An inexcusable job of reporting a player’s health was a headline-grabbing happening in Week 7. However, there were plenty of positive things to dwell on, too. Finally, a sack-prone young quarterback is still a target to stream and start defenses against.

• Waiver Wire Advice
• Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
• Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
• Fantasy Football Trade Tools

Fantasy Football Takeaways

Surprises

This Was the Todd Monken-led Offense Promised in the Offseason
The most-hyped games of the season have been blowouts, and the Ravens continued the trend by clobbering the Lions. Lamar Jackson was brilliant in this contest, completing 21 of 27 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns. He didn’t take any sacks or commit any turnovers. Furthermore, Jackson rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Baltimore hung 38 points on a Lions’ defense that was mostly good before Week 7. Gus Edwards had a tremendous showing but split the playing time evenly with Justice Hill, leaving him in low-end RB2/flex territory during the bye weeks.

Mark Andrews had four receptions for 63 yards and two touchdowns. He’s my TE2, behind only Travis Kelce, for the rest of the season. Zay Flowers is the other fantasy option in the offense, corraling four receptions for 75 yards on six targets in Week 7. The rookie is a consistent performer, catching at least three passes every game and hauling in at least four in six of seven contests. Flowers has reached at least 50 receiving yards in all but one game, posing 48 in the outlier game.

Sean McVay Was Honest About His Backfield Intentions
Adam Schefter dropped a late-night bomb on X on Saturday night, sharing that Sean McVay intended to use Royce Freeman and Darrell Henderson as the featured backs. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Freeman played 29 snaps, and Henderson played 39. Henderson had 18 carries, 61 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, two targets, one reception, five receiving yards and ran 13 routes. Meanwhile, Freeman toted the rock 12 times for 66 scoreless yards and wasn’t targeted on eight routes.

Henderson is a priority waiver claim. He was added to the roster off the street and likely wasn’t up to full speed with his conditioning, mainly since he spoke about his “game conditioning” leading up to the game.

The plot thickens: Darrell Henderson just announced as a starter on the big screen. He told me this week the Rams were working to get him back to “game conditioning”. https://t.co/b0oj5NxLeR

– Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) October 22, 2023

Henderson could be a workhorse running back as soon as this week.

Two Rookie Tight Ends Had Encouraging Performances
Michael Mayer turned some heads in the previous two weeks and solidified his standing in the low-end TE1 range in Week 7, albeit with a lousy showing in the box score. Mayer had only two receptions for 13 scoreless yards on four targets. However, per PFF, he played 46 of Las Vegas’s first 50 plays before the Raiders waived the white flag.

Dalton Kincaid had a better fantasy showing in Week 7 than Mayer, pushing his way into the low-end TE1 or high-end TE2 range. Kincaid ran 29 routes versus 22 for Dawson Knox. More encouragingly, he was targeted eight times, reeling in all of them for 75 receiving yards.

Kincaid was one of the few bright spots for the Bills in their upset loss to the Patriots. Buffalo is searching for a reliable No. 2 weapon in the offense, and Kincaid could fit the bill.

A Running Back Broke Free From Arizona’s Committee
The Cardinals had a three-back running-back-by-committee (RBBC) situation in Week 6. It was the first look at the backfield after James Conner was placed on Injured Reserve (IR). They abandoned the RBBC setup in Week 7.

Instead, Emari Demercado played 53 snaps, ran 28 routes, had 13 carries and was targeted five times. Damien Williams was the only other running back used, playing 12 snaps, running six routes and toting the rock once. The rookie undrafted free agent (UDFA) was solid if unspectacular, tallying 58 rushing yards, four receptions and 17 receiving yards.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals have challenging matchups for running backs before Conner is eligible to return from IR in Week 11. However, Demercado is a must-add player in leagues as shallow as 12-team formats since he’s a featured running back.

Disappointments

Green Bay Can’t Stop Running Backs
Denver’s three-headed backfield (and fullback Michael Burton) had 23 rushes, 135 rushing yards, nine targets, seven receptions and 46 receiving yards against the Packers in Week 7. In six games this season, Green Bay has yielded 111.5 rushing yards per game, 4.3 yards per carry 6.5 receptions per game, 42.8 receiving yards per game and five touchdowns (all rushing) to running backs. They’re an ideal matchup for running backs and face a few shaky running backs in the near future, making those running backs more desirable starting options in the cushy matchup.

Arthur Smith and the Falcons Should Be Substantially Fined
Bijan Robinson wasn’t listed on Atlanta’s injury report and played only 11 snaps. It was revealed during the game that Robinson didn’t feel well, and Robinson revealed he had a nagging headache that started the night before.

Bijan Robinson (headache) said he’ll be good for Week 8.

More on why he was so limited in Week 7 ? pic.twitter.com/KeWNG9ZwxK

– Underdog NFL (@Underdog__NFL) October 22, 2023

It’s inexcusable that Arthur Smith and the Falcons didn’t divulge that information before the game. The injury report is in existence for a reason.

Nevertheless, Robinson’s misfortune shed light on how the Falcons would use Tyler Allgeier and Cordarelle Patterson in the absence of their rookie running back. Allgeier played 33 snaps and ran eight routes versus 26 and 11 for Patterson. The former had 11 carries, 59 rushing yards, three receptions and 53 receiving yards. Meanwhile, the latter had 10 rushes, 56 rushing yards and zero targets. Thus, Allgeier is a top-shelf handcuff with flex value when the Falcons are favored and projected to have a favorable game script.

Miscellaneous Note

The Commanders Are Still a Gift for Opposing Fantasy Defenses
It can’t be overstated how bad Sam Howell is at avoiding sacks. Analysts have pointed out he’s on pace to shatter the single-season sacks record. Still, that also doesn’t do justice to his propensity to take sacks. The following table has the sacks by Washington’s opponents against the Commanders and their per-game average against other opponents.

The gravy train of using defenses against the Commanders will last as long as they continue to start Howell. However, with Ron Rivera seemingly on the hot seat, he could opt to start capable backup Jacoby Brissett. According to Pro-Football-Reference, the veteran quarterback has a 7.6% sack rate in his career. Additionally, he had just a 6.1% sack rate for the Browns last season. A change to Brissett wouldn't eliminate the appeal of streaming defenses against the Commanders, but it would reduce the fantasy scoring outlook for the opposing DST.

Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.