Week 7 doesn’t set up as the clearest NFL DFS slate of the year with fewer shootout potentials than Week 6, but slates like this can bring opportunities with other people confused about where to go with their lineups, or falling in line with the chalk. We can leverage this by building smartly. Each player recommendation in this write-up explains how we can achieve that.
Week 7 GPP DFS Advice & Picks
The players below are the ones I’m looking at for GPP considerations for Week 7.
Quarterbacks
Jayden Daniels (QB – WAS) vs. CAR | DraftKings: $7,600/FanDuel: $9,100
Jayden Daniels has won five Rookie of the Week awards through six weeks of the NFL season, an astonishing level of consistency from a rookie who had a wide range of outcomes coming into the league. The Commanders are tied for second place for most points per game (29.7) having punted an incredibly low 11 times, less than two per game. Daniels will rightly be a chalky pick this week but we can work around that for a player with his ceiling.
The Panthers play single-high safety coverage looks at the third highest rate, according to Fantasy Points, and Daniels boasts the second-highest completion rate against this coverage, as well as having scrambled 10 more times than any other quarterback in this coverage. Carolina should be able to push Washington, thanks to the Commanders’ defense also giving up plenty of points. For tournaments, we can look to aggressively stack this game.
Terry McLaurin is an obvious addition, but don’t sleep on Noah Brown, who has distanced himself from the pack as Washington’s No. 2 WR. He is the only receiver other than McLaurin to play over 60% of the snaps in his last two appearances. Zach Ertz will be a popular play, but don’t be afraid to add Ja’Tavion Sanders in large-field tournaments as a bring-back. He is slowly seeing an uptick in usage.
Kirk Cousins (QB – ATL) vs. SEA | DraftKings: $6,300/FanDuel: $7,200
With a somewhat lower ceiling than Jayden Daniels, Kirk Cousins will be much less rostered than Daniels. In a game with an over/under hovering around the 50-point line, we shouldn’t be ignoring him. Further to Cousins’ case for this slate is the fact he has two red-hot performers at wide receiver in Drake London and Darnell Mooney, as well as Kyle Pitts sneakily stacking back-to-back good games.
The Seahawks pass at the highest rate over expected in the league, which forces their opponents into pass-heavy scripts. These are only good things for fantasy football outcomes. The obvious stack starts with Cousins and London, but I also like adding Pitts, who faces a Seahawks defense allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to tight ends.
“Walk into your trap, take over your trap”
– Kirk Cousins, when asked about going to Seattle to play the Seahawks pic.twitter.com/Q7hCQRWqQe
— Not Bijan (@InBijanWeTrust) October 17, 2024
Tyler Huntley (QB – MIA) @ IND | FanDuel: $6,700 (FanDuel Only Play)
On a FanDuel slate where the top-priced QB is $9,600, it’s worth considering what a quarterback nearly $3,000 cheaper might do for the rest of your lineup. Tyler Huntley has been unimpressive to date as the starter for Miami but his starts came against divisional foes the Bills and Patriots. Now, Huntley and the Dolphins play the Colts and Mike McDaniel had the bye week to scheme up ways to help Huntley and take advantage of a poor defense.
The Colts allow the seventh-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, the 12th-most to running backs, the 11th-most to wide receivers and the fourth-most to tight ends. They can’t stop anyone. Tyreek Hill is being projected for as little as 2% rostership across the industry. It’s the ultimate GPP play to stack two players nobody else wants to play, especially when we know Hill’s explosive ability can change a game in a flash. If you choose to go down this route you’ll be able to get very chalky elsewhere. I’d consider building with three running backs to elevate the floor of this stack.
Running Backs
Chuba Hubbard (RB – CAR) @ WAS | DraftKings: $6,500/FanDuel: $7,400
Another way to attack the Commanders and Panthers matchup is to use Chuba Hubbard, who has been excellent since Andy Dalton entered the starting lineup, seeing the fifth-most running back touches per game since then and bolstering his work with receptions thanks to Dalton checking down at a league-high 18.8%.
Hubbard has three top-eight finishes along with two more inside the top 24. For as bad as the Commanders are at stopping the pass, they’re also poor against the run, ranking 21st in DVOA and allowing the 13th-most fantasy points to the position. They are allowing the fourth-highest yards per carry (5.0). If you don’t want to play Diontae Johnson, Hubbard is good leverage away from him, or you can play both and then add a single Commander pass-catcher like Ertz or Brown, hoping to leverage away from the chalkier McLaurin.
Can we talk about how Chuba Hubbard has more rushing yards than Saquon Barkley
— ???????????????????????????? ???? (@qanthers) October 16, 2024
Tony Pollard (RB – TEN) @ BUF | FanDuel: $7,300 (FanDuel Only Play)
Tony Pollard stands out as a particularly good value as the 16th-highest-priced running back on FanDuel. Pollard faces a Bills defense that’s given up big days to Breece Hall (RB6), Derrick Henry (RB1), Justice Hill (RB8), De’Von Achane (RB2) and James Conner (RB8), resulting in them having allowed the second-most fantasy points to the running back position.
Pollard’s upside has occasionally been capped by Tyjae Spears, but with the latter deemed ‘week to week’ with a hamstring injury, it seems unlikely Pollard won’t see a huge amount of touches this week — great news for a player already averaging 18.8 per game. Pollard looks to be one of the chalkier choices this week, so if you’re playing him, try to find a way to get weird elsewhere. I don’t hate correlating Pollard and Dalton Kincaid together with Kincaid’s 1% projected ownership helping offset Pollard’s chalkiness.
Wide Receivers
Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR – DET) @ MIN | DraftKings: $8,300/FanDuel: $8,800
The Lions take on the Vikings in a matchup where neither team has leaned on their passing game to the level fantasy managers might want, but there are reasons to think things could change this week. The Vikings allow the second-fewest fantasy points and the Lions allow the third-fewest, potentially making it harder for either of these teams to lean on the run and take their foot off the gas.
Jared Goff has rounded into nice form as the season has gone on and will find an advantageous matchup against a Vikings defense playing the second-most Cover 2, a look he leads the league in fantasy points per dropback against, per Fantasy Points, with Goff putting up 0.74 per dropback — 0.22 more than the next nearest quarterback. We know the Vikings will bring the blitz often and one way to combat that is to get the ball out quickly to reliable receivers like Amon-Ra St. Brown. I prefer this play on DraftKings’ full PPR format.
While I don’t want to stack either quarterback above the ones listed in this article, finding ways to get St. Brown and Justin Jefferson in the same lineup feels like a high-ceiling play.
Tank Dell (WR – HOU) @ GB | DraftKings: $6,500/FanDuel: $7,000
With Nico Collins on injured reserve (IR), Tank Dell immediately returned to fantasy relevance with a 28% target share and a season-high 18.7 PPR points. Dell was also the first read on 42.9% of targets, almost 10% more than Stefon Diggs, who saw the second-most first-read targets. The Texans’ Week 6 opponents, the Patriots, have a habit of sucking the air out of games and reducing fantasy value but the same can’t be said for this week’s game with the Packers, who push the ball downfield and like to keep their foot on the gas. Dell looks like an excellent value against a Packers defense that has given up 19+ PPR points to four different receivers since Week 3.
Tank Dell had his best game of the season in a win over the Patriots last week, but he’s not satisfied.
“It was an okay game, but I know what I’m capable of—.. y’all know what I’m capable of..” pic.twitter.com/CgCdxaz56y
— Chancellor Johnson (@ChancellorTV) October 16, 2024
Tutu Atwell (WR – LAR) vs. LV | DraftKings: $5,000/FanDuel: $5,800
The chalkier pick will be rookie Jordan Whittington, who is in the cash game version of this article and is worth consideration. If you’re looking for a leverage play, however, consider playing Tutu Atwell at a fraction of the rostership.
Atwell has been a top-36 WR in the last three games, averaging 80 yards per game and 12.7 points. That in itself is a little lower than we’d like, but it shows Atwell has the potential of a 15-17 point game in his outcomes if he finds the end zone. Atwell provides leverage away from Whittington. Bold players could stack both with Matthew Stafford and use Brock Bowers as a bringback.
Tight Ends
Kyle Pitts (TE – ATL) vs. SEA | DraftKings: $4,500/FanDuel: $5,900
I don’t mean to alarm anyone but Kyle Pitts has quietly had 10 catches for 158 yards over the last two weeks, giving him the second-highest yardage of all tight ends, trailing only rookie phenom, Brock Bowers. Pitts hasn’t added any touchdowns, which is what’s kept him slightly on the sneakier side of plays, projecting for less than 10% rostership, according to most sites.
The Seahawks allow the fifth-most tight end fantasy points, fresh off letting George Kittle score 22.8 points in Week 6. They have given up two further double-digit point games to tight ends since Week 2. Pitts will be less chalky than Drake London, so we can either stack the pair together to give yourself leverage on people playing only London or play Pitts solo to gain leverage differently.
Kyle Pitts is the only TE in the league to have 2 receptions of 50 yards or more https://t.co/S1LQkCOFaJ pic.twitter.com/IAysL3cgmM
— Tre’Shon (@tre3shon) October 14, 2024
David Njoku (TE – CLE) vs. CIN | FanDuel: $5,300 (FanDuel Only Play)
I know Deshaun Watson sucks and David Njoku has performed better with Joe Flacco. I get it, I do… but on the other hand… Amari Cooper is now in Buffalo and there are very few reliable pass-catching options in Cleveland. At the tight end position, 5-6 catches can go a long way, and Njoku is reportedly getting healthier in time to face a Bengals defense allowing the 10th-most fantasy points.
Njoku could see huge volume (for a tight end) and is a more desirable correlation with Bengals pieces than any of the Bengals tight ends are. I would not play Watson, but stacking Joe Burrow with one, or two pass-catchers and Njoku on the other side could be fun.
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