Week 7 Start'em/Sit'em
This is the Fantasy Football Nerd's look at the best and worst matchups for Week 7 of the 2020 NFL season. Analysis is aggregated from multiple sources including FFN. FFN rankings are based upon PPR (point per reception) scoring. Given the known conditions, these matchups are the ones to watch and/or avoid.
Please Note: This list does not generally include the elite players that you are going to start regardless of matchup. You don't need us to tell you to start Christian McCaffrey, Travis Kelce, or Michael Thomas. Instead, we take a look at other players on your team that we believe either have great matchups or should be avoided for multiple reasons. Factors like opposing defense, performance trending, and peer comparisons may influence our decisions.
Start 'em Matt Ryan (ATL, QB)That was the Matt Ryan that we fondly remember. After finally putting up a solid week, it's cool to leave Matty Ice in your lineup when the Lions come visiting. He comes into our rankings this week at #7. We like the matchup, but will feel more confident if we can see Julio hit the practice field.
Start 'em Tom Brady (TB, QB)Brady didn't need to throw much against the Packers as the Tampa Bay ground game and defense dominated the day. We fully expect him to throw more than 27 times this week against the Raiders. Las Vegas is giving up an average of 21 fantasy points each week to QBs.
Start 'em Justin Herbert (LAC, QB)Coming into this week's rankings at #10 is Justin Herbert who has been a nice surprise for fantasy owners. After throwing for 4 touchdowns in Week 5, look for Herbert to keep the fantasy points coming against a Jaguars defense that is giving up the 7th-most yards through the air and nearly 22 fantasy points each week to opposing signal callers.
Start 'em Ronald Jones (TB, RB)Wait - is that Ronald Jones inside our Top 12? It is! With a hobbled Leonard Fournette, RoJo has managed to string together multiple 100+ yard games, and has an opportunity to make it four games when he faces the Raiders who are giving up the 3rd-most fantasy points including 18 to Devin Singletary and a whopping 38 points to Alvin Kamara back in Week 1. RoJo is on a roll.
Start 'em D'Andre Swift (DET, RB)After putting up a monster day in Week 6 (116 yards and 2 touchdowns), Swift deserves a spot on your starting lineup. He comes into this week's rankings at #18 facing a Falcons defense that looks tough on paper, but has allowed Mike Davis, Jamaal Williams, Aaron Jones, Ezekiel Elliott, and Chris Carson to average 23 fantasy points.
Start 'em Justin Jackson (LAC, RB)Whether you start Justin Jackson or Joshua Kelley, both deserve starting consideration. Jackson has the edge given that he's had more touches and snaps prior to the bye week. It's a great matchup as the Jaguars give up the 5th-most fantasy points to running backs this year.
Start 'em Terry McLaurin (WAS, WR)When you look at how wide receivers have fared against the Cowboys this season, how can you not get excited to start Terry McLaurin this week? Dallas gives up the 3rd-most fantasy points including 38 points to OBJ, 37 points to Tyler Lockett, 30 points to Calvin Ridley, 20 points to Darius Slayton, and 22 points to Christian Kirk. F1 is a WR1.
Start 'em Robby Anderson (CAR, WR)Robby Anderson has solidified his role on this offense. He's seen an average of almost 7 targets every game this year and has made the most of them with three 100+ yard games (four if you include the 99-yard performance against Arizona). Keep him locked into your lineup against the Saints who gave up an average of 22 fantasy points to Mike Williams and Kenny Golladay in the two games before their bye.
Start 'em Tyler Boyd (CIN, WR)This should be a nice bounce back game for Tyler Boyd after last week's down game against a tough Indy secondary. He leads the team in targets and faces a Browns defense that has given up the 5th-most fantasy points to receivers on the season.
Start 'em Hunter Henry (LAC, TE)Ranked 4th this week is Hunter Henry on a resurgent Chargers offense. With Herbert hitting his stride and Henry seeing the second-most targets on the team, this is the kind of matchup where Henry falls under the "must start" status. Jacksonville has been very forgiving to tight ends on the year allowing the 6th-most points to them.
Start 'em Robert Tonyan (GB, TE)Baby Kittle has another great opportunity this week against the Texans who have given up at least 16 points to three different tight ends including 25.3 points to Titans' TE Anthony Firkser last week. Keep an eye on his status for this week as he's dealing with an ankle injury. If he's healthy and plays, he's in legit TE1 territory.
Start 'em Buffalo Bills (BUF, DEF)Ranked #1 this week is the Bills who get their chance to face a Jets team giving up more fantasy points to opposing defenses than any other team in the NFL. It doesn't seem fair to keep picking on the Jets, but when they're giving up 15 points a week, their opponents become must starts.
Start 'em Mike Badgley (LAC, K)This is a great matchup for a kicker. Jacksonville is giving up the 4th-most fantasy points to kickers on the season and the Chargers offense should have little trouble moving the ball into FG territory.
Sit 'em Gardner Minshew (JAC, QB)On paper this should be a great matchup as the Chargers are giving up the 4th-most fantasy points including 32 points to Tom Brady back in Week 4, but Minshew has been anything but consistent - even in plus matchups. Combine the fact that LA may get stud pass rusher Melvin Ingram back this week with the fact that Minshew has had a bad case of interceptionitis (4 picks in last 5 games), and it's not surprising to hear Doug Marrone hint at a potential benching of Minshew. Marrone won't bench Gardner, but you should.
Sit 'em Jared Goff (LAR, QB)The Bears have more interceptions this year than they've allowed passing touchdowns. That's not good if you have Jared Goff as your starter. Even worse, nobody has allowed fewer fantasy points to QB's than Chicago. There are brighter days ahead for Goff, but Monday night is not likely to be one of them.
Sit 'em Jimmy Graham (CHI, TE)The Patriots give up the 5th-fewest fantasy points. They shutdown Fitzpatrick in Week 1 and welcomed Drew Lock back with a measly 3 fantasy points last week. Only Mahomes and Wilson were able to score at least 20 fantasy points, and Jimmy Garoppolo is not even close to their level.
Sit 'em Le'Veon Bell (KC, RB)Bell will be available to play for the Chiefs this week, but that doesn't mean that you should rush out to start him. As talented as he is, and as well as this offense fits him, no team has surrendered fewer fantasy points to running backs this year than Denver. Plus, there's no reason to think that Clyde Edwards-Helaire wouldn't be the starter and carry the bulk of the load in this one.
Sit 'em Jerick McKinnon (SF, RB)With Raheem Mostert out, McKinnon should see more volume come his way, but we also expect a heavier workload for JaMychal Hasty as well. The matchup isn't great either as the Patriots give up the 4th-fewest fantasy points to running backs. McKinnon gets a boost in PPR formats, but remains nothing more than a flex option in Week 7.
Sit 'em Malcolm Brown (LAR, RB)It was Darrell Henderson who led the Rams backfield in snaps and touches last week. With Henderson and Cam Akers in the rotation, the trio of backs faces a Top-10 Bears defense that kept Mike Davis and Jonathan Taylor to pedestrian numbers. In fact, no back has been able to score more than 15 points against them all year.
Sit 'em Michael Gallup (DAL, WR)What has happened to Michael Gallup this year? Other than a big Week 3, he has been almost non-existent from a fantasy perspective including a stinker last week (2-23-0). The matchup is not favorable here as Washington gives up the 3rd-fewest fantasy points to opposing receivers. The only receiver to top 20 fantasy points was DeAndre Hopkins, and Gallup is not in that league.
Sit 'em Julian Edelman (NE, WR)Remember when Julian Edelman was the equivalent of PPR gold? As talented as Edelman is, and as much as he has historically been involved in the Patriots offense, this is no longer the same Patriots offense. Cam is not Tom. Edelman has three straight games with 6 targets averaging just 2.3 catches. His big Week 2 game seems to have been the exception to what has been an awful rule. Julian is not consistently reliable any longer. Add a tough matchup to the mix, and Edelman simply doesn't deserve a start this week.
Sit 'em Emmanuel Sanders (NO, WR)You'll have to scroll all the way down to #50 to find Emmanuel Sanders on our weekly WR rankings largely for two reasons. First, the matchup is brutal. The Panthers have given up the second-fewest fantasy points to receivers on the year. Second, we expect Michael Thomas back this week and that means that a repeat of Sanders' 14-target game in Week 5 is not realistic.
UPDATE: Both Sanders and Thomas will be INACTIVE for Week 7.
Sit 'em Tyler Higbee (LAR, TE)Higbee comes into this week's rankings at #16 facing a stingy Bears defense. Chicago hasn't allowed a TE to reach double-digit production since Week 2. Add to the situation that Everett has been getting a more equitable share of targets, and Higbee becomes a risk/reward play in Week 7.
Sit 'em Logan Thomas (WAS, TE)As big and talented as Logan Thomas is, he needs to find the endzone to be fantasy-relevant. He hasn't seen more than 4 targets in his last three games. Part of that is the inconsistent play at QB, but he also needs to haul in those targets (33% catch rate over the last three games). He's also now dealing with a neck issue that we'll need to keep an eye on.
Sit 'em Denver Broncos (DEN, DEF)The Broncos have a solid defense, but they find themselves at the bottom of our rankings facing the defending Super Bowl champs. Kansas City has given up the 5th-fewest fantasy points on the season.
Sit 'em Greg Zuerlein (DAL, K)Greg "The Leg" hasn't lived up to his name this year missing both of his 50+ yard attempts. He also hasn't had as many attempts as in years past never seeing more than 2 opportunities per game in Dallas. The loss of Dak meant that Andy Dalton got the start last week, and the Cowboys had difficulty moving the ball. If you're streaming kickers (which you should be), look for another option this week.
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If asking a sit/start question, be sure to provide your scoring format and contribute to answering questions from other FN members as well.
Geoguy CommentedOct 22, 2020 9:33 am
PPR league... need two of these three.... CD Lamb/DJ Moore/D Swift
Nerd CommentedOct 22, 2020 12:24 pm
Moore/Swift
jamisdiablo CommentedOct 22, 2020 4:32 pm
Nerd nailed it here IMHO. All Dallas WRs should be put on the trading block, in fact, it might already be too late to trade them and get what you think they're worth back, but Dalton ain't the same old Andy any more. More like the red-headed step-child no one wants to hang out with. LOL!
Abo1994 CommentedOct 22, 2020 11:30 pm
What do u fellas think? I traded D Swift for Miles Sanders??
Nerd CommentedOct 24, 2020 6:46 pm
Check our ROS (rest of season rankings) or plug Swift into our Trade Analyzer
https://www.fantasyfootballnerd.com/rest-of-season-rankings
https://www.fantasyfootballnerd.com/trades
For me, I'd rather have Sanders ROS.
Sarge831 CommentedOct 22, 2020 1:55 pm
Should I start b.Scott tonight in my flex spot or keep j.jackson
Nerd CommentedOct 22, 2020 3:13 pm
I could go either way on this, but would probably play Scott.
jamisdiablo CommentedOct 22, 2020 4:31 pm
I'm going Jackson here. Scott has shown us next to nothing already in a similar spot and the gmen d-line is not terrible. Jackson in a better sitch IMHO. Good luck!
jamisdiablo CommentedOct 22, 2020 4:30 pm
Thanks for all the advice as always, still undefeated and looking strong after I traded for DHenry, aka, the beast, last week and won running away because of it! But now... i need to start either DSlayton tonight or DSamuel on Sunday. While I like Slaytons matchup more, I know Deebo is the better talent. So is the high floor play Slayton and the high-ceiling play Samuel? Thanks again and good luck in week 7!
Nerd CommentedOct 22, 2020 5:17 pm
Man - that is really close, and I don't know that there's a right answer here. I would probably roll with Slayton, but I agree on Deebo's potential.
jamisdiablo CommentedOct 23, 2020 11:15 am
Well so much for Slayton. Ugh. Thanks a lot Shepard and Tate for stealing most of Slaytons touches. Double ugh. Oh well, hoping Diggs can make up for it!
Abo1994 CommentedOct 22, 2020 11:31 pm
What do u fellas think? I traded D Swift for Miles Sanders??
jamisdiablo CommentedOct 23, 2020 11:13 am
I'd rather have Swift ROS myself. But a fair trade I suppose. If BScott hadn't had that late touchdown catch, his night would've been pretty weak, so hopefully Sanders comes back right away!
Sarge831 CommentedOct 23, 2020 1:13 pm
Who should I start in my flex spot this week I have J.Robinson or k.galladay
Nerd CommentedOct 24, 2020 6:48 pm
Standard Scoring: Robinson
PPR: Golladay
tramz18 CommentedOct 24, 2020 7:35 pm
I know neither is ideal. But i have A.Jones who is probably out,which of these would you use full PPR
Z.Moss or AJ.Dillon?
Nerd CommentedOct 25, 2020 10:57 am
Moss
OldGeezer CommentedOct 25, 2020 11:45 am
Who should I start among A Robinson, T Boyd, or R woods. I have J Jones as my other WR.
Nerd CommentedOct 25, 2020 11:57 am
I think you still have to go with Robinson there.
Nerd CommentedOct 25, 2020 12:18 pm
Swift
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