Each week there are some obvious starts and sits in fantasy football. Other decisions are not quite so simple. Here are some of my picks for Week 7 in the latest edition of Studs, Duds & Sleepers.
STUDS
QB: Justin Herbert (LAC at KC): In six career games against the Chiefs Herbert has delivered multiple TD efforts each time, averaging 28.8 fantasy points per game. Expect another big output in a contest tagged with the highest point total of the week.
RB: Kenneth Walker (SEA vs. ARI): Walker has scored in four straight games and has touched the ball 17 times in each contest. The second-year back passed the eyeball test for me last week and promises to deliver another big day with the Cards on tap. In two games vs. Arizona last year he tallied 206 yards and three scores on 47 carries.
WR: Brandon Aiyuk (SF at MIN): Deebo Samuel is banged up and the matchup is juicy this week. Both of those suggest big things ahead for Aiyuk. Don’t let his recent struggles scare you, the Vikings have seen ten wideouts hit double-digit fantasy points (0.5 PPR), including three of them to break 20 points.
TE: Kyle Pitts (ATL at TB): With back-to-back solid games, fantasy managers can once again feel confident rolling Pitts out in season-long lineups. The matchup isn’t great, but the talent is going to prevail.
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DUDS
QB: Russell Wilson (DEN vs. GB) : Truthfully it might be hard for some to sit Wilson given all the injuries at the position and number of teams on bye. But the Broncos seem like a sinking ship and the matchup vs. the Packers is brutal. Don’t expect much for Wilson’s stat line in this affair.
RB: Rachaad White (TB vs. ATL): Volume has been on White’s side most of the year, though in Week 6 Ke’Shawn Vaughn started to cut into that a bit. Add to that a tough matchup vs. a Falcons’ D that yet to allow a running back to rush for a touchdown or break 80 yards on the ground and there is reason for concern.
WR: Jahan Dotson (WAS at NYG): The Commanders are throwing the ball around like crazy, but Dotson has only seen a 14% target share and fallen down in the passing game pecking order. He bottomed out last week with no catches and just one target at Atlanta. With just one double-digit PPR day in six contests Dotson needs to be out of lineups until further notice and potentially even dropped in shallower leagues.
TE: Hunter Henry (NE vs. BUF): After looking stellar the first two weeks of the year, Henry has fallen on hard times of late with just one catch for seven yards on five targets total in his last two outings.
SLEEPERS
QB: Matthew Stafford (LAR vs. PIT): The Steelers are vulnerable through the air and with the backfield riddled by injuries expect the Rams to keep the Pittsburgh pressure and move the chains with a short passing attack. That should translate into solid fantasy numbers once again for the Rams’ veteran signal caller.
RB: Jaylen Warren (PIT at LAR): Coming out of the bye week, look for the Steelers to shake some things up in the rushing game. Warren has earned a bigger role and if that comes to fruition here he should be able to translate that into solid numbers. The Rams have seen three RB’s over the last five weeks reach 14 PPR points. Warren is in line to become the fourth.
WR: Marquise Brown (ARI at SEA): After a dismal Week 6 effort look for the Cardinals’ passing attack and Hollywood Brown both to enjoy a bit of a bounce back versus a Seattle secondary that has yielded the most fantasy points to wideouts this year and has ceded seven touchdown catches to the position.
TE: Michael Mayer (LV at CHI): After not seeing more than three targets in any game this season, the rookie finally got more involved in the action in Week 6 and it resulted in six catches for 75 yards. He’s worth a waiver wire ad and definitely shaping up to be a nice bye-week filler at the very least in Week 7.
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