The Indianapolis Colts will face the Miami Dolphins in Week 7. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Colts 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.
Anthony Richardson, QB
When Richardson tested at the NFL Combine, we were left wondering what force could possibly deal with his physical gifts. How we didn’t settle on Joe Flacco as the answer to the question is well beyond me.
Richardson was healthy enough to be the emergency quarterback last week, a status that has me thinking he plays this week, but how can you play him with confidence right now?
He should be rostered, and I’m penciling him in as a starter sooner rather than later if he can prove that he is at full speed this weekend. The Colts are going to have to put up points in bunches with the Texans, Vikings, Bills, Jets, and Lions on the Week 8-12 slate – we spent a pretty penny on Richardson this summer, and if he is going to come remotely close to rewarding us for our optimism, I think it starts next week.
Jonathan Taylor, RB
This ankle injury has now cost Taylor consecutive games, and a third straight is now confirmed — as the team wants to enter a divisional matchup in Week 8 (at Houston) near full strength.
Taylor’s situation was pretty cut-and-dry: If the Colts were to activate him, I was doing the same. There is the Rhamondre Stevenson class of running back where I’m willing to wait and see, but JT was comfortably ahead of that (he was a top-12 running back in his two games) range.
The Dolphins have allowed at least 18 fantasy points to a running back four times in five games this season (the one instance where that wasn’t the case was a game against the Jags in which Travis Etienne Jr. and Tank Bigsby combined for 19.2 points).
This is a soft landing spot, and one which I would have felt good about if Taylor was able to return to the practice field this week.
Trey Sermon, RB
Sermon has more than a 2:1 carry edge over Tyler Goodson over the two weeks as a replacement option for Jonathan Taylor, but that role might not last much longer. Over that stretch, he’s turned 28 carries into just 67 yards, while Goodson’s 13 totes have netted 77 yards (Goodson also out-targeted Sermon 5-0 last week).
The scary part? The deeper you dive into Sermon’s rushing profile, the worse it gets. Across those two starts, 41.8% of his rushing yards came on two carries, and for the season, 37.8% of his attempts have failed to gain yardage.
In theory, the game script shouldn’t be a massive issue in this game. But if the touches aren’t productive, I don’t care how many looks he gets. With Taylor sitting, Sermon is a bail-me-out-of-trouble Flex option at best.
Alec Pierce, WR
We fundamentally approach fantasy sports differently if you’re considering starting Pierce this week or, to be honest, almost any week when the team is at full strength. Yes, Joe Flacco missed him on what could have been a 60-yard score last week, but that’s the nature of the business when running vertical routes.
Pierce earned 10 targets in 54 routes through the first two weeks of the season, but he’s seen just 11 on 118 routes since, a lack of consistency that makes him near impossible to project with consistency.
Obviously, Anthony Richardson is a better fit for a skill set like that of Pierce. But if your bail-out option is relying on the second-year QB as a thrower of the football, you’re swimming upstream. This season, just 55.9% of yards gained against the Dolphins come through the air, the third-lowest rate and yet another reason to sit Pierce. I’d rather roll the dice on Gabe Davis if you’re in the business of overlooking risk.
Josh Downs, WR
Downs and — keep reading, Michael Pittman Jr. — have been thriving under Joe Flacco, making the decision under center one that impacts their Week 7 ranking by 20+ slots.
Last week, after Richardson was a late scratch, Downs saw a pair of targets on Indianapolis’ first drive, one that was capped with a 22-yard touchdown catch, vaulting him to his third straight top-20 performance (30 targets across those games).
I’m currently banking on Richardson returning this week — that is fueling my dropping of Downs outside of my top 35. Only twice this season has a receiver reached 12 PPR points against the Dolphins, and neither time was that player in the slot for even 22% of his routes.
With Flacco starting, we’d be talking about a 10-ish point rise in my ranks, putting Downs on the Flex radar, while confirmation with Richardson would back him outside of my top 40.
Michael Pittman Jr., WR
With basketball season nearly upon us, it was good to see the 6’4” Pittman box out the defense and pull down what was essentially a fadeaway jumper from Joe Flacco last week. The score saved you from an otherwise underwhelming day at the office (3-35-1) against a stingy Titans defense.
That’s now three straight top-30 performances from Indianapolis’ WR1 after opening the season with three games outside of the top 50, a level of production that essentially mirrors Anthony Richardson’s status.
Now, it should be noted that the Richardson-Pittman tandem showed signs of life in Week 4 before injury, but there’s no denying that Pittman’s skill set matches better with the crafty Flacco under center.
Only once this season has a receiver cleared 14.7 PPR points against the Dolphins (DK Metcalf in Week 3), and I’m not expecting Pittman to add to that list if Richardson is named the starter, which is my current read on the situation.
In that world, Pittman is a Flex option who carries more risk than he has in years past. Should Flacco get another start, I’d elevate Pittman into my top 20 and would give him a decent shot to clear that 14.7 number that has proven difficult for receivers to surpass.