Fantasy football is a roller coaster like no other. In one of my leagues I was looking good after the early games, just for my opponent and Justin Herbert to blow right past me, and unless Allen Robinson has a game similar to Davante Adams or Tyler Lockett I will lose to the team with only one win coming into this week.
Speaking of Adams and Lockett, in another league I was going against Davante Adams, and obviously thought my week was over. Then the Seahawks and Tyler Lockett took the field, and I am up by 21 points with Robert Woods left, although he has Allen Robinson (isn’t it tough when you need a player to do good and bad at the same time???).
There were some big injuries as well, so let’s look at the fantasy football results from week 7!
Stock Up
Quarterbacks
Justin Herbert – Los Angeles Chargers
I am sure I am not the only one to lose to the person that started Herbert this week. And although he has had 4 solid games to start his NFL career, he took it to another level Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Throwing for 347 passing yards, 3 passing touchdowns and 1 on the ground, along with 66 rushing yards will do that for you. With a fairly easy schedule coming up there’s no reason to think he will slow down anytime soon.
Kyler Murray – Arizona Cardinals
Murray is another young quarterback who has been consistently having good games, but went to another level Sunday night against the Seahawks.
Murray threw for 360 passing yards and 3 touchdowns, and showed his elusiveness by scampering for 67 rushing yards and another touchdown rushing.
Joe Burrow – Cincinnati Bengals
The future is looking good in Cincinnati with Joe Burrow at the helm. Even though they lost to the Cleveland Browns Sunday afternoon, Burrow’s 406 passing yards and 4 total touchdowns were nice to see.
He did throw an interception and lost a fumble, but as he matures as a professional quarterback the rest of the league should watch out!
Other good games
Tom Brady is holding off Father Time for now, throwing for 369 passing yards and 5 total touchdowns Sunday. Baker Mayfield started off rough, but completed 22 of his final 23 passes, and the only incompletion was a spike to stop the clock. He also threw for 297 yards and 5 touchdowns after his early interception. Looks like Carson Wentz’s early season struggles are a thing of the past, as he threw for 359 yards and 3 total touchdowns. Up next are the Dallas Cowboys.
Running Backs
Jeff Wilson Jr. – San Francisco 49ers
Wilson had a great game, but unfortunately left the game with an ankle injury that hopefully will not keep him out for too long.
He rushed the ball 17 times, getting 112 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns while catching both of his targets for another 8 yards.
James Robinson – Jacksonville Jaguars
Robinson had the most carries in a game Sunday, with 22, and he took advantage of it. He finished with 119 rushing yards, a touchdown on the ground and through the air, and a 2-point conversion as well.
Todd Gurley – Atlanta Falcons
Most people are going to be talking about the touchdown that Gurley accidentally scored at the end of the game, when the Falcons could have run the clock down and kicked a chip shot field goal to win the game.
Instead, he fell into the end zone, allowing the Detroit Lions to get the ball back, driving down for another heart-breaking loss for the Falcons.
The 23 rushing attempts was promising, and if the Falcons could ever get the lead they would be able to do that more often. Unfortunately, that hasn’t often happened this year.
Running Hard
Jamaal Williams filled in nicely for Aaron Jones, who was a late scratch. He finished with 19 rushes for 77 yards, along with a touchdown, and caught 4 of his 5 targets for 37 more yards. There was talk that J.D. McKissic was taking touches from Antonio Gibson, but Gibson put an end to that talk, at least for now. He rushed 20 times for 128 yards and a touchdown against the Cowboys. Giovani Bernard proved to be useful with Joe Mixon sidelined with injury, rushing for 37 yards but also catching 5 passes for 59 yards and a touchdown. Chase Edmonds is another back that will see his usage increase with Kenyan Drake leaving with an injury.
Wide Receivers
Tyler Lockett – Seattle Seahawks
Hopefully you didn’t bench Lockett after two tough games against Miami and Minnesota. With a lot of people saying DK Metcalf had taken over as the top receiver in Seattle, Lockett had his best game of the year, and his second 3-touchdown game of the year.
He was target 20 times, catching 15 of them, for 200 receiving yards to go along with those 3 touchdowns. There may be weeks when the coverage shifts his way, allowing Metcalf to get more catches, but you cannot sit Lockett regardless of the match up.
Diontae Johnson – Pittsburgh Steelers
Johnson was Ben Roethlisberger’s favorite target Sunday, catching 9 of his 15 targets for 80 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns.
He did leave with what looked like an ankle injury, so definitely keep an eye on that as the week progresses, but if healthy he is one of the top receivers in Pittsburgh.
A.J. Brown – Tennessee Titans
Brown continues to help the Titans as defenses focus on stopping the run game and Derrick Henry. He caught 6 of his 8 targets for 153 yards, which included a 72 yard touchdown to keep the Titans in the game.
Catching some passes
DJ Moore has had more targets in other games this season, but he did more with his 4 catches this week, getting 93 yards and 2 touchdowns. Tyler Boyd has shown that he should be started on a weekly basis as he continues to gain rapport with his young quarterback. This week he caught 11 passes, from 13 targets, for 101 yards and a touchdown. Nelson Agholor is starting to show consistency, seeing the most targets he has seen this year on Sunday with 9. He caught 5 of them for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Tight Ends
Harrison Bryant – Cleveland Browns
Bryant took advantage of his first start, with Austin Hooper out and Njoku not performing. Bryant had 4 catches on 5 targets for 56 yards and 2 touchdowns.
As long as Hooper is out, Bryant will have fantasy value, especially with Odell Beckham out for the year now.
Rob Gronkowski – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Gronkowski is showing flashes of his glory days with OJ Howard out for the season. He had his second consecutive 5 catch performance, scoring his second touchdown in as many weeks.
It will be interesting as Antonio Brown joins the team, but Tom Brady will surely use Gronkowski as the Bucs continue to grow on offense.
T.J. Hockenson – Detroit Lions
Hockenson helped the Lions to their third straight win, catching 5 passes off of 6 targets, for 59 yards and a touchdown. He has consistently seen targets this year, and become one of Mathew Stafford’s favorite targets.
Other tight ends who showed up
Logan Thomas had a good game against the Cowboys, which was to be expected. He caught all 4 of his targets for 60 yards and a touchdown. Richard Rogers took advantage of the injuries at tight end for the Eagles, catching 6 of his 8 targets for 85 yards. He will be one of the biggest waiver wire adds this week. If Noah Fant misses more time, Albert Okwuegbunam will have some fantasy value moving forward. He caught all 7 of his targets for 60 yards Sunday against the Chiefs.
Stock Down
Quarterbacks
Cam Newton – New England Patriots
The honeymoon period is over in New England, where Bill Belichek benched Newton in Sunday’s game against the 49ers after he completed only 9 of 15 passes for 98 yards and 3 interceptions.
He is still the starting quarterback for now, according to Belichek, but who knows how long that will last. Also, his fantasy relevance is slowly going away as the season continues.
Jimmy Garoppolo – San Francisco 49ers
Even in a game that the 49ers easily won, Garoppolo had a sub par game, throwing for 278 yards on 20-25 passing, but two interceptions and no touchdowns.
Even though one of the interceptions was a hail marry at the end of the first half, it is obvious that this team is built on a strong running game and good defense.
Sam Darnold – New York Jets
Darnold returned for his first game since week 4, but it was not a good return, as he threw for only 120 yards on 12-23 passing and no touchdowns.
The Jets are just bad, and unfortunately Darnold will not get an opportunity to improve on this team.
Running Backs
Ezekiel Elliot – Dallas Cowboys
Elliot owners are starting to get nervous now, with 2 straight under 10 point fantasy performances, and a Dallas Cowboys team that just looks bad.
With quarterback Dak Prescott out for the year, and half of the offensive line, it may be difficult for Zeke to be the same back that we have seen for the last few years.
Josh Jacobs – Las Vegas Raiders
They had a tough match up Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who help Aaron Jones the week before to only 15 rushing yards.
Jacobs only rushed 10 times for 17 yards, and caught 3 passes for another 14 yards. The Raiders have the Giants up next though, so Jacobs should have a better game next.
Adrian Peterson – Detroit Lions
After a few games in which it looked like he may be on his way to having a good season, we have a game like Sunday that shows he is just as good as the touchdowns he gets.
He rushed 11 times for only 29 yards, and didn’t get into the end zone, which hurt his fantasy points on the day.
A few injuries
Chris Carson left the game early with a mid-ankle sprain, Carlos Hyde did a good job replacing him. Kenyan Drake also left after having his best game of the year last week against the Cowboys, and Jeff Wilson could miss some time with an ankle injury as well.
Wide Receivers
Chase Claypool – Pittsburgh Steelers
After exploding onto the scene a couple weeks ago with a 4 touchdown performance against the Eagles, Claypool was only target on time, catching a pass that lost two yards.
He was covered by the Titans top corner, which is promising since that will probably not happen every week. Also, Diontae Johnson left the game Sunday, so if he misses time then Claypool will have an uptick in targets.
CeeDee Lamb – Dallas Cowboys
Things are a lot different in Dallas with Dak Prescott now in the backfield. Lamb did not catch a pass, although he was targeted 5 times, and did rush one time for 1 yard.
With backup quarterback Andy Dalton also missing part of the game after he went out with a concussion, it could be a rough year for all of the Cowboys.
Julian Edelman – New England Patriots
Another victim of bad quarterback play, Edelman was only targeted 3 times, catching only 1 of them for 13 yards. If Newton begins to play like he did before he came to New England, Edelman might be playable, but until then I wouldn’t trust anybody on the Patriots offense.
Tight Ends
Jonnu Smith – Tennessee Titans
After beginning the season with 4 good to great games, Smith has come down to earth in the last two, this week only catching one of his 4 targets for 9 yards.
The Bengals are up next, who has seen some growth on offense but still has a bad defense.
Dallas Schultz – Dallas Cowboys
Another Cowboys who should be taken off of fantasy football radars, Schultz was targeted 4 times, catching 2 of them for 22 yards.
Unless something changes on the Cowboys offense, Schultz can safely be dropped in most leagues.
Noah Fant – Denver Broncos
Coming back from injury, you could tell that Fant was not completely healthy. And even though he had 7 targets, he only caught 3 of them for 38 yards.
He is still an exceptional athlete, but until he is healthy I would use other options if you can.
Conclusion
Fantasy football always has its share of ups and downs, and this year is now different. Did you have one of the breakout performances on your team this week? What do you need to happen in Monday night’s game to win? Let us know in the comments below!
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