NFL Fantasy Football Reactions: Week 7

The adrenaline rush that comes with watching the NFL Sunday Ticket game mix near the end of the early game window is incredible. Even with a couple blowout games, the majority of the games were close. Watching the fates of NFL teams and fantasy contests go back and forth is something I enjoy every week. Let's look at Sunday's action.

Reactions

• From a real football perspective, Lamar Jackson has played fantastic football this year. Unfortunately, the fantasy numbers have been lacking. Against the Lions, though, he looked like the MVP quarterback we saw in 2019. Not only did he lead the Ravens to a blowout victory over a tough Detroit team, but he produced more than 400 yards of offense and four touchdowns. It would be nice to say that this is the beginning of a long run of high fantasy scores from the QB, but the last year and a half of data probably indicates that we'll see more of the production we were used to from earlier in the season. Regardless, that's not bad. It's just not what many of us hoped when we drafted Jackson. It should be noted that Gus Edwards had an 80-yard reception on a play where the defense completely forgot about him. Edwards produced more than 100 yards and a touchdown. It's unlikely he produces like that regularly. Mark Andrews still has yet to put together many big yardage games, but he scored twice, so nobody is complaining. He'll still remain an elite tight-end option every week.
• The biggest concern I had when watching the Lions game was with Dan Campbell. Playing his starters when trailing by 30 points late in the 4th quarter is irresponsible. Especially for a team that came in with a 5-1 record and some huge victories. Had any of his critical players been injured, it would've been a mistake he couldn't explain away. Fortunately, none of his players were injured. My guess is that the Detroit coaching staff will burn the tape after this game. Certainly there will be lessons they can learn, especially when they likely make the NFL playoffs. From a fantasy perspective, the primary skill position players were fine. The fact that they scored the majority of their fantasy points when the game was well out of hand doesn't matter to fantasy managers. For the most part, the Lions will be productive for fantasy in almost every game they play. Even though it was fantastic to see Jahmyr Gibbs post more than 100 yards and a touchdown, I don't know how much we can take away from his performance. He was not overly productive when the game was in question. Assuming David Montgomery comes back soon, expect Gibbs to resume a similar role to what he had earlier in the season.
• The Bills are 4-3. They have lost two of their last three games. Their lone win during that time was too close for comfort against the Giants. This week, they lost to a Patriots team that has struggled massively this season. Yes, this was a divisional matchup at New England, but it's difficult to just throw out this game because Buffalo has not looked great in a number of games. Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs and James Cook did enough to be reasonable fantasy options. The silver lining was Dalton Kincaid had his first solid performance of the season by catching eight passes for 75 yards. Despite the team struggles, Buffalo's primary fantasy options should continue to be solid fantasy options. With Kincaid, we need to see at least one more week of production before buying in.
• I was a bit stunned that the Patriots put 29 points on the board against the Bills. The injuries to the Buffalo defense have hurt its effectiveness. The most consistent fantasy option on this team (based on position) has been Kendrick Bourne. In most games, he's putting up at least 10 PPR points. That speaks volumes about the lack of talent on offense. There is little bankable upside we can plan on when starting New England players each week. As long as expectations are realistic, starting players like Bourne and Rhamondre Stevenson makes sense depending on matchups.
• The Browns played a thriller and pulled off a one-point victory against the Colts by scoring a late touchdown. Deshaun Watson looked terrible in his brief action before aggravating his shoulder injury, which cut his day short. Other than a 69-yard TD run by Jerome Ford early in the game and two short touchdown runs by Kareem Hunt, Cleveland had no consistent offense. Fortunately, their defense set it up with some extra possessions and a touchdown of its own. Ford left the game with an ankle injury, which led to Pierre Strong mixing in with Hunt in the running back committee. PJ Walker was unable to consistently get the ball to Amari Cooper, and though the star receiver was targeted eight times he recorded just two receptions. Cooper should remain reliable as a weekly fantasy option. Expect the backfield to remain productive, and if Ford misses time, Hunt immediately emerges in the top-15 running back discussion.
• I have no logical answer as to how the Colts scored 38 points against the Browns. It's possible that Cleveland came out flat after winning an improbable game against the 49ers last week. The Browns had a breakdown in coverage that led to a 59-yard touchdown by Josh Downs early in the game. Then there was a comical attempt at a tackle that resulted in Michael Pittman scoring on a 75-yard reception, which was only his second grab of the game. The good news was that Jonathan Taylor surpassed 100 scrimmage yards and scored a touchdown. Zack Moss remained heavily involved and put up a respectable 62 scrimmage yards. I expect this offense to be very up-and-down throughout the season as long as Gardner Minshew is at quarterback. With a continued excellent workload for both running backs, I still think we consider playing both of them in fantasy lineups for the immediate future. Minshew has to be considered a boom-or-bust weekly option, though his production has been solid in each of the last two games. 
• Although they've had a couple of strong offensive performances this year, the Commanders often need garbage time to put up big fantasy numbers. Their matchup against the Giants looked excellent, but the team laid an egg. Terry McLaurin was the only Commanders non-QB to put up double-digit PPR points. McLaurin is an auto start and, as a borderline top-10 option, Logan Thomas sees enough volume and production to be a reasonable tight end choice. Otherwise, the remainder of the offensive players are mostly matchup dependent. As long as there aren't high expectations for Curtis Samuel and Brian Robinson, they are also fine in weekly lineups, depending on league size/roster requirements. 
• After paying Daniel Jones big money, the Giants have to be a little frustrated that it's gotten better production out of Tyrod Taylor. Not only did Taylor almost engineer an upset victory against Buffalo last week, he led the team to its second win of the season against the Commanders. Saquon Barkley performed well in his second game back from injury, and he is a solid RB1.  It was also terrific to see Darren Waller have his biggest game of the season. Hopefully, he can remain productive when Jones returns to the lineup. Regardless, Waller seems back on track after a shaky start to the season. It was disappointing to see Wan'Dale Robinson receive just two targets after having seen at least six in each of the last three games. Despite the frustrating performance, Robinson should be a volume-based PPR option each week.
• Safe to say, few outside of Chicago predicted the Bears would score 30 points with a backup quarterback. Although seven of those points came on a defensive score, we were treated to the D'Onta Foreman show.  Foreman was excellent in 2021 when he took over for an injured Derrick Henry in Tennessee. He also played very well last year when taking over in Carolina after Christian McCaffrey was traded. He finally got his opportunity with the Bears the last two weeks and played very well. He had a similar workload to last week, but this time he made three trips to the end zone, which led to more than 30 PPR points. My guess is that even if Roschon Johnson returns to the lineup next week, Foreman will be the early down back while Johnson serves in his customary receiving role. Even if that's the case, Khalil Herbert should be back soon, so Foreman potentially has a couple more weeks of fantasy relevance before he returns to the bench. It would be great if Foreman got traded to a team that could use a solid starting running back, but I'm not holding my breath.
• After notching a pair of impressive victories the last two weeks, the Raiders didn't show up against a weak Chicago team. Brian Hoyer should have been fine, as he was facing a team with little pass rush and shaky coverage. The only Raider to record a strong fantasy performance was Jakobi Meyers, and his touchdown came in garbage time with Aidan O'Connell at quarterback. I would have no hesitation in continuing to start Josh Jacobs, Davante Adams and Meyers. Despite seeing four targets, Michael Mayer probably needs another solid performance or two to be trusted in typical leagues. 
• The only takeaway that I'll be thinking about from the Falcons game is that Bijan Robinson was dealing with an illness throughout and didn't touch the football until the last two minutes of the game. It was great for the franchise that it pulled off a road victory against Tampa Bay. However, no offensive player had a dominant performance in a game in which the Falcons scored 16 points. Ultimately, the win is all that matters in the NFL. From a fantasy standpoint, there weren't many takeaways.
• There's only so much fantasy production to go around when a team scores 13 points, which is what the Buccaneers did. What continues to be true is that the team has a narrow target distribution. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin dominate targets most weeks. Despite being subpar as a runner, Rachaad White is also involved in the receiving game, and as long as he retains the lead role, he'll have a solid weekly scoring floor. Of course, Baker Mayfield will continue to be a useful player in superflex leagues.
• The more I watch the Rams this season, the more I'm convinced that Sean McVay is a genius. it doesn't seem to matter who he has in the lineup, his offense is consistently able to move the football. Royce Freeman and Darrell Henderson have been legitimately bad in many of their career games. Yet, after both were added to the roster this week, each was productive. Freeman was better on a yards per carry basis while Henderson scored. Los Angeles may not be lighting up the scoreboard every week, but what it continues to do is impressive. At this point, any running back who gets playing time must be considered a fantasy option. 
• Aside from an occasional big play, the Pittsburgh offense has been mostly unwatchable this season. The offensive coordinator seemingly has little clue how to piece together a game plan or put defenses at a disadvantage. Kenny Pickett is unable to create productive plays with any consistency. The backfield is also a mess because of unfavorable down-and-distances. They did wake up in the fourth quarter against a Rams defense that's largely overachieved this year. That was a rare occurrence that I wouldn't count on seeing often. Otherwise, aside from hoping that George Pickens or Diontae Johnson will have a big play or a touchdown, it's risky to count on any players from this offense when setting fantasy lineups.
• Last week, Emari Demercado was a popular waiver-wire add.  Of course, Keaontay Ingram and Damien Williams saw almost all of the work. I did find it interesting that Demercado had actually led the running backs in snaps during that game, but the usage told us everything we thought we needed to know. Arizona handled its backfield very differently this week. Ingram and Williams were non-factors while Demercado dominated touches. I will not claim to have the answers for next week, but if I'm forced to play one, it'll have to be Demercado based on the playing time he's seen the last two weeks. Otherwise, the Arizona offense has mostly been figured out by the league after a few good weeks. It's struggling to move the ball and score points. The Cardinals are difficult to trust when facing any type of decent defense. However, if Kyler Murray returns top form, that certainly could raise the floor of this offense.
• Seattle appeared to be in a smash spot against an Arizona defense that has played worse with each passing week. It was also encouraging that the Seahawks were playing on their home field. They did enough to beat the Cardinals, but they allowed this game to remain close for four quarters. Kenneth Walker continues to be an outstanding weekly fantasy option, but in terms of the passing attack, each of their players has a solid scoring floor.  Ceiling games are difficult to come by, though. At this point, I don't expect this offense to have a high ceiling, especially when it faces solid defenses. 
• Jordan Love seems to be at his best when the Packers are trailing. Of course, that wasn't the case in their previous game when he was unable to move the ball when trailing against the Raiders. But for the third time this season, he came up with multiple touchdowns in the second half to rescue performances that were destined to be terrible for fantasy. Love is best utilized in leagues that start two quarterbacks, as his scoring floor can be quite low. Also, Aaron Jones saw fewer touches than AJ Dillon. Hopefully, Jones is close to full health, as the Packers desperately need his ability to unlock their offense. The good news is that Jones was targeted five times, so at least he was able to put together some receiving production. It's nearly impossible to keep him on fantasy benches when he's healthy, but it's growing increasingly frustrating to use him as things currently stand.
• For the second week in a row, the Broncos have shown that Jaleel McLaughlin is their clear backup running back ahead of Samaje Perine. It would appear that Perine is definitely a drop in most leagues. Also, if Denver is looking to trade Courtland Sutton, the timing would be great. Despite being on a sluggish offense, he has played quite well this season. If Sutton landed on a high-powered offense, he could  provide a major boost for his fantasy managers.
• Patrick Mahomes finally had the fantasy performance that his owners had hoped for all season. He had not thrown for more than 306 yards in a game before Sunday. In addition, he had just a single performance with three touchdowns, and that came against the lowly Bears. The Chiefs faced a struggling Chargers defense, and Mahomes torched it for 424 yards and four TDs. He also rushed for 29 yards. Even though it was an easy matchup, this is the type of performance that may be able to spring the star quarterback to more of the performances we're accustomed to seeing. We also can't forget to talk up Travis Kelce. He recorded an incredible 179 yards and a touchdown, and he remains an unstoppable force.
• We have to be a bit concerned with the Chargers' offense. Austin Ekeler has been back for two games after suffering his ankle injury, but he has not looked anywhere close to the player he was before  getting hurt. The combination of Ekeler not playing at his typical level along with Mike Williams being out for the season has put some limitations on the offense. Keenan Allen often gets bracketed and defenses are willing to let Joshua Palmer try to beat them. That is forcing Justin Herbert to play Hero Ball, and while that will work sometimes, it is not a recipe for sustained success. Obviously, all of the top skill position players on the Chargers needed to be started in fantasy, but expectations should be lowered.

Injuries

The following players were injured and did not return:

• Deshaun Watson aggravated right shoulder injury, and PJ Walker finished the game. Coach Kevin Stefanski said that holding Watson out was a precaution
• Bijan Robinson had an illness, leading to Tyler Allgeier and Cordarrelle Patterson getting all but one of the RB touches.
• Jerome Ford sustained an ankle injury, which led to Kareem Hunt and Pierre Strong splitting the RB reps.
• Gerald Everett injured his quad, and Donald Parham saw increased work.