40-24 (near even split on early downs), and while he wasn’t terrible (67 yards), he fumbled and didn’t have a single explosive play.

Foreman is an injury rental. You can move on once Johnson returns, but he is viable as a low-end Flex this weekend with Johnson out again.

Wide Receivers

Davante Adams: It’s been an uneven start to the season for the former All-Pro, with only one top-15 finish on his résumé, not to mention consecutive weeks outside of the top 45.

That said, we saw his elite upside a month ago, and I’m fine with chasing that potential. Does he carry more risk than we assumed he would? Yes. Does he still possess a week-winning upside? You bet.

Jakobi Meyers: All he does is produce strong fantasy numbers when Garoppolo starts, so if we are operating under that assumption, Meyers is a fine WR2 that carries a high floor.

Should news on Garoppolo take a turn for the worst, Meyers would fall outside of my top 30 and be in that “how lucky do you feel?” tier of Flex option.

His fearless style of play with a shorter aDOT would make him less impacted by a change under center than most, but there is no denying his chemistry with Garoppolo on those timing routes.

DJ Moore: As good as Moore has been lately, how can you look at him any differently than Drake London? Is he not the star receiver in a low-volume offense with no confidence in the man in charge of getting Moore the ball?

This is exactly why you build roster depth. Options like Jordan Addison and both primary Bronco receivers rank favorably for me compared to the Bears WR1 this week, even in a favorable spot.

Tight Ends

Michael Mayer: The Golden Domer was selected in the second round by the Raiders in April, and they fully unleashed him in the first quarter against the Patriots. In those first 15 minutes, he was targeted on four of 11 throws and turned that usage into 67 yards — 26 more than he had entering the game.

MORE: Fantasy Week 7 TE Start/Sit — Top Options Include Kyle Pitts and Cole Kmet

I worry long-term about his ability to carve out a consistent role in an offense with a good running back and two volume magnet receivers. Still, we are in the business of winning Week 7, and a rookie with confidence facing the Bears is a reasonable path to doing just that. You could do much worse than betting on pedigree in a strong matchup.

Cole Kmet: Why? Why consider going to a tight end who has one game with 45+ yards this season and is now getting a downgrade at the quarterback position?

I’ve been outspoken about saying that there is no real “bad” TE streamer, given how little it takes to finish in the top 12 in any given week, but Kmet certainly isn’t a “good” option to fill that spot.

Cleveland Browns at Indianapolis Colts

• Spread: Browns -2
• Total: 39
• Browns implied points: 20.5
• Colts implied points: 18.5

Quarterbacks

Deshaun Watson: Trying to keep tabs on this Watson situation is not for the faint of heart, but I’m not sure it really matters. At this point, I have no issue with cutting Watson.

The ranking of the Cleveland skill players would not change in a significant way should Watson miss a third consecutive game despite being physically cleared to play at the beginning of the month.

Gardner Minshew: In a revenge spot, Minshew threw for 329 yards and a touchdown, but he was intercepted three times in an underwhelming effort (22.8 QBR). Minshew doesn’t matter for fantasy in any matchup, let alone this one, but the fact that he has thrown 99 passes over his two starts is encouraging for all involved in this offense.

Running Backs

Jerome Ford: Do we have a committee forming in an offense without much scoring equity? That’s a problem that could be on our radar sooner than later for Ford (38-29 snap edge for Ford over Kareem Hunt), but he was able to rack up 52 yards on five fourth-quarter carries (12 carries for 32 yards prior) to help push Cleveland across the finish line.

Remember that 69-yard run against the Steelers the night Nick Chubb went down?

Without that Pop Warner-ish run, Ford is averaging 3.0 yards per carry this season. Nine feet. Two of his three touchdowns this season have been scored via the reception, something that is tough to count on with Hunt’s (80% career catch rate) role expanding.

The Colts allow just 3.7 yards per carry and just held a much more explosive Travis Etienne to 3.1 yards per carry (under 2.0 yards per carry if you remove the 22-yard wildcat touchdown, a formation the Browns don’t employ). Ford comes in as a low-end RB2 for me in this brutal week to rank the position, checking in just behind Rhamondre Stevenson and ahead of Zack Moss and Tyler Allgeier.

Kareem Hunt: With 12 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown to go along with three catches for 24 yards, Hunt was a big fantasy winner from Week 6. He was on the field for Cleveland’s first play, and despite the snap discrepancy, he matched Ford with 13 routes run.

Jonathan Taylor: Week 6 was a fine showing for PPR managers who started Taylor (13 touches and 11.5 fantasy points), and it represented a nice step forward from the 10-snap effort in his season debut. Zack Moss was on the field for the opening snap, but it was Taylor who got Indianapolis’ first carry after four straight passes.

Taylor and Moss split just about everything right down the middle, a signal that this offense is trending toward featuring their former All-Pro. The committee situation may feel ominous, but remember that Moss was coming off of a 195-yard, two-TD effort against one of the league’s stingiest run defenses. He played as well as he could in Week 5 and still lost significant work in this spot in favor of ramping up Taylor.

Without a clear feature role in a brutal matchup, Taylor’s ranking can only go so high. He’s a strong RB2 for me this week, and any chance you have to acquire his services at a reasonable price could end in less than a week. If you’re playing the long game, go get yourself some Taylor exposure and use a tough Week 7 matchup as leverage.

Zack Moss: Coming off the best game of his young career (32.5 fantasy points vs. Titans), Moss barely held onto the snap edge over Taylor (39-33). Moss punched in a three-yard score with the Colts down 18 late and nearly doubled his season catch total (six receptions), rewarding fantasy managers who plugged him in after the big Week 5.

That was a nice going away present. Moss was a reasonable start last week based on how limited Taylor was in his season debut – I don’t expect that to be the case again the rest of this season. I have him ranked in the Jaylen Warren range of Flex options that carry plenty of risk and limited volume upside.

Wide Receivers

Amari Cooper: This passing game is not one I’m looking to invest in regardless of who is under center (5.8 yards per attempt this season), but Cooper has remained viable for the most part (12.5+ points in three of his past four games).

There are several moving pieces at the quarterback position throughout the league that will impact the WR rankings with clarity. But today, Cooper is a Flex option for me that ranks ahead of other involved receivers with questionable play under center (Drake London and Josh Downs, for example).

Elijah Moore: The good news is that he has seen at least seven targets in four of five games this season. The bad news is that, despite volume that has little upside, Moore doesn’t have a game with 50 receiving yards this season.

If you want to hold him due to the Browns being past their bye week and hoping that Watson can show some form when healthy, I’d understand it. That said, Moore is very much on the chopping block should you need immediate help and don’t have time to wait.

Donovan Peoples-Jones: He owns a similar skill set to Rashid Shaheed, but DPJ can’t earn targets in this offense, even at his rate of efficiency. He is Cleveland’s version of Marquez Valdes-Scantling — elite in point-per-route leagues and largely useless otherwise.

Even if you’re chasing upside, you can do better at this moment than DPJ.

Michael Pittman Jr.: Indy’s WR1 was the alpha target earner (more catches than any of his teammates had targets), and in an offense that is willing to air it out, that’s all it takes to be a top-20 receiver in Week 7.

Pittman ranks alongside other WR1’s in tough spots like Calvin Ridley (Marcus Lattimore) and Christian Watson (Patrick Surtain).

Josh Downs: Prior to Week 6, Downs saw 25.3% of Minshew’s targets. While he failed to reach that mark against the Jags, he was involved in the early script (three targets on the first drive) and did find the end zone…

I liked the idea of adding Downs this week, but that doesn’t mean you plug him in immediately. Remember that we are playing the long game, and in Downs, you have an asset set to increase in value with time. He is ranked outside my top 35 this week alongside another popular waiver wire add, Wan’Dale Robinson.

Tight Ends

David Njoku: He caught three passes for 24 yards last week, and that’s about what I’m expecting from him moving forward until this passing game shows us any signs of life. With an expectation like that, Njoku is far from a TE who needs to be rostered and ranks outside of my top 15 this week. Give me Week 6 dud Logan Thomas or either potential streaming option in the Packers/Broncos game.

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots

• Spread: Bills -9
• Total: 41.5
• Bills implied points: 25.3
• Patriots implied points: 16.3

Quarterbacks

Josh Allen: We’re seeing a different version of Allen than years past, and while it might benefit the Bills come January, it stands to hurt fantasy managers in a significant way.

Allen’s aDOT is nearly a yard shorter than it was last season, and he’s on pace for 371 rushing yards, a number that is less than half of what he produced last season and 50 yards lower than any other season in his career.

The Patriots held Allen relatively in check last season with 477 passing yards in two games with just 36 yards and no touchdowns on 17 carries. For much of this season, it’s been a big three at the top of the QB position, but for Week 7, I have Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes in a tier of their own, with Allen and Lamar Jackson occupying the second tier.

He’s an obvious starter but not a DFS target for me.

Running Backs

James Cook: After three straight top-20 finishes at the position, Cook has not been a top-30 back in consecutive weeks, not an ideal trend to take into a matchup against the third-best defense in terms of yards per carry (3.4).

Cook has the ability to do it all, he’s just struggling to put it all together.

Last week against the Giants, he averaged over 5.0 yards per carry for the third time this season, but it came in his first targetless game of the year. In Week 4 against the Dolphins, he scored his only touchdown of the season but managed just 2.8 yards per carry. In the season-opening loss to the Jets, he earned six targets. You get the idea, the skills seem to be there to be a top-15 running back consistently.

MORE: Should I Trade James Cook in Fantasy Football Right Now?

I have him ranked as such, in large part due to the carnage at the position. Latavius Murray is cutting more into his work than I would like, but Cook is still a versatile starting running back as a heavy favorite in an explosive offense. That’s enough for me in a week where feeling good about your entire lineup is a luxury, not an expectation.

Latavius Murray: The scary neck injury to Damien Harris last week opened the door for Murray to split the snaps down the middle with Cook (30 apiece). Against the Giants, his 12 carries netted 45 yards, and he didn’t see a target, but he has a clear path to a reasonable role.

In the Week 6 win, he was the goal-line option (all four snaps went his way when in close) and the third-down back (6-1 snap edge over Cook in that regard), a niche that can be fantasy friendly.

It’s not a great matchup, but in a pinch, Murray is to be considered in the same class as AJ Dillon and Jeff Wilson Jr. — non-starters for their own team that could get there for fantasy managers given their specific situation.

Rhamondre Stevenson: He snapped a string of three-straight finishes outside the top 30 at the position thanks to five catches (he had a total of three over his previous three games) and a short TD plunge following a penalty that put New England on the doorstep. Stevenson held a 39-23 snap edge over Ezekiel Elliott (23-12 advantage in terms of routes run) despite missing a large chunk of the third quarter due to injury.

Those are positive enough signs to land Stevenson at the back end of my top 20 in this weak week at the running back position, but I’m fully on board with Derek Tate’s evaluation of him as a sell-high candidate on Tuesday’s PFN Fantasy Podcast (also available at the PFN Fantasy YouTube Channel).

Even with the strong fantasy showing, Stevenson is averaging an ugly 3.0 yards per carry this season and hasn’t seen more than 15 carries in five of six games this season.

Ezekiel Elliott: In Vegas last week, Zeke got on the board with his first touchdown of the season, but that’s where the optimism ends. As mentioned above, he was well behind Stevenson in terms of playing time, and without a touch gaining more than 15 yards this season, he simply doesn’t offer the spark that this offense so badly needs.

He deserves to be rostered in most leagues as we try to navigate various injuries/committees, but he’s not even the secondary back I prefer in this game, let alone an RB I feel comfortable flexing.

Wide Receivers

Stefon Diggs: Due to what Cooper Kupp has done since returning, the big plays of A.J. Brown, and the end-zone celebrations of Tyreek Hill, is it possible that Diggs’ remarkable start to the season has been underappreciated?

Go ahead and pull up another tab and marvel at his game log. We are talking about five 100-yard games in six weeks and back-to-back-to-back top-12 fantasy finishes at the position. He’s been nothing short of rock solid since joining the Bills, and I’d argue that he is a top-three receiver moving forward!

Gabe Davis: The clock was going to strike midnight on Davis eventually, and it did in Week 6 against the Giants (three catches for 21 yards). He had scored in a career-high four straight games before that, but the usage remains underwhelming, with under five targets in four of six weeks.

The upside is no secret (three top-20 performances this season), but the floor is all sorts of scary (two weeks outside of the top 65 at the position).

I’m cautiously optimistic that we get Good Gabe this week (17 targets against the Patriots last season and a score in three of his past four against the AFC East rival) and have him as a low-end WR2/strong Flex option in all formats.

Kendrick Bourne: Remember that “idiot sandwich” Gordon Ramsay meme that was circulating for a while? That’s how fantasy managers who have tried to figure out Bourne feel through six weeks:

• Week 1 (bread): “Tough matchup vs. PHI, bench him and evaluate.”
  – WR4 (Six catches for 64 yards and two touchdowns)
• Weeks 2-5 (idiot): “I struck gold, lock him in.”
  – Four straight finishes outside of the top 50 (Total: 12 catches for 154 yards)
• Week 6 (bread): “Forget this, I’m cutting him.”
  – WR14 (10 catches for 89 yards, outscored Mike Evans + DeVonta Smith)

That’s no fun. We know the quality of targets in New England is low these days, and with top target earners unable to really separate from a volume perspective against the Bills (below), I’m ready to fade Bourne again.

• Week 4: Tyreek Hill (14.7% target share)
• Week 5: Calvin Ridley (21.6%)
• Week 6: Darren Waller (22.6%)

I have Bourne ranked as a fringe top-40 option this weekend.

Tight Ends

Dalton Kincaid: The rookie sat out last week’s win (concussion protocol) and, as a result, Dawson Knox ran a route on 71.9% of Allen dropbacks. Much like the situation in Atlanta, if either viable tight end sits, the healthy option is worth a look, but outside of that, I don’t have the patience for a TE committee.

Assuming Kincaid suits up this week, he’ll be my highest-ranked tight end from this game, but still nothing more than a fringe top-15 option in the overall scheme of the position.

Hunter Henry: He’s off of my streaming radar these days. After catching 11 balls and scoring twice through Week 2, Henry has seven catches and zero touchdowns since. He’s a TD-dependent tight end playing for an offense that has yet to clear 20 points in a game — you can do better, I don’t care how deep your league is.

Washington Commanders at New York Giants

• Spread: Commanders -2
• Total: 39.5
• Commanders implied points: 20.8
• Giants implied points: 18.8

Quarterbacks

Sam Howell: I’ve seen enough — Howell is a legit option for teams streaming the position. He ranks as a top-12 QB for me this week thanks to an elevated floor (18+ fantasy points in four of his past five) and an advantageous matchup.

In terms of missed tackles per game, the Giants are the fifth-worst defense in the league. Why do I mention that? Follow me here.

• 6’1”, 220 pounds
• Completion percentage over 67%
• Sub-eight-yard aDOT

Did I just describe Brock Purdy or Howell? Trick question, both!

As a chain mover, Purdy cruised to 20 fantasy points against these Giants a month ago (25/37 for 310 yards and two touchdowns), something that is very much within the range of outcomes for Howell in this spot.

Add in the fact that this game will likely be more competitive than Purdy’s 18-point win and that Howell is pacing near 300 rushing yards — you’re looking at the answer to your Week 7 QB issues if you’re dealing with injury/bye.

Tyrod Taylor: With Daniel Jones continuing to battle the neck injury, Taylor is in a position to start again. He has some wiggle, and I expect a better showing than last week in Buffalo, but that doesn’t put him near fantasy radars. His impact will be on the playmakers around him if you’re bold enough to go that route, so I figured I’d post the Week 6 target shares:

• Wan’Dale Robinson: 25.8%
• Darren Waller: 22.6%
• Darius Slayton: 19.4%
• Saquon Barkley: 16.1%
• Jalin Hyatt: 12.9%

Taylor was conservative with his throws (6.9 aDOT; for reference, that’s the number for Jared Goff this season), something that points in the direction of chain movers over big-play threats.

Running Backs

Brian Robinson: At the end of the day, your confidence in starting Robinson this week — and moving forward, for that matter — comes down to the threat you feel Antonio Gibson is to take food off his plate. Is Gibson a pesky cat that just nibbles at the crumbs or a German shepherd that will take your entire entree if you’re not careful?

I’m in the camp of the former. The snap split was closer last week (27-20 in favor of Robinson), but with just 16 carries through six weeks, Gibson doesn’t have the profile of a German shepherd. Robinson has caught all eight of his targets this month and saved you last week with a touchdown reception as he molds into a reasonably versatile back.

I have B-Rob ranked as a top-15 play this week and am comfortable banking on him as a fine RB2 for the remainder of the season.

Antonio Gibson: “Pesky Cat” Gibson ran a route on 60% of his snaps last week and managed to turn his one target into a touchdown. Good for him. His current role isn’t fantasy-friendly in the least, and I don’t see a path, barring injury, for that to change any time soon.

It’s hard to field a competitive roster in Week 7, and I have no issue if you want to cut ties with Gibson for a one-week rental.

Saquon Barkley: It was a vintage Barkley performance last Sunday night in his return from an ankle sprain that cost him nearly a month (59-19 snap edge over Matt Breida). His first 18 carries gained just 32 yards (11 below what was blocked for him), and he looked rusty.

But if you were late in coming back from your end-of-quarter-three bathroom trip, you missed the upside you were hoping for. Barkley followed a 19-yard gain with a 34-yarder on the very next snap, and all was again right with the world.

MORE: What To Do With Saquon Barkley Moving Forward?

I liked that one big gain came with Taylor under center and the other in shotgun — it’s a minor detail, but those types of running plays require different sorts of agility, and the fact that Barkley (eventually) was able to flash that lands him back inside my top 10 this week.

I’m expecting a similar performance this week as last week’s and hoping for some touchdown luck against the 10th-best red zone unit in the league. Washington’s 26th-ranked run defense, in terms of yards per carry, should be friendly enough for Barkley to offer a reasonable floor at the very least.

Wide Receivers

Terry McLaurin: The first few sets of plays are scripted, and with McLaurin being targeted on six of Howell’s first 13 throws (four catches for 45 yards), Week 6 was looking like the breakout performance we were all hoping for.

It wasn’t.

He caught just two passes the rest of the game, and while 11.1 fantasy points isn’t a poor effort by any means, it wasn’t the explosive effort we seemed destined for.

Given how Howell plays, McLaurin’s returning value on your summer investment is going to be a stretch. That said, the WR1 has scored or reached 100 yards in five straight games against the Giants, leaving the door open for this to be the standout showing that we’ve been waiting for.

Curtis Samuel: With a score in three straight games and at least four catches in four of six contests, Samuel is making a push to enter my top 30 at the position for the first time this season.

The veteran has a sub-seven-yard aDOT in his 2+ seasons, a role that is particularly valuable against a Giants defense that has the second-lowest opponent aDOT this season. There’s not much of a path to a top-15 week for Samuel, but his floor is what makes him plenty worthy of Flex consideration in a tough week.

Jahan Dotson: The pride of Penn State remains without a game north of 40 yards this season, and his confidence can’t be high after dropping what could have been a 52-yard touchdown last week on his only target against the Falcons.

Dynasty managers should be exploring the asking price for Dotson while redraft managers holding out hope need to hit the waiver wire.

Will he eventually make a big play? I think so, and I hope you land on him in DFS when it happens. But with teams preferring to dink-and-dunk against the Giants, I don’t have Week 7 circled as the Dotson breakout spot.

Wan’Dale Robinson: We talked about him on the waiver podcast on Monday’s show as a band-aid type of player. It’s unlikely that you’ll ever win your week because Robinson went bonkers, but his strong floor in this underwhelming offense is enough to make him appealing in the right situation.

For PPR managers, that right situation could very well be this week with all of the bye weeks and the need for stable production. Last week, Robinson was targeted on 25% of his routes, a significant earning edge over Darius Slayton (14.6%) and Jalin Hyatt (11.4%) in the deep passing game.

Isaiah Hodgins was a hot name this summer as the favorite to win the WR1 role in New York, but he played just 22.1% of the snaps last week and isn’t close to being a factor.

Tight Ends

Logan Thomas: I remain optimistic that a healthy Thomas is a streamable Thomas, even after he left all of us wondering what happened last week with a one-target, two-yard performance in Atlanta.

He’s ranked outside of my top 12 at the position this week due to being held under four targets in three of his past four games, but his path for a rebound performance is there, given how Howell distributes the ball.

Darren Waller: Week 6 was the fourth time in a month that Waller saw at least seven targets, and at the TE position, that’s good enough. He continues to do very little with them (68.3% catch rate, 10.1 yards per catch, and zero touchdowns), but he’s clearly a part of this offense, and the same cannot be said for the tight ends on your waiver wire.

It’s time to adjust expectations. No, Waller wasn’t the steal in the middle rounds this summer that you thought, but he remains a tier ahead of the streamer bucket, and that puts you ahead of more than a few of your league mates at the position.

Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Spread: Buccaneers -2.5
• Total: 38.5
• Falcons implied points: 18
• Buccaneers implied points: 20.5

Quarterbacks

Desmond Ridder: Your fun fact for the day is that Ridder has as many top-10 finishes this season as Mahomes.

That’s simply the truth of the matter after Ridder has thrown for over 300 yards in consecutive games. It’s funny what a developing third-round pick with talent around him can do when given the opportunity, right?

• Past two games: 28 completions per game
• First four games: 29.8 pass attempts per game

You love to see the growth, but he still doesn’t deserve to be rostered in standard formats. Those two performances have come against defenses that rank outside the top 12 in blitz rate, something that won’t be the case this week against a Bucs team that is one of three to bring the heat on over 40% of opponent snaps.

This Ridder run is a reminder that anything can happen in small windows. Savvy fantasy managers look at the macro results, not the micro, and the overall picture for Ridder to retain any fantasy value is bleak, to say the least.

Baker Mayfield: Need further proof of that Ridder point? Mayfield’s 2023 stat line is just that, with the spike performance happening earlier in the season:

• Week 4 at NO: Three pass TDs and 31 rushing yards
• The other four games: Four pass TDs and 36 rushing yards

Before going on bye last week, Mayfield had his worst game of the season (206 yards and no touchdowns on 37 attempts against the Lions) and is nothing more than a low-end QB2 that I actually have ranked behind Ridder this week.

I hate to rain on someone’s parade, so I will leave you with this: Those positive Mayfield numbers I mentioned above, guess who the Buccaneers get during the fantasy Super Bowl?

Running Backs

Bijan Robinson: It’s only a matter of time until we get a truly crazy game from this explosive rookie. His combination of talent and role (64 snaps and 45 routes last week) demands he be started every week this season and for the foreseeable future.

Robinson has at least four grabs in five of six games this season — proof that his skill set is well beyond his years. There is no insight to offer here, Robinson is a weekly lineup lock. What I can do is give you a paragraph to snip and send to the Robinson manager as you attempt to acquire him at a minor discount.

That’s now four straight games with under 15 carries for the first-round pick, and he’s been held under 50 yards on the ground in three of those four contests. Last week’s game with Washington was within one score for the entire second half, and over those 30 minutes, Tyler Allgeier out-carried Robinson 3-2 in the red zone.

As good as Robinson is, he has just one touchdown over the past five weeks, and none of his 80 carries this season have reached paydirt.

You’re welcome.

Tyler Allgeier: Do I believe Allgeier is a fine NFL player? I do, but that’s like asking if the best steakhouse in the state has good carrots on their salad. Sure, I prefer good carrots to bad ones, but does it really matter?

No, no, it does not. Allgeier hasn’t scored since Week 1, and I — your humble wordsmith — have more receiving yards in October than the 2022 fifth-round pick.

Allgeier’s 13.5 touches per game deserve to be rostered and maybe even played this week in the right spot (RB26 for me). I’m just not doing so with much excitement, given his significantly capped ceiling.

Rachaad White: A player like White is a fine example of how brutal the Week 7 schedule is. Atlanta allows under 4.0 yards per carry, and the Bucs rank 23rd in time of possession — metrics that would normally make it borderline impossible for an average talent to crack fantasy lineups. Yet, in Week 7, White is a top-20 running back rather easily.

With at least three catches in four straight games (he’s caught 16 of 17 targets on the season), the safety in White’s versatility is what we thought we had in Rhamondre Stevenson (another super underwhelming back that cracks my top 20 this week).

White has been held under 40 rushing yards in the majority of his games this season, and his next carry that gains more than 13 yards will be his first this season. I’m not excited about having to rank him where I did, but I will be playing White and his 17+ touch role this week wherever I have him.

Wide Receivers

Drake London: For the first time in his career, London has 75 receiving yards in consecutive games! The talent has never been a secret, and while this run has been nice if you played him, counting on it to continue is a bet on Ridder that I’m not willing to place.

The scoring chances are going to be limited for all involved in this offense (49 points scored in Weeks 1-2, 50 points scored since), and that leaves a floor that I’m uncomfortable with inside of my top 30 at the position.

London joins Amari Cooper this week in the “good players in a bad situation” tier that typically involves Garrett Wilson and DeAndre Hopkins. London is an option if you’re stuck, but I do have players like Gabe Davis and Jordan Addison ranked higher.

Mike Evans: The 58.5% catch rate this season and consecutive games with under 50 receiving yards (first three weeks: 99 yards per game) are reasons to shift Evans outside of the top 10 wide receivers, but not out of lineups altogether.

There is still plenty of touchdown equity in his profile, especially in a matchup against Atlanta’s defense that is often challenged downfield (8.2 opponent aDOT, 10th highest).

Not that you need one more thing to think about, but Trey Palmer did have a 65.9% route participation last week. With a season aDOT flirting with 15 yards, this is another path to potential down weeks for Evans when the matchup is suboptimal.

Chris Godwin: This offense can pretty clearly support one receiver, and lately, it’s been Godwin on the right side of the coin.

• Past two games: 14 catches for 191 yards
• First three games: 13 catches for 141 yards

For this specific matchup, I prefer Evans by 8-10 spots, and that has Godwin in the low-end WR2 tier. This is a situation to monitor, as my ranking will change drastically based on how the opponent goes about their business.

Tight Ends

Kyle Pitts and Jonnu Smith: During this Ridder heater, these two have combined for 35.4% of the targets, thus allowing both to hold some value at the same time. The average offense struggles to sustain one viable fantasy TE, so color me pessimistic on the Falcons being able to feature both Pitts and Smith on any sort of consistent basis moving forward.

Pitts scored for the first time in 350 days last week and has posted consecutive top-10 finishes. If we’re talking about a TE committee, I want the option with the per-target upside, and there’s no denying that Pitts is that option (58.1% edge in aDOT, not to mention a five-year advantage in youth and a massive edge in draft capital).

Pitts is my TE10 this week, while Smith checks in at TE15 and is still a streamable option for those holding their starting lineup together with duct tape.

Detroit Lions at Baltimore Ravens

• Spread: Ravens -3
• Total: 42
• Lions implied points: 19.5
• Ravens implied points: 22.5

Quarterbacks

Jared Goff: The man in charge of restoring the roar in Detroit has constructive QB4 finishes and is coming off of a season-high 353 yards against a Buccaneers defense that can be had through the air.

The stat line was nice, and Goff has now completed at least two-thirds of his passes in five straight games, showcasing a floor that I’ll bank on most weeks.

This isn’t most weeks.

The Ravens’ defense ranks inside the top five in scoring, yards per play, and red-zone TD rate. With David Montgomery out and Goff operating a near single-point-of-failure passing attack (Amon-Ra St. Brown has seen over 26% of the targets this season despite missing a game!), I worry about the versatility of Detroit’s offense in this specific spot.

Baltimore boasts one of the more sure tackling units in the league, a major concern for a QB who makes a living on short passes like Goff (seventh-lowest aDOT). As high as his ceiling has been, Goff has finished as QB14 or worse in half of his games this season, and I think that’s the version we get in this tough spot.

Lamar Jackson: Action Jackson has been a top-10 QB in four of his past five games, with the one exception being the seven-drop disaster that was Week 5 in Pittsburgh. Most people view Jackson’s athletic profile as a means to a rare ceiling, and while that may be true, what it does for his fantasy floor is just as important.

His success this season has come without throwing for even 240 yards in a game and has come with one passing score on 83 attempts at home.

I mentioned the singular path to success for Goff, and the opposite is the case for Jackson. I have no concerns about labeling him as my QB4, the top of the second tier at the position.

Running Backs

David Montgomery: Monty has been one of the most profitable players up to this point, finishing as a top-20 RB in every game he’s finished healthy. But the ribs injury he suffered last week will hold him out this week at the very minimum.

It doesn’t sound as if this is a long-term issue. Assuming that holds true, Montgomery’s a nice trade target if the roster with him on it is in win-now mode.

The Lions close out the regular season with the Bears, Broncos, Cowboys, and Vikings (twice), a schedule that positions Montgomery to potentially be a difference-maker when all of the chips are in the middle of the table.

Jahmyr Gibbs: The rookie sat out last week with a hamstring injury, but all signs seem to be pointing in the right direction for this weekend. How willing the Lions will be to lean on Gibbs coming off of the injury will likely be determined as the game progresses, but it’s worth noting that he got 18 touches when Montgomery missed Week 3 and that Dam Campbell has indicated that Gibbs will be heavily featured.

A tough matchup at less than full strength is less than ideal, but given the lack of depth at the position, Gibbs’ athletic profile earns him a low-end RB2 ranking for me. I have him ranked side-by-side with his fellow NFC North rookie who projects as the lead of a committee.

Craig Reynolds: Reynolds did very little with his 10 carries last week in a tough matchup after Montgomery departed (15 yards), and he’s only once in his career been counted on as a bell cow.

If Gibbs is reported to be limited, Reynolds would move up a handful of spots based on the value of volume this week. Without that, he’s going to be outside of my top 25 at the position.

He’s a fine dart throw at the Flex board, given his touch floor/ceiling combination with Montgomery out and Gibbs at less than full strength, but don’t confuse Reynolds’ promotion in Detroit as one that makes him a lineup lock.

Gus Edwards: Last week, Edwards doubled up Justice Hill in terms of carry count, but he extended his touch count to 75 without a gain of more than 20 yards this season. The 44-27 snap edge over Hill was encouraging, with Edwards’ 5-0 snap advantage in goal-line situations being the part that encouraged me the most.

The lack of a role in the passing game is a problem, but it’s not enough this week to keep him outside of my top 25 running backs. The ceiling is capped against the second-best per-carry rush defense in all the land.

Justice Hill: With at least three catches in three of his past four games, Hill is working on carving out a niche in this offense. He’s just not quite there yet.

With no more than 11 carries or 41 rushing yards in a game this season, Hill’s floor is simply too low to rely on him this week.

MORE: Fantasy Football Week 7 Waiver Wire Rankings

That said, if he can weasel his way into a 50/50 carry split with Edwards, there’s an argument for him to be a low-end Flex option. Hill has a 10+ yard carry in each of his past four games despite limited work, a sign that he could impress if given the opportunity to do so.

Wide Receivers

Amon-Ra St. Brown: The Sun God has been shining bright of late with a score in consecutive games and over 100 yards in three of his past four. His current 17-game pace works out to over 129 catches, and his importance to this offense cannot be overstated, given the lack of stability/experience that surrounds him.

You’ve got a star in St. Brown and potentially a first-round pick when we draft this summer. You need to make the most of having him this season at what is proving to be a bargain price.

Josh Reynolds: The candle that is Reynolds’ fantasy value seems to be just about burnt out. His targets are trending in the wrong direction (7-6-5-5-3), and with an aDOT over 12 yards, what he does well is repetitive of Jameson Williams and Kalif Raymond.

The 85.4% route participation last week, in theory, is a good thing, though the fact that he earned just three targets at the peak of his field usage rate has me getting out of the Reynolds business.

He has a 20+ yard catch in each of his games this season, giving desperate fantasy managers hope that he can get them through this week. I’m just not banking on it and have him outside of my top 45 wide receivers.

He’s my second-favorite Reynolds on this roster if you’re in the rare spot of having a faceoff between teammates with the same surname for your Flex spot.

Jameson Williams: There is no shortage of deep threats on the fringes of rosterable, but not all similarly skilled options are created equal in terms of fantasy potential.

Williams made a contested 45-yard catch in the end zone last week, a skill we know he has in his bag. That said, he’s closer to the Marvin Mims stash-and-hope outlook than a player like Gabe Davis or Rashid Shaheed, who come with reasonable Flex appeal in weeks like this.

Why? Well, not one, not two, not three, but four Detroit receivers (seven players) ran more routes than the 2022 first-rounder. I have no doubt that his catches are going to be valuable, but with so few bites at the apple, I simply cannot get Williams inside my top 50 at the position.

Zay Flowers: Baltimore’s clear-cut WR1 caught the first touchdown of what looks destined to be a very promising NFL career last week in London. Flowers has at least five catches in four of six games this season, and with a rush attempt in five different games, it’s clear that the Ravens know what they have here.

The Lions blitz at the fourth-lowest rate in the league, something that should allow us to see Flowers’ full route-running capabilities.

Why can’t this be the best week of the rookie’s career?

Odell Beckham, Nelson Agholor, and Rashod Bateman: You want a Spider-Man meme, I’ll give you a Spider-Man meme!

In Week 6, all three of these fantasy-irrelevant receivers…

• Played 29-37 snaps
• Ran 16-23 routes
• Scored 2.5-5 fantasy points

There is zero reason to chase your tail and try to identify the WR2 in this offense — it simply doesn’t matter.

Tight Ends

Sam LaPorta: The rookie earned a season-high 11 targets last week and somehow managed to finish with a season-low 36 receiving yards. I’ll go ahead and be impressed by the former and not sweat the latter. LaPorta has earned enough trust to have one weird performance overlooked.

• Weeks 1-5: 25 catches on 31 targets (80.6%)
• Week 6: Four catches on 11 targets (36.4%)

LaPorta is my TE5 this week and should be considered a set-it-and-forget-it option at the position.

Mark Andrews: We’ve yet to see the high-volume game from Andrews this season (4-6 catches in every game). Instead, we’re getting a nice floor with four top-12 finishes in his five games.

Andrews has been able to pay the fantasy bills with some chunk plays (20+ yard catch in four games), making his upside that much greater when the inevitable massive usage game occurs. That ceiling spot may or may not be this week, but I do think we get it over the next three weeks (DET, at AZ, SEA).

Pittsburgh Steelers at Los Angeles Rams

• Spread: Rams -3
• Total: 43.5
• Steelers implied points: 20.3
• Rams implied points: 23.3

Quarterbacks

Matthew Stafford: The former Lion has just one multi-touchdown pass game this season and has completed no more than 21 passes in three of his past four contests. His lack of versatility (his last 10-yard rush came in the 2021 NFC Championship Game) makes him a tough sell in this era of football.

And yet, I’m here to tell you that he’s a fine streaming option and even worth a look in DFS tournaments for those looking to build a contrarian lineup.

You know how during interviews, you’re supposed to spin a strength into a pseudo-weakness when asked where you could improve? Well, that’s kind of the situation we have in Pittsburgh these days.

The Steelers are a top-five defense in both blitz and pressure rate, a statistic that you’d expect me to present in a bear-ish Stafford case, but let’s think this one through.

By applying consistent heat, the Steelers are forcing quick reads from their opponents, and that often leads them to target their top pass catcher. That’s not the end of the world for the defense if they can limit the damage from the star pass catcher — but Pittsburgh can’t.

• Week 1: Brandon Aiyuk goes for 129 yards and two TDs.
• Week 2: Amari Cooper hauls in seven passes for 90 yards.
• Week 3: Davante Adams torches them for 172 yards and two TDs.
• Week 4: Nico Collins lights them up for 168 yards and two TDs.
• Week 5: Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews combined for a 55.3% target share.

Stafford has, arguably, the best pair of target earners at his disposal in the NFL and could ride them to a surprisingly big Week 7. He’s not a must-play for me and carries plenty of risk, but I’m choosing him over Jared Goff, Kirk Cousins, and Russell Wilson this week.

Running Backs

Najee Harris: It’s difficult to fully understand just how underwhelming Harris has been for fantasy managers this season, but I thought this fact does as good a job as describing it as any single note will.

Through five weeks (Pittsburgh is coming off of its bye), Harris is without a top-15 performance and only has one top-30 game on his resume. Other RBs with a similar profile through Week 5:

• Samaje Perine
• Clyde Edwards-Helaire
• Damien Harris

Are any of those guys rostered in your league, let alone started? Harris is facing a stacked box in one-third of his carries and hasn’t had multiple catches in a game since Week 1. So where is the path to a fantasy rebound?

Even on a week with six teams on a bye, Harris isn’t a fantasy starter for me.

Jaylen Warren: The 24-year-old is emerging as a fringe Flex option in PPR formats, as he is on pace for a tick over 71 catches this season, a total only three running backs hit a season ago.

The lack of carry upside (he’s never had more than 12 carries in a game and has yet to reach double figures in a game this season) keeps his floor low and, thus, out of my “strong Flex play” tier.

That said, if you think the Rams grab an early lead and the game script works in Warren’s favor, you can feel good about plugging him in any league where receptions are rewarded.

Kyren Williams: A sprained ankle was the only thing that could slow him in the second half against the Cardinals last week and will result in him sitting OUT this weekend and the next three games with him landing on IR.

Williams has three games north of 20 fantasy points, and if this team can remain competitive, we could be looking at a fantasy Super Bowl MVP – Week 17 comes in New York (weather could limit the passing game) off of a mini-bye. They’ll face a Giants team that scares no one.

Zach Evans, Royce Freeman, and Darrell Henderson: When dealing with a position of weakness, it’s often said “if you have two, you don’t have one”. Well … we have three in this Rams backfield this week. Ideally, you have the ability to wait through this week, observe, and deploy the leader of this crew next week.

Rams’ rookie RB Zach Evans — one of the most added players in fantasy football this past week — is expected to back up both Royce Freeman and Darrell Henderson today against the Steelers, while RB Myles Gaskin is expected to be inactive today, per sources. https://t.co/CoCKd2MXcY

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 22, 2023

Reporting today seems to point to Henderson being the lead with Freeman a close second and Evans a distant third. The hierarchy is one thing, but how many touches are we realistically looking at in an offense that has a pair of elite target earners? My best guess:

• Henderson: 13 touches
• Freeman: 9 touches
• Evans: 6 touches

Does that make any of them viable against a Steelers defense that can be had through the air and had a week off to get healthy?

I have Henderson (RB27) ranked just ahead of Tyler Allgeier in my flex ranks while Freeman is my RB37 (behind Jeff Wilson) and Evans my RB45 (in the Samaje Perine tier).

While he may get clarity as to who will lead this backfield in touches after this week, don’t count on any of them being ranked as even a RB2 against the Cowboys.

Diontae Johnson: Johnson suffered a hamstring injury in the Week 1 loss to the 49ers that landed him on IR, and that means he is eligible to play this week. All signs point to him suiting up, but there’s risk involved in this matchup beyond just the potential of aggravation.

With his health risk and Pickens coming off of his best game of the season (six catches for 130 yards and the game-winning touchdown against the Ravens), I believe it’s fair to label Johnson as the WR2 in this offense. Operating under that assumption, here are some of the WR2 performances against the Rams this season:

• DeVonta Smith: One catch for six yards (five targets)
• Tee Higgins: Two catches for 21 yards (eight targets)
• Brandon Aiyuk: Three catches for 43 yards (six targets)
• Tyler Lockett: Two catches for 10 yards (four targets)

In all, we are looking at 3.5 yards per target without a touchdown across those four instances. I’m projecting Johnson to be a little more efficient than that, but you need to be optimistic about a touchdown. That’s tough to do for a player who, when this game kicks off, hadn’t caught a TD pass in 644 days.

Cooper Kupp: How good is this guy? All he has done is rack up 15 catches on 21 targets for 266 yards in his two games back from injury, showing zero rust or hesitation.

Kupp has 1,730 receiving yards and 15 scores over his past 15 games and should be viewed as nothing short of a Tier 1 option the rest of the way. For the first time since Christmas of 2021, Kupp has a 35-yard catch in consecutive games, a sign that the shallow target-earning skills of Puka Nacua might actually be helping Kupp’s bottom line.

Puka Nacua: It was one game. Nacua let you down in a big way last week against the Cardinals (4.6 fantasy points). That hurts, but with a 33.3% target share in that game, the process was still strong.

I’m viewing Nacua similarly to other WR2s like Lockett or Jakobi Meyers, who are viable starters but come with risks attached to them. His target share really hasn’t flinched since Kupp returned, but the value of the target has nosedived:

• Two games with Kupp: 5.4 yards per target
• First four games: 9.6

Of course, we are talking the smallest of samples. It’s clear that Kupp’s usage has impacted Tutu Atwell more than Nacua and that this offense can carry multiple high-volume receivers.

I think it’s unlikely that this team has four more rush attempts than pass attempts this week – that should open up more of a passable floor for a target earner like Nacua. He’s a low-end WR2 or high-end Flex, depending on the size of your league, that you can still feel fine about plugging into your starting lineup.

Tutu Atwell: If you’re looking for a silver lining, I can tell you that the Rams are operating out of three-receiver sets as much as anyone. As a clear third banana (why in the world we use bananas for that analogy is beyond me, what’s wrong with three bananas?), Atwell was on the field for 87.7% of the snaps in Week 6 and ran a route on 82.1% of Stafford drop backs.

That’s the good news. The bad is that he has just three catches in total A.K. (After Kupp, the official measure of all things Rams-related moving forward) after averaging 5.5 grabs per game B.K.

Atwell isn’t the type of profile I’m looking to gamble on, and ranks comfortably outside of my top 40. I view WR3s like Shaheed or Jayden Reed as better dice rolls, both in Week 7 and moving forward.

Tight Ends

Tyler Higbee: Unless you play in a super deep league or one with a TE premium attached to it, you don’t need to travel this far down the ranks (my TE20 for Week 7). Higbee has been held under 20 yards in half of his games this season, and that includes both games A.K.

Evan Engram is the only tight end I trust to produce consistent numbers alongside two very viable receivers (far superior players like Dallas Goedert and George Kittle have had wild swings this season in such a situation). I don’t see a path for Higbee to join him any time soon.

I’d rather target pedigree by way of Michael Mayer than hope that Higbee can make enough of the table scraps that Kupp/Nacua leave for him in this passing game.

Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks

• Spread: Seahawks -7.5
• Total: 45
• Cardinals implied points: 18.8
• Seahawks implied points: 26.3

Quarterbacks

Joshua Dobbs: Dobbs may have just six touchdown passes on 196 attempts this season, and he may have more incompletions (37) than completions (36) over the past two weeks, but any quarterback that can post 40-plus rushing yards three times in a four-game stretch has access to a top-15 ranking.

With the projected game script being in his favor and the Seahawks allowing a touchdown on a league-high 90% of red zone trips, Dobbs (QB15) ranks higher this week for me than any other week up to this point.

The floor is worrisome, but if you’re at this point in the rankings, you can’t be all that selective. Due to his legs, Dobbs checks in ahead of Minnesota QB Kirk Cousins and Detroit QB Jared Goff this week.

Geno Smith: It’s pretty clear that 2023 Smith and 2022 Smith are nowhere near the same player, and that is why, even in a bye-heavy week – in a favorable spot – he’s not a top-10 play for me.

• 2023: One multi-TD pass game, 8.4 rush yards per game
• 2022: Multiple TD passes in 12 of 17 games, 21.5 rush yards per game

With Seattle working in Jaxon Smith-Njigba more, Smith has a trio of receivers capable of elevating his stock. I prefer last week’s letdown, Brock Purdy, or the consistency of Sam Howell at the position this week. However, I do still have Smith ranked ahead of Stafford and both streaming options in the Packers vs. Broncos game.

Running Backs

Keaontay Ingram: We got our answer last week as to how the Cardinals would replace James Conner, and it was anything but friendly to fantasy managers.

Ingram was activated late last week, got the first carry against the Rams, and was the only RB to get a touch on the first drive (he had three). That usage was a nice start, but it evaporated quickly, and he finished with 12 touches for 51 yards.

As a significant underdog, it’s very possible that Dobbs is this team’s leading rusher again. That has all members of this backfield ranking outside of my top 30 this week. There simply isn’t enough scoring equity or touch volume to justify rolling the dice on Ingram in this spot.

Emari Demercado: When Conner went down in Week 5, Demercado filled right in, and we hoped that would continue with a week of practice. No such luck, with his 33 snaps hardly outpacing the 28 of Ingram.

For those looking for a cheap, low-owned DFS option on DraftKings (full PPR), Demercado might make for a decent punt play. The risk is obvious, but considering that he ran a route on the majority of Arizona dropbacks (and on 81.8% of his snaps), there’s a world in which he catches a handful of passes.

Kenneth Walker III: With four straight top-20 finishes and a pair of top-6 weeks over that stretch, Walker is easily inside my top 10 at the position, both for this week and for the remainder of the season.

The second-year star has a 20+ yard carry in three straight and has caught 11 of 13 targets this season. In each of his past four games, he has at least 17 carries and a rushing score, a streak he could well continue against the eighth-worst per-carry rush defense in the league.

Zach Charbonnet: The rookie only needs to be rostered if you have large enough rosters to justify burning a spot on a pure handcuff option.

He was out-snapped 59-17 by Walker in Week 6 and was used as a route runner more than a threat on the ground. With only one game clearing six touches this season, Charbonnet isn’t going to return the value we hoped he would during the draft process this summer.

Wide Receivers

Marquise Brown: After three consecutive top-20 finishes, Hollywood failed to produce at a top-50 level for the first time this season (four catches for 34 yards).

The lack of production was tough to watch, but he did earn double-digit targets for a third straight game (and fourth time in his past five). Seattle is the seventh-worst team in terms of time of possession, a flaw that should again allow Brown to rack up the targets.

I’m trusting the overall form over the recent struggles and have him back in my top 20 (in the same tier as WR1s like Michael Pittman and Calvin Ridley, who have struggled at times with fantasy efficiency).

Rondale Moore: With exactly three carries in consecutive games and in three of his past four, Moore is at least getting the chance to produce. The problem, of course, is that he’s not taking advantage of those chances (just two top-50 finishes).

With no pass-catching ceiling to speak of (yet to clear 35 yards through the air), Moore is nothing more than a dart throw and not even the type of dart I like to throw. Give me Shaheed or Jayden Reed over him if you’re looking for a warm body to fill out your Week 7 lineup.

Michael Wilson: With a 25-yard catch in three of his past four games, there is YOLO potential in the rookie’s profile if you’re stuck and a big underdog. But you, loyal reader, have been following the PFN content for months now and are, of course, not in that spot.

I like Wilson as a dynasty stash, but with only one game this season with more than three catches, you don’t need to dig this deep in redraft.

DK Metcalf: You, naturally, are playing Metcalf. He wasn’t super impactful last week, but the fact that 10 targets were funneled his way makes me reasonably confident that his ribs are in a good spot.

To my knowledge, only a few things give Metcalf problems. Here is my running list:

• Shirts
• Vegetables
• Penalty flags
• Arizona Cardinals

The first three are pretty straightforward. While I believe team-based stats can be more storytelling than predictive, I’m a sharer of information. Throughout his career, Metcalf has averaged five yards per target against the Cards and 8.9 against the other 30 opponents.

If that (along with the ribs) spooks you, feel free to fade Metcalf in DFS, but don’t use that trend as an excuse to overthink your redraft lineup.

Tyler Lockett: The veteran receiver has seen his longest catch of the game increase with each passing week (5-12-16-23-36) and has averaged nearly eight targets per game over the past month.

He’s been held out of the end zone in four of five games this season but slumps like this aren’t rare for Lockett. He scored in just one of his first seven games last season (ended with nine touchdowns) and had a nine-game scoreless drought in 2021 (ended with eight touchdowns).

I trust Lockett in my lineup every single week, and that’s not changing in this spot (three TDs in his past three games against Arizona).

Jaxon Smith-Njigba: The first-round pick matched Metcalf and Lockett with 39 routes last weekend, a sign that the team may be looking to grow his role a bit. With just 110 yards on his ledger thus far, JSN isn’t near fantasy lineups, but there might be a path for him to matter down the stretch without needing an injury.

Keep an eye on him – players like this often get cut as managers lose track of the big picture in an effort to get immediate help.

Tight Ends

Zach Ertz: The veteran had a nice run of volume to open this season, but he’s yet to reach 60 yards in a game this season and, in Week 6, was held under 25 yards for the fourth time.

The Cardinals spent a second-round pick last season to bring in Trey McBride. With this season going nowhere, they expanded his role last week (season bests in catches, targets, and receiving yards).

In the loss to the Rams, McBride held a 44-35 snap edge over Ertz, and while the incumbent had the advantage in the routes department, his days as a viable target vacuum are in the past.

Green Bay Packers at Denver Broncos

• Spread: Packers -1
• Total: 44.5
• Packers implied points: 22.8
• Broncos implied points: 21.8

Quarterbacks

Jordan Love: We talked a lot about normalization after Love lit the fantasy world up with his efficiency through two weeks, and it has come to fruition in a major way in his three games since.

While he was averaging 0.77 points-per-pass-attempt in Weeks 1 and 2, his average dropped to 0.21 in Weeks 3-5.

That means that, over his past three games, his average pass has been nearly 73% less valuable than it was during those first two games. Is that a bit drastic? Probably, but this version of Love isn’t worth much in fantasy.

On paper, coming off the bye to face the Denver Broncos is an advantageous spot. If you want to be different in the DFS streets, I’d be receptive to that idea, understanding that the Patrick Mahomes/Justin Herbert matchup will draw plenty of ownership.

Outside of that though, I’m passing on Love. The Broncos get a mini-bye of their own after holding Mahomes to just his second career game with 30-plus completions and no more than one TD pass.

Russell Wilson: It’s not easy to play an entire football game in 2023 and come in under 100 passing yards, but that is what Wilson did last Thursday night against the Chiefs. He went 13-of-22 for just 95 yards, one TD, and two INTs.

Denver only running 49 offensive plays was largely to blame, and while the stat line was repulsive, there actually were a few silver linings.

Wilson ran for 31 yards and looked spry throughout the game, even on non-rush attempts. I also like it when my quarterback is honed in on his primary receivers, and while it didn’t work in this spot, WRs Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton combining for a 50% target share is directionally correct in terms of how Wilson will emerge as a viable fantasy streamer – eventually.

I’m not going there this week against a Green Bay Packers team coming off of their bye, but it is worth noting that the Broncos get the Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers, and Detroit Lions in Weeks 13-15. I’m not saying he’ll be a top-10 guy those weeks, but I’m just making mention of when he could peak for those in deeper and/or two-QB formats.

Running Backs

Aaron Jones: Calling the first six weeks a lost cause for Jones’ managers would be an understatement. After lighting up the Bears in Week 1 with 127 yards and two TDs, he missed two games with a hamstring injury. We all got excited for his return in a big prime-time game against the Detroit Lions, only to see him pick up 14 yards on six touches and miss Week 5.

Coming out of the bye against a Broncos defense that has given up RB production every week of the season would seem to be the perfect get-right spot. Maybe this is Charlie Brown trying to kick a football, but I again have him ranked as a must-start, trusting his health with the time off and Green Bay’s desire to get production from the run game. Fellow RB AJ Dillon has averaged 3.0 yards per carry without a 15-yard run so far this season.

A.J. Dillon: The Packers have remained loyal to Dillon, despite little evidence that it is the right move. In Week 5, with Jones sidelined, Dillon handled 20 of 22 running back carries and punched in his first touchdown of the season. That’s the good.

The bad is that he failed to average even 4.0 yards per carry for a ninth straight game dating back to last season and hasn’t caught a pass in over a month. We had hopes that Dillon would hold standalone value next to Jones this season, but at the moment, the only way he is sniffing lineups is if Jones misses his fourth game of the season.

Javonte Williams: In his return to action, Williams picked up 52 yards on 10 carries and looked reasonably explosive. He had an 18-yard spurt and was a tough tackle in a low-volume effort from the Broncos.

While I’m buying him as healthy right now, there’s no denying the health risk that comes with him. RB Jaleel McLaughlin has acquitted himself well with the opportunities he’s been given.

Williams doesn’t have a game with more than 15 carries since December of 2021, and without volume in a grounded offense, I have a hard time thinking he cracks my top 20 any time in the near future. He is my preferred Denver back, but that doesn’t rank him as a must- start by any means this week.

Jaleel McLaughlin: With Williams working his way back from injury, McLaughlin not only got the first carry of the game, he held a 21-18 edge in snaps and an 11-5 advantage in routes run. He ran hard and looks the part of an NFL running back, but is this a spot where he can succeed?

This feels a lot like some of the backfields in the AFC North where we have a committee that is so even, there isn’t one back you feel comfortable starting. He is very much worth stashing, given his production in limited action and Williams’ growing list of injuries, but you’d have really have to be in a tough spot to Flex him against a rested Packers defense that has excelled at getting off the field with their top-10, third-down defense creating a 34.7% conversion rate.

Samaje Perine: Perine has lost a fumble in consecutive games, and the only impact he has on fantasy at this moment is taking a handful of available touches away from the two backs ahead of him. They brought him in this summer for a reason, and I doubt he fully disappears, which gives you yet another reason to think twice about starting a member of this backfield.

Wide Receivers

Christian Watson: Week 5 was a massive step forward for Watson, and that’s not just because we saw him haul in a 77-yard pass. Against the Las Vegas Raiders, he was on the field for 84.5% of the snaps and ran a route on 85.3% of Love’s dropbacks. This is usage that will give him the opportunity to produce at the top-20 level that he was drafted at this summer.

Of course, as is the case with all Packers pass-catchers these days, efficiency is going to be a tough ask. He has caught just five of 11 targets this season, and while Love’s aDOT ranks among the highest in the game, his accuracy on those throws is sporadic, at best.

MORE: PFN Consensus Rankings

Will Watson get the Patrick Surtain treatment? The Broncos have displayed discipline when it comes to utilizing their star corner, opting to force him on the opposing WR1 if it’ll compromise the integrity of the unit as a whole. That said, they are more than happy to stick him on the top threat when they can – he held former Packer WR Davante Adams to 11 yards when assigned to him in Week 1, and that has to at least be factored in.

Watson is a fine Flex play for me this week, as I balance the risk of shadow coverage with the single-play upside that a healthy version of Watson has proven to possess.

Romeo Doubs: Watson’s Week 5 performance was a return to basically a full-time role, and it was pretty clearly Doubs is the WR2 option. He held a 50-29 snap advantage over WR Jayden Reed. That’s encouraging enough to keep him rostered, but the fact that his four targets netted four yards indicates that this offense isn’t ready to sustain two viable fantasy receivers at this moment.

That’s not a knock on this offense – that’s not an easy task. Think about it, the Buffalo Bills have been a wide-open offense for years, and the next year we consider WR Gabe Davis as a lineup staple will be the first.

Doubs proved plenty capable of earning opportunities prior to the unleashing of Watson (25 targets across Weeks 3-4), and that is enough to keep him rostered.

Jayden Reed: The rookie’s standing as a roster-worthy option is on thin ice to say the least. Has he shown nice upside at points this season? Yes, but with only two targets in Week 5 and skill set duplication with Watson, there’s more risk than reward in his profile right now.

Through five games, Reed’s aDOT is 30.4% greater than that of Doubs, putting him in danger in seeing his role reduce the greatest when Watson is right. The return of Jones should give this offense more balance, which is a further knock on Reed’s potential. He’s, at best, the third option in a pass game that lacks consistency, and that puts him on the chopping block if you’re stuck in a tough spot.

Jerry Jeudy: After being called out by Steve Smith in a very public manner pre-game last week, Jeudy went on to record a season-low in catches (three) and yards (14) against the Chiefs.

For those among us who are keeping track, that game occurred on October 12th, a day in which Smith played on three times during his career:

• Week 6, 2003: 103 receiving yards
• Week 6, 2008: 112
• Week 6, 2014: 110

There is no shortage of smoke around Jeudy when it comes to the Halloween trade deadline, and maybe that helps his stock rebound. For now, he ranks outside of my top 32. If you had it ranked like that every week this season, you’d have a perfect record! Until I see something change, I’m not interested in playing Jeudy.

Courtland Sutton: Sutton’s acrobatic touchdown saved the day for fantasy managers and gave him a score in four of his six games this season. He certainly appears to have the trust of Wilson more than Jeudy at this point, and his lower aDOT role helps elevate his floor, which is a valuable trait, given that this offense is going to offer more than a few dud performances.

The ceiling is capped by his role, and the fact that he’s averaging just a tick over six targets per game makes him my preferred receiver on this team and an average Flex play in this spot.

Tight Ends

Luke Musgrave: Musgrave benefited from a mini-bye in Week 5 and was able to pass through concussion protocol without having to miss a game. The rookie didn’t make any big plays against the Raiders, but he did catch six of seven targets while the rest of his teammates managed to pull in just 10 of 22.

He has had his chances to produce this season, but Love has just missed him on a few big opportunities. He’s not a must-start, but his efficient role in an offense that is going to threaten defenses downfield — thus opening up the middle of the field — is certainly worthy of consideration at a brutal position.

The bye week bonanza this week doesn’t impact the TE position in a major way, so you may not need to stream Musgrave just yet, but keep an eye on him. He could very well prove to be the second-most reliable pass-catcher in this offense.

Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs

• Spread: Chiefs -5.5
• Total: 48.5
• Chargers implied points: 21.5
• Chiefs implied points: 27

Quarterbacks

Justin Herbert: The former Oregon Duck has been held under 230 passing yards in three of five games this season, but I’m willing to cut him some slack. He lost RB Austin Ekeler to an injury and then lost WR Mike Williams for the season with an ACL ailment.

Herbert has thrown multiple touchdown passes in each of his past five games against the Chiefs, and with an aDOT that is up 31.3% from last season, I’m willing to bet that his best is yet to come.

I’m comfortable in starting Herbert in this spot, understanding that Ekeler is only going to look better with time and that WR Joshua Palmer should be able to build on an encouraging Week 6.

Patrick Mahomes: Mahomes seemed to struggle on Thursday night, and still, he finished with a season-high 306 passing yards to go along with over 25 rushing yards for the fifth time this season.

Over his past three games, he has managed just four touchdown passes on 111 attempts – a rate well below his career average. Worry not, he’ll be just fine. He’s as good as anyone at the position this week and moving forward – especially against a secondary he lit up for five touchdowns and zero interceptions across two games a season ago.

Running Backs

Austin Ekeler: The former All-Pro missed more than a month and returned to face one of the most elite defenses in the league with a quarterback nursing a hand injury – blame yourself for thinking he’d put up an elite stat line last week, not Ekeler.

I’m not reading into his 1.9 yards per carry against the Cowboys. Instead, I’m encouraged by the fact that the Bolts were comfortable in getting their featured back 18 touches in his return to action.

The Chiefs’ defense is far better than we thought they’d be this season, but they are still a bottom-10 unit in terms of yards-per-carry-allowed, and Ekeler cannot be scripted out of any contest. He’s easily a top-five back for me this week. He’s also on the short list of players with a reasonable path to project as the top scorer at the position for Week 7.

Isiah Pacheco: Week 6 against the Denver Broncos wasn’t a work of art with a 3.9 yards-per-carry average, but even on a down day in terms of efficiency and overall offensive performance, Pacheco got you 12.8 half-PPR points.

He caught six passes on Thursday night, which matches his total from his three games prior, and he had a 15-yard carry for the fourth time in five games. The efficiency will come, so the fact that he got 16-of-18 carries reinforces the idea that he is a top-15 back the rest of the way.

The hard-nosed runner now gets an extended work week to prepare for a shaky Chargers run defense that is on short rest. I’m considering his Week 6 stat line a floor of what you can expect on Sunday.

Jerick McKinnon: McKinnon had a day-making catch nullified by a block in the back, which continued his underwhelming campaign. He has just seven carries through six weeks. That wouldn’t be a major problem if he was handling the lion’s share of the work in the passing game, but he’s not. Pacheco has at least matched his target count in four of six games, leaving little meat on the bone for McKinnon and making him a player you can move confidently move on from at this point.

Wide Receivers

Keenan Allen: I’ll take the under on his 143-catch pace, but with 10 targets or a touchdown in four straight games, his value as a WR1 is going nowhere. He has seven straight games against the Chiefs with 90 yards or a touchdown, and if forced to say, I’d predict he extends that streak to eight on Sunday.

Josh Palmer: I like to pay attention to how teams come out of their bye, with the thought being that they have extra time to focus on their game plan. After the Week 5 bye, Palmer saw seven targets against the Cowboys and had a few receptions wiped away by accepted penalties.

Palmer has seen at least seven looks in three straight games, and it’s easy to forget that he caught at least five balls in five of six games in the middle of last season when his usage was ramped up.

With Allen and Ekeler being so involved, the target upside is only so high for Palmer, but last week was encouraging. I have Palmer ranked as a low-end WR3, landing him in the same tier as both Viking and both Broncos receivers.

Quentin Johnston: We hoped the rookie would push Palmer for the WR2 role in WR Mike Williams’ absence, but that seems like nothing more than a pipe dream in the short-term. Johnston was on the field for just 47.2% of Los Angeles’ offensive snaps last week, and, to be honest, it felt like less, as he only earned two targets and no catches.

I’m not giving up on him just yet, but it does appear clear that the Chargers aren’t confident in his readiness to be a regular contributor. I’m giving him this week to prove he’s worthy of stashing. If Sunday looks anything like last week, he’ll be on the Week 8 chopping block.

Rashee Rice: The target upside remains limited for Rice, but this kid proves every week that he is ready for more work. He caught all four of his targets against the Broncos, including a late 28-yarder that is his longest catch to date.

Everything in his profile is trending in the right direction, but it’s just a slower process than any of us want. Rice will be firmly in the Flex mix for a third straight week, and while he has produced, he’s been walking a thin line due to his required efficiency. The rookie carries risk, but I believe the role upside outweighs it, especially with six teams (at least five fantasy viable receivers) on bye.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Valdes-Scantling’s one target against the Broncos was more of a throwaway, as Mahomes was scrambling and looking for somewhere to go with the ball in the red zone. He caught the pass, but he never had a chance at coming down in bounds with it, continuing his baffling fantasy season.

He easily leads this receiver room in routes, and in theory, that should be good enough to be of interest to us in an offense built around the best player in the game. Not so much. Despite living on the field, he’s yet to earn more than three targets in a single game and has given us zero reasons to keep him rostered at this point.

Skyy Moore: The receiver we thought had the best chance to take over the WR1 in Kansas City this preseason had 70 receiving yards and a touchdown in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Since then, he has 75 receiving yards total in four games. You can hold onto him if you are stubborn about having a piece of this offense, but there are no indicators in his profile that a breakout of any kind is on the horizon.

Tight Ends

Gerald Everett: Everett nearly doubled the snap count of Donald Paham last week, and while the 6’8” backup tight end is clearly identified as a red zone threat, the fact that they ran Everett in motion and got him the short touchdown was encouraging.

By no means is Everett a must-start, but he is a cheap way to get exposure to an offense I trust. That’s an outlook I’ll embrace at the TE position.

Travis Kelce: Mahomes looked Kelce’s way nine times on Thursday night, and every time, Kelce made the play. The connection between these two is second to none right now, and it resulted in Kelce being responsible for over 40% of Mahomes’ yards in the Week 6 win.

The production was as expected, but it was the fact that he looked healthy that was the most noteworthy. Now we know – no defense can stop Kelce, and neither can the turf in Minnesota. His kryptonite has to be out there somewhere, but until that discovery is made, Kelce is about as safe of an option as there is in fantasy sports right now.

Miami Dolphins at Philadelphia Eagles

• Spread: Eagles -2
• Total: 52
• Dolphins implied points: 25
• Eagles implied points: 27

Quarterbacks

Tua Tagovailoa: Tagovailoa is pacing for basically 5,300 yards and 40 touchdowns – numbers that have him firmly in the MVP conversation. He offers nothing with his legs (21 rush yards this season), but it simply doesn’t matter, given the explosive nature of his pass-catchers.

The former Alabama signal-caller has been able to post elite numbers, even with WR Jaylen Waddle’s per-game yardage production down 25.8% from last season. You’re overthinking things by benching the center of the “Greatest Show on Surf (three top-3 finishes).”

Jalen Hurts: I’ll admit that Hurts has looked out of sorts at times this season as a passer, but I’ll also admit that it basically hasn’t mattered in fantasy. He has recorded five straight top-10 finishes.

The rushing production elevates his floor to a point where he will never rank outside of my top three QBs. In what figures to be a high-scoring environment, he stands atop my QB ranks in Week 7.

Running Backs

Raheem Mostert: I made the case earlier this week that Mostert is a nice sell option with his stock peaking, but that doesn’t mean he is a must-trade by any means. He split the RB routes last week with Salvon Ahmed (16 apiece), and he’s going to have to share the carries with time. But for Week 7, he’s an RB1, even in a tough spot.

He has at least 19 touches in three of his past five games, which is usage that I won’t be regressing until given a reason to do so. Lock him in and enjoy the ride!

Jeff Wilson Jr.: There was once hope that Wilson would be activated last week, but due to a few moving pieces for the final spot on the gameday roster, he was again inactive. All signs point to him making his season debut this weekend, and while he may hold value with time due to the absence of De’Von Achane, his Week 7 value is minimal at best.

HC Mike McDaniel suggested early last week, when it looked like Wilson would be active, that the RB would be held to a 25-snap pitch count. Of course, it doesn’t take many snaps on this offense to do damage, but an injury-prone back with limited work isn’t a great sales pitch – even in a bye-heavy week.

Make sure Wilson is rostered in your league, understanding that we are still at least a week away from considering him worthy of Flex consideration.

D’Andre Swift: I mentioned my eyebrow being raised at Hurts’ passing. His inconsistencies worked in Swift’s favor last week, as he saw 10 targets, which resulted in 40 yards and a touchdown. We know that the rushing role is Swift’s and Swift’s alone, so if he starts getting significant work through the air, we could be looking at an elite asset that isn’t going to regress any time soon.

The ‘Fins are a below-average run defense and the fifth-worst red zone defense, giving Swift various paths to a top-10 finish on Sunday night.

Kenneth Gainwell: Remember all the way back in Week 1 when Gainwell was “the guy,” and we were falling over ourselves to bump him up the ranks? Feels like a long time ago now, and after getting his hands on the ball just three times last week, there’s no reason to continue to hold him.

Wide Receivers

Tyreek Hill: Hill spoke about wanting a 2,000-yard season this summer, but he might have been undershooting it. “Cheetah” is on pace for over 2,300 receiving yards this season and seems to be transported to vacant spots in the defense on every single play.

As long as Tagovailoa is slinging it, Hill and Rams WR Cooper Kupp make up my top tier at the position.

Jaylen Waddle: It would appear that the team wants to get Waddle on track, and with a score in consecutive games, they may have accomplished that. Last week, Tagovailoa’s college teammate was targeted with five of his first 10 throws and went on to finish with seven grabs for 51 yards.

The return to the low-aDOT role that he filled in 2021 lowers his yardage ceiling (under 55 yards in three straight), but I have no problem in considering him a strong WR2 this week and for every week moving forward.

A.J. Brown: The first Eagle with four straight games of 125+ receiving yards, Brown has established himself as the alpha receiver in the City of Brotherly Love – a role some thought he had lost late last season.

When you combine Brown’s athletic profile with this sort of usage (10 targets per game), there’s zero reason to consider Brown as anything but a top-five receiver. He’s matchup-proof, and until the volume declines, he is a live bet to lead the position in fantasy points any week.

DeVonta Smith: I’m not exactly sure what it is with star WR2s struggling to live up to expectations, such as Tee Higgins and, to a degree, Jaylen Waddle in a similar mold, but Smith is having his issues. He led the Birds with 11 targets last week in the loss to the Jets and turned them into just 44 yards. In total, he’s tallied 50 yards on 16 targets over the past two weeks.

He remains a starter for me and just inside of my top 20, but I’d be lying to you if I didn’t admit that I was nervous. He had a bad drop on a big play last week, and if he makes that routine play, maybe we are viewing him a touch differently. With the target volume and big-play potential, I’ll continue to bet on “Skinny Batman.”

Tight Ends

Dallas Goedert: If Smith gets on track, I worry that it could come at the expense of Goedert, but for now, he’s a locked-in option. The tight end has seen at least seven targets in four of five games since his goose egg in Week 1, and by way of this offense, he carries more scoring equity than most outside of the top two tiers at the position.

That said, if you need help elsewhere in your lineup, I don’t mind the idea of selling Goedert and streaming tight ends the rest of the way. He’s better than those options, but not by a ton, and if you can upgrade in a meaningful way at RB/WR, I’d listen to offers.

San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings

• Spread: 49ers -6.5
• Total: 44
• 49ers implied points: 18.8
• Vikings implied points: 25.3

Quarterbacks

Brock Purdy: The Cleveland Browns are going to make a lot of quarterbacks look awfully average this season. That’s just a fact, and it doesn’t help when you lose two of your top playmakers during the game.

Purdy had the 49ers scoring 30 points with regularity prior to the Week 6 dud, and I’ll back that sample size over the four-quarter disaster that was Sunday. The Minnesota Vikings allow the third-highest Passer Rating to opposing QBs this season and are especially vulnerable to the Purdy “YAC experience,” with their league-leading 48.5% blitz rate.

The lack of rushing ability (11 rush yards since rushing for 20 in Week 1) scares me when it comes to discussing his long-term floor, but for Week 6, I have zero hesitation in labeling him as a top-10 QB.

Kirk Cousins: In Week 5, WR Justin Jefferson was injured during the game, and Cousins averaged a season-low 6.0 yards per attempt against the Kansas City Chiefs. Last week, against a much more gettable Chicago Bears defense, he was even worse with 5.8 yards per attempt.

Earlier this season, Cousins was a strong play unless the matchup dictated otherwise. Now, he should be viewed as a weak play unless the matchup dictates otherwise. In each of the first three weeks, he had a completion gaining over 40 yards, but since then, he doesn’t have a completion gaining more than 30.

I have Cousins ranked as my QB16 this week, behind options like Washington Commanders QB Sam Howell, Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love, and Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford.

Running Backs

Christian McCaffrey: The hope is McCaffrey (oblique) is good to go for Monday night, and in an ideal world, you can wait that decision out with one of his backups on your roster. If that’s not the case, make sure to tune into the PFN Fantasy YouTube Channel late Sunday morning as we go live to help you optimize your lineup.

If McCaffrey is set to play, you play him – simple as that. If there is doubt going into lineup lock on Sunday, I’d be tempted to eliminate the headache and avoid the zero. If you have RBs Elijah Mitchell, Jordan Mason, or Minnesota Vikings WR K.J. Osborn, you have the ability to Flex McCaffrey and wait. Vikings RB Cam Akers is about where I’d draw the line and opt to start a Sunday player instead of waiting.

Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason: It should be obvious that neither of these players would be a one-to-one replacement for McCaffrey, but there’s no need for that. I currently prefer Mitchell to Mason, and if the starter can give you even 60% of McCaffrey’s production, that’s the equivalent of Atlanta Falcons RB Bijan Robinson.

If we get word that McCaffrey will sit, I’d place both Mitchell and Mason as reasonable Flex options. If we were to get clarity that Mitchell or Mason would be “the guy,” that player would flirt with top-20 status at the position, but I’d bet against us getting that level of clarity.

Alexander Mattison: As unspectacular as Mattison has been, with zero of his 100 touches this season gaining over 20 yards, he remains the clear-cut lead back for Minnesota. He touched the rock 22 times in the win over the Chicago Bears last week, and given the state of the position right now, that locks you into an RB2 ranking, regardless of matchup.

Now, he’s on the very low end of that tier with players like Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB Rachaad White, Cleveland Browns RB Jerome Ford, and New England Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson, but he is viable this week in a brutal spot due to the lack of other options.

Cam Akers: With two touches and just nine snaps with six routes run in Week 6, Akers is pretty clearly just roster depth. He’s an accent piece or a nice coffee table in the corner. He’s nice to have, but he’s not really impactful on the overall scheme of things.

Mattison is pretty clearly the lead back in this offense and not one that I’m interested in ensuring. Akers has 11 carries and five catches in his three games with the Vikes. You can safely move on if you are still holding onto him.

Wide Receivers

Deebo Samuel: News surfaced on Saturday that Samuel will not only miss this game, he will sit out next week as he looks to recover from a hairline fracture in his shoulder.

Savvy fantasy managers with a strong record would be wise to target Samuel in a buy-low situation, as the 49ers are a potent offense that will be motivated to be at their best when your fantasy title is on the line.

Brandon Aiyuk: With an aDOT that is roughly double WR Deebo Samuel’s, Aiyuk offers a risk/reward profile that is a better bet in this offense than most due to the versatility of the weapons on this roster.

He and Samuel were middling WR2s when Samuel was potentially active, but with Samuel officially OUT, Aiyuk is a top-10 play at the position for me.

Jordan Addison: The rookie was targeted with Cousins’ first pass of the game – a 15-yard gain – and scored, which is something he has done in four of his six games. Addison showed off some big play upside in the first two games of his career with seven catches for 133 yards, but he hasn’t had a 20-yard catch since. That leaves him with a low floor if he can’t separate as Minnesota’s WR1.

Addison is floating around WR30 for me and can be flexed if you’re struggling with injuries/byes, but understand the floor that comes with increased defensive attention in a game where the Vikings aren’t expected to score 20 points.

K.J. Osborn: He and Addison saw identical usage last week (33 routes and five targets apiece), and that could turn the Minnesota receiver room into something that resembles the Pittsburgh ground game. That is, you have two options fighting for a single valuable role, and with little separation, neither is reliable.

Osborn’s 80% catch rate from last week was encouraging (season prior: 50%), but until we have role clarity, he’s not going to rank as a top-35 play for me.

Tight Ends

George Kittle: I’m not listening to your complaints – I’m not doing it.

You knew exactly what you were getting when you signed up for the “Kittle Experience.” You knew there would be three-touchdown weeks and weeks with one catch – games where he looks unstoppable and games where you don’t hear his name mentioned on the broadcast for two hours. This is exactly what you signed up for in August.

MORE: Fantasy News Tracker

Kittle has seen a total of seven targets so far in October, and that’s obviously less than ideal, but I wouldn’t call it predictive. This is very much a “take what they give us” offense, and Kittle has drawn the short straw lately. It’ll flip back the other way and then back again.

You’ve been to a theme park recently, right? You signed up for this rollercoaster, and there’s no jumping off in the middle of the ride. This is a matchup that looks favorable for this passing game, and that gives Kittle the ability to swing your matchup in the final game of the week. He’s my second-favorite tight end in this game, but he’s still easily a top-10 option for a ceiling that few at the position have access.

T.J. Hockenson: The matchup this week and a four-game scoreless streak has me downgrading Hockenson to the bottom of Tier 2 for the position, but that shouldn’t change how you feel about him in for the rest of the season. Lock him in.

He posted a 17% target share in the first five weeks of this season, which is a rate that spiked to 26.7% in the first game since WR Justin Jefferson landed on the IR. That’s good news moving forward and has him as my TE2 the rest of the way. But I’m not sure how many scoring chances Minnesota generates on Monday night, and that caps his ceiling.