The Cincinnati Bengals will face the Cleveland Browns in Week 7. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Bengals skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 7 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Joe Burrow, QB
Burrow has finished as a QB1 in five straight games, though his path to getting there on Sunday night was … odd.
- Weeks 1-5: 4% of fantasy points came on the ground
- Week 6: 58% of fantasy points came on the ground
I don’t think what we saw against the Giants is even remotely predictive, but he’s now planted the seed in the heads of opposing defenses, especially Cleveland, which has been victimized by mobile signal callers (Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels, and Daniel Jones all cleared 19 points).
The one thing the Browns have done well this season is get to the quarterback. Through six weeks, they’ve applied pressure on 41.1% of dropbacks, the third-highest rate in the league. In most walks of life, that’s a valuable trait, but not here — Burrow is the proud owner of the highest pressured passer rating in the league (106.9).
I’m starting Burrow with confidence in this divisional spot and have him ranked as QB7.
Chase Brown, RB
Brown seems to have usurped Zack Moss as the lead man in Cincinnati’s backfield (61.5% snap share last week against the Giants), and there is a bullish case to be made for the second half of the season as he has produced at least 14.7% over expectation in five straight contests.
As he has wrestled this primary role away from Moss, Brown has scored in three straight games (all top 24 fantasy finishes), recorded a 15+ yard rush in four straight, and caught multiple balls in five of six.
Brown’s versatility and explosive playmaking potential are assets on this pass-first team that, in spite of what we saw on Sunday night, will need to threaten 30 points most weeks to remain competitive.
Without the ability to assume north of 15 touches, Brown is only a Flex play for me this week, though I could see him moving into the top 20 at the position sooner rather than later.
Zack Moss, RB
Moss played over 58% of the snaps in each of the first five weeks this season, peaking at 82% in Week 2’s loss to the Chiefs. But his rate checked in at 46.2% last week and has him fading out of lineups.
With this being a committee, Moss deserves to remain on rosters, if for no other reason than he is an injury to Chase Brown away from a featured role on a top-10 offense. That said, if the touch count is capped, we need a level of rushing upside that we simply haven’t seen this season. Moss doesn’t yet have a 10-yard rush in October or a 20-yard carry this season, leading me to believe that this is Brown’s role until proven otherwise.
The Browns’ defense is as stingy as years past, but only once this season has a running back hit 15 PPR points against them this season (Devin Singletary). I find it unlikely that Cincinnati will add a name to that list with a nearly even split.
Ja’Marr Chase, WR
Through six weeks, Chase has three massive games and a trio that falls more into the underwhelming category, but there shouldn’t be any concern. Burrow is playing at a high level, and Chase is making at least one highlight catch weekly (33+ yard reception in four straight games) — it really is that simple.
The big plays have continued to come despite Chase’s aDOT dipping for a third straight season, a nod to his elite playmaking ability. Skeptics will track down his lack of success in this specific matchup (under 50 receiving yards in four of five meetings), but this version of the Browns isn’t the one we’ve feared in seasons past.
The Bengals’ defense almost ensures that this team will struggle to blow out anyone. In two close games that Cleveland has played when the opponent has had a standout WR1, they’ve been burned in a significant way.
- Week 3: Malik Nabers, 28.2 PPR points (8-78-2)
- Week 6: A.J. Brown, 23.6 PPR points (6-116-1)
Chase lives in my top five at the position every week, regardless of matchup. Don’t overthink things — he’s my WR3 and on my DFS radar.
Tee Higgins, WR
Real Higgins fans will remember the air ball with which he opened the 2023 season against these Browns (zero catches on eight targets), but this isn’t the same Higgins, nor is it the same Cleveland defense.
Higgins has at least six receptions and a red-zone touch in three straight games after working his way up to speed in his Week 3 season debut. Cincinnati ranks third in pass rate over expectation this season, and they are more than willing to feature their WR2 if Ja’Marr Chase is seeing a small army crowd him once the ball is snapped.
As for this once-formidable Browns defense, they are now the definition of average. They rank in the middle third of the league in EPA, yards per play, red-zone defense, passer rating, and third-down conversion rate. We are creatures of habit and the habit is to worry about this matchup.
Don’t.
Higgins is a top-15 receiver for me, a neighborhood I see him spending the rest of 2024 in, barring a significant change.
Mike Gesicki, TE
After being reasonably involved early in the season, Gesicki is no longer a part of this offense. He’s earned just three targets over the past three weeks, seeing his on-field target share shrink from 29.5% through the first three weeks to a microscopic 5.5% since.
Gesicki’s profile is one that fantasy managers should be targeting, as he is a receiver hiding in a tight end’s body. But the skill set doesn’t matter if he’s sitting on the pine. There’s a world in which an injury to one of the receivers on this team thrusts their tight end back onto our radar, but for the time being, that’s not the case. He can be cut loose without a second thought.