Week 7 is here, which means we are officially at the halfway point of the fantasy football regular season. Injuries continue to mount, but the biggest headlines this week are the trades of Davante Adams and Amari Cooper. We will, of course, touch on these players and more! These trades and injuries complicate things in terms of setting your lineups and finding the optimal plays for your rosters. It also means that some of your sneakier FLEX options you’ve been stashing on your benches will have their time to shine while your studs rest up to return to action. The teams on bye in Week 7 are listed below for you:
- Chicago Bears
- Dallas Cowboys
Let’s take some time to dive into the most relevant news and notes from around the league before Week 7!
- Reunited, and it feels so good – Adams and Aaron Rodgers reunite in New York as the Jets make a deal to bring the disgruntled receiver in to support his former quarterback. This is an interesting move in redraft leagues. Adams should suit up this week for the Jets, and it is a rare situation where you can expect the traded player to make a big impact right out of the gate. Adams comes in as my WR16 on the week, and that may climb slightly as we get more clarity on his health. I would expect Adams to settle in as a high-end WR2 with upside. Now, I know many fantasy managers who roster Garrett Wilson may be panicking, but I am here to tell you it’s going to be okay. Wilson will, of course, lose the insane target volume he has seen thus far in his career, but the addition of Adams will increase efficiency and scoring opportunities. I expect Wilson to remain a top-15 wide receiver for the remainder of the season with top-12 upside. He will benefit tremendously in full-point PPR leagues from seeing more opportunities out of the slot. It is similar to the role that Chris Godwin has this season. I would say that Rodgers is not at the level of Baker Mayfield right now (yeah, that feels weird to type), but the role is clear and valuable. If a manager is trying to sell, you should be buying low on Wilson.
- The next headline this week is veteran receiver Amari Cooper, who was traded to the Buffalo Bills. It is an enormous upgrade from the Cleveland Browns and the worst quarterback in the NFL this season, Deshaun Watson. For the rest of this season, it makes Cooper a rock-solid WR2 as long as he can remain healthy. Cooper should immediately take over at the top of the depth chart in Buffalo. This week, he comes in as my WR19, but he is a candidate to drop down the rankings in his first week playing with Josh Allen. If you have other options in his tier, they are likely less risky, and I would not mind firing them up.
- Week 7 is a special week this season. Not only are we seeing trades happening all over the league, but we should see the return of several key players. Below is the list of players I expect to return this week.
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- Jonathan Taylor
- Cooper Kupp
- TJ Hockenson
- Nick Chubb
I am fine playing ALL of these players in their first week back to varying degrees. My initial ranking assumes they return near 100%. Kupp and Taylor are the two I would happily throw into my lineups this week with zero hesitation. Hockenson and Chubb may see some limitations in their first few weeks back, so make sure to check the List update on Saturday and monitor the latest injury reports coming from each team.
- RB Revolving Door—This season, the running back position has seen injury and the emergence of a few key backup rushers who have spoiled the party on some of last season’s volume-dependent backs, specifically Rachaad White. When looking at the Bucs, we always knew White was terrible as a runner. As the Bucs gave more work to Bucky Irving, we saw that White’s hold on the top job was not going to last long. Then Week 6 happened, and Sean Tucker exploded onto the scene, finishing as the RB1 overall. Ultimately, what you need to know is that Irving should remain the RB1 for this team. He dominated snaps outside of garbage time and handled all of the high-leverage touches until the final drive of the game. As long as White is out, you can expect a 65-35 split, with Tucker being the latter. The real problem will be when White returns, which potentially makes the entire trio unusable. You should look to sell Bucs backs over the next two weeks if you can. The next backfield we need to discuss is the Buffalo Bills. Ray Davis saw 91% of the expected fantasy points out of the backfield for the Bills with James Cook out with turf toe. In Week 6, Davis racked up 97 yards on the ground and 55 through the air. He was a difference-maker against a strong Jets defense. Davis won’t go away, and he should provide some FLEX viability even when Cook returns. I would not be surprised to follow the same trend as the Jaguars (Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby) and the Buccanneers (White, Irving, and Tucker). The bright side is that the Bills backfield should stay between Davis and Cook.
- Finally, Drake Maye made his rookie season debut and did not disappoint. He posted over 22 fantasy points and finished as a QB1. Not only that, but he was able to throw for three touchdowns in his first start, a feat that Jacoby Brissett was not able to accomplish over the entire season to date. The Patriots are still a disaster on offense, though, and while Maye may have more upside than most in his situation due to his impact on the ground, there are very few matchups you can be confident putting him into lineups. Luckily for fantasy managers, Week 7 is a strong matchup against the Jaguars, who just let another rookie, Caleb Williams, throw for four touchdowns. It is one of maybe four games remaining that he will have the upside to help you win your week in 1QB formats.
The List: Week 7