With just the Monday Night Football games remaining and most contests completed already, Week 7 will likely be remembered for its modest overall scoring (centered around the running back position), coupled with a few injury scares to well-known players.
- Waiver Wire Advice
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Just three quarterbacks, four wide receivers and two tight ends eclipsed the 20-point threshold, while 11 running backs did. Hero RB and Zero RB truthers had to hope that their selection panned out. Those who stocked up at running back with mid-tier options likely did quite well. Here is a list of this week’s studs and suds — players who caught my eye for good and bad reasons.
Fantasy Football Studs & Duds: Week 7
Quarterback
STUD: Russell Wilson (QB – PIT)
For all the flak Mike Tomlin took on social media late in the week, his decision to switch from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson paid off nicely. After taking a quarter to find his rhythm in the passing game, Wilson finished with 16 completions on 29 attempts for 264 yards and two touchdowns, chipping in a quarterback sneak touchdown for good measure.
Even more impressive was that this success came against a stout New York Jets defense, which ranked second-best in the NFL against the pass, surrendering an average of under 165 yards per game. Wilson connected with George Pickens on a few of his signature “moon ball” passes and favored throws to him and both Pittsburgh tight ends — Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington. Wilson will square off against a reeling New York Giants defense in Week 8 and should take advantage of their lack of depth at cornerback.
Woof. Since Kirk Cousin’s epic performance in Week 5 against Tampa Bay, his statistics have been middling, at best, in matchups he should be able to exploit. Cousins completed 24-of-35 attempts on Sunday against Seattle for 232 yards passing and a touchdown to Drake London, tossing two more interceptions in the process. Cousins’ seven interceptions are tied for second-most in the league in the early going of the season.
Determining if this is due to his lack of chemistry with the passing options on the team after he was forced to sit out the preseason or just knocking off the rust is a matter of opinion. Atlanta’s upcoming schedule is incredibly favorable for a bounce-back. They square off against the leaky Tampa Bay defense again next week before hosting Dallas and then traveling to New Orleans. Cousins’ 242 passing attempts are the third-highest in the league — a trend I expect to continue.
Running Back
STUD: Jahmyr Gibbs (RB – DET)
Currently the top producer at the position on the week, Jahmyr Gibbs made the most of his 19 touches, rushing for 116 yards (7.7 yards per carry) and two touchdowns on 15 carries and adding four receptions for 44 yards. His “Knuckles” counterpart David Montgomery suffered a knee injury midway through the first half, causing Gibbs to inherit more touches than usual.
Given the level of success, Gibbs demonstrated. One wonders if the 50/50 split will remain moving forward or if the breakdown of touches will slightly shift in favor of Gibbs and his explosive abilities. Detroit has several difficult upcoming matchups against stout running defenses, most notably Tennessee (they surrender the eighth-fewest rushing yards per game at 105) and Houston (the ninth-fewest with 109). Gibbs’s dynamic abilities as a dual-threat option make him a locked and loaded RB1 when making fantasy start sit decisions for the remainder of 2024.
To say New Orleans was a little short-staffed during their Thursday Night contest against Denver is putting it mildly. Without both of their top receivers (Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed), quarterback Derek Carr and multiple members of their offensive line, the Denver Broncos were able to shut down Alvin Kamara by constantly loading the box with defenders. He was visibly upset at halftime after several check-down “hospital balls” were thrown his way by rookie Spencer Rattler, and his attitude didn’t appear much better after the game’s conclusion.
Now 2-5 with a significant uphill battle to remain in contention for a Wild Card spot, one has to wonder if the Saints will begin exploring trade options for Kamar — one of the few players that could aid their awful salary cap situation if dealt. Kamara has failed to rush for more than 50 yards in the last three games and is only relevant due to his usage in the passing game. His production (like so many others in New Orleans) is tied to the health status of Carr, who is hopeful to return by Week 9 from an oblique injury.
Wide Receiver
STUD: Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR – DET)
Tip of the cap to several rookie options this week at the position (most notably Brian Thomas Jr. and Keon Coleman), but it was Amon-Ra St. Brown who stole the show on Sunday. Amid yet another solid start for his season, the Sun God finished with 25 PPR points for his best showing of the year. The focal point of Detroit’s passing attack, St. Brown currently ranks as the overall WR6 on the young season.
His latest effort — 8/112/1 — on eight targets, marks the fourth consecutive game in which he has caught a touchdown. Even with the rise of Jameson Williams, St.Brown has routinely finished as a top-flight WR1 option for fantasy managers each week, and his very high floor makes him an appealing option to consider in DFS games. The Lions have several challenging contests upcoming (noted above in the blurb with Gibbs) against Tennessee (who yields the third-fewest passing yards each week at 166) and Houston (the fourth-lowest at 167). Slightly temper your sky-high expectations for St. Brown in the short term.
After missing Weeks 5-6 with a concussion, Malik Nabers finally returned for this week’s contest against divisional rival Philadelphia. Nabers finished with four receptions for 41 yards on eight targets and was still the preferred go-to option for quarterback Daniel Jones when afforded the opportunity. Under constant duress the entire game, Jones had no time to allow downfield plays to develop and was forced to constantly check down to Wan’Dale Robinson instead.
The loss of starting left tackle Andrew Thomas for the season looms large over Nabers’ outlook. If the Giants’ offensive line appears as inept as they did on Sunday all year, there is no hope for him to return to the gaudy numbers he was previously putting up each week. The hope is that New York will shift recently acquired Jermaine Eluemunor to left tackle and that whoever emerges from the committee situation between much maligned Evan Neal and Joshua Ezeudu will significantly improve their play. As a Giants fan, I’m skeptical this will happen.
Tight End
STUD: David Njoku (TE – CLE)
It turns out all David Njoku needed to break out was the loss of Deshaun Watson for the season. Who knew? Finally, it afforded a sharp rise in targets (14). Njoku finished with 10 receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown, finishing with 23.6 PPR points. Like many others, I don’t wish Watson ill and hated seeing him get hurt, but Cleveland is such a better team without him under center.
The top receiving threat for the Browns following Amari Cooper‘s trade, Njoku’s outlook for the rest of 2024 is quite bright. In a position where there are so few viable dependable options, he will slide in as a mid-range TE1 as the focal point of Cleveland’s passing attack.
It is difficult to point out “duds” at this position due to its thinness, but Travis Kelce indeed came up short on Sunday, after two promising outings in Weeks 4-5, where he was heavily featured. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes could only connect with the future Hall of Famer four times on Sunday, for 17 yards against a very stout San Francisco 49ers defense.
Already extremely thin at wide receiver heading into this contest, recent acquisition JuJu Smith-Schuster suffered a setback with his hamstring, and rookie Xavier Worthy missed time and needed medical evaluation. Kansas City’s offense should continue to funnel targets to Kelce at a high rate, so I’d consider this more of a blip on the radar than anything else. There are a few options at tight end I have actual confidence in, and Kelce is one of them.
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | TuneIn