From the Sports Deck: Fantasy football advice week seven

Courtesy+of+ESPN

Courtesy of ESPN

Zack Goodrow, Sports Editor

START: Matt Ryan – Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons has been an interesting fantasy QB so for this year. He started out the year hot, scoring 23.9 and 28.52 points in his first two games. He followed those performances with a 11.42 point game, a 12.4 point game, and a dreadful 6.94 point game. Last week against the Minnesota Vikings he scored a season high 31.64 points. It also helps that he has his number one receiver, Julio Jones, back in the starting lineup. I expect another good game from Ryan this week as the Falcons take on the Detroit Lions. The Lions average 20.23 points to opposing quarterbacks and Ryan with his group of excellent receivers should at the very least score that many points.

SIT: Ryan Tannehill – Tennessee Titans QB Ryan Tannehill has surprised many fans this season as he currently sits as a top ten fantasy QB. Last week against the Houston Texans, he had an amazing performance and scored 28.64 points. While the Titans have yet to lose a game and Tannehill and this offense have been surging, they face a very tough opponent in the Pittsburgh Steelers in week seven. Against a tough Steelers defense that gives up only 15.44 points to opposing quarterbacks, I’d sit Tannehill if I had another reliable QB on my bench. Quarterbacks like Matthew Stafford, Teddy Bridgewater, and Gardner Minshew have higher upside this week. 

START: Ronald Jones – I’ll admit it, I drafted Ronald Jones, then proceeded to drop him off my team after about week four. To begin the year he fumbled the ball frequently and lost some of his playing time. That has changed in the last couple of weeks as he accumulated 15.5 points in week five and 26.1 points in week six. If I still had Jones on my team, I’d put him in my starting lineup against the Las Vegas Raiders this week. The Raiders give up a whopping 33.3 points to opposing backs. I have made a mistake when it comes to Jones, learn from my failures. 

START: Todd Gurley – Starting Falcons RB Todd Gurley is less about the player he is and more about his opponent in week seven. The Lions give up a ghastly 30.02 points to opposing backs and Gurley should flourish in this matchup. He had only 9.7 points last week against the Vikings, but I expect him to bounce back tremendously against a horrid Lions run defense. 

SIT: Rams backs – Starting any Las Angeles Rams RB during any given week is always a roll of the dice. Do I start Cam Akers? Do I start Darrell Henderson? Do I start Malcolm Brown? One can never truly know who will go off in the Rams backfield in any given week. I do know the answer for week seven however and it’s no one. The Rams will face a strong Chicago Bears defense that gives up only 21.4 points to opposing backs. If you split that by three or even two for these Rams players you’re still not left with much. The Bears may give up yards to backs, but they rarely let them score with the best red zone defense in the NFL. I’d look for other options that aren’t Rams backs this week. 

SIT: Kenyan Drake – Arizona Cardinals RB Kenyan Drake finally did it last week against the Dallas Cowboys. He broke out with his first big game of the season and scored 28.4 fantasy points. Will his production continue this week against the Seattle Seahawks? I doubt it. For starters, I assume that the game will be an absolute shootout with both teams passing the ball heavily. The Seahawks also have a good run defense in terms of fantasy. They allow just 21.68 points to opposing backs. I’d sit Drake in favor of players like David Johnson or Antonio Gibson.

START: Terry McLaurin – I give Washington Football Team WR Terry McLaurin a lot of credit. He currently sits as the fourteenth ranked WR in PPR leagues and the play of his quarterbacks has left much to be desired. McLaurin has continued to produce even with shaky QB play. I expect this production to continue in week seven against the Cowboys. The Cowboys give up 44.16 points to opposing receivers. As Washington’s only reliable pass catcher, McLaurin should see an abundance of those points coming his way. For some remarkable reason, this NFC East rivalry game against these two teams should have an actual affect on how the division pans out. I expect this game to be hard fought and with McLaurin leading Washington. 

START: Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins – If you have either of the Cincinnati Bengals receivers on your roster, I’d slide them into your starting lineup with no hesitation. Tyler Boyd ranks seventeenth in PPR leagues and Tee Higgins ranks thirty second. Bengals rookie QB Joe Burrow leads the league in pass attempts and this shouldn’t change against the Cleveland Browns this week. The Browns give up 45.3 points to opposing receivers and the Bengals should throw the ball frequently. Boyd and Higgins will get a high share of targets making their upside fantastic this week. 

SIT: Will Fuller and Brandin Cooks – The Green Bay Packers scare me. As a Chicago Bears fan, I do not look forward to seeing the wrath that the Packers bring this week after they were annihilated by the Buccaneers in week six. In their revenge tour, the Packers will take on the Houston Texans. The Texans are a struggling team to say the least. I expect that the Packers will play a hard fought game and their defense will play well. This means Texans receivers Will Fuller and Brandin Cooks will most likely score few fantasy points this week.

SIT: D.J. Moore – Carolina Panthers WR D.J. Moore has had an up and down season. He started the season off cold, as the majority of throws went to fellow WR on the team Robby Anderson. In the last couple of weeks, Moore has came to life however. Last week against the Bears, Moore scored 14.3 points and was targeted eleven times. This week they face the New Orleans Saints who give up only 32.62 points to opposing wide outs. This will be a difficult game for the Panthers and I’d sit Moore for players like Chase Claypool, Russell Gage, or Christian Kirk who have higher upside this week. 

START: Dalton Schultz – The Cowboys have been a mess this season. After a horrific injury to starting QB Dak Prescott, QB Andy Dalton will now be leading this team for the rest of the season. He didn’t have a great debut last week and some of that blame can be put on an injured offensive line. The line may be the worst in the league. Enter TE Dalton Schultz who scored only 7.5 points last week. Against Washington in week seven, he’ll face a team that gives up 16.77 points to opposing tight ends. Washington has a great pass rush and I think Dalton may throw the ball Schultz’s way on shallow routes to avoid sacks and in the redzone. 

SIT: Jonnu Smith – Few people thought that entering the season Jonnu Smith would be the fifth ranked TE through six weeks. The Titans will face the Steelers this week who give up only 9.96 points to opposing tight ends this season. Smith’s outlook doesn’t look great in week seven. I’d sit him for players like T.J. Hockenson or Hunter Henry. 

KICKER: Zane Gonzalez – Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez sits at the sixteenth ranked kicker in fantasy leagues. He is most likely available this week to a fantasy player who has a kicker on their bye week. Gonzalez has a chance to be a top five kicker this week against the Seahawks. The Cardinals will have to score a lot of points to be competitive in this game. 

DEFENSE: Kansas City Chiefs – The Kansas City Chiefs have a good matchup against the division rival Denver Broncos. The Broncos have a lackluster offense and the Chiefs should capitalize on this. Kansas City has a solid defense and should force some turnovers and accumulate a few sacks this week.