Weekly Rankings: Ranking Each Position for Week 7

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Welcome to QB List’s weekly rankings! Each week, I’ll be taking a look at the upcoming matchups and ranking each position, as well as flex positions.

Week 7 Notes:

• Honestly, the idea of ranking Andy Dalton as a top-five QB this week feels weird, but here’s the thing—so far this season, the Chiefs have given up at least 20 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks every single week except one (against the Denver Broncos and Case Keenum). That includes three weeks in which they’ve given up 400+ yards. Given how bad the Bengals secondary is and how much of a god Patrick Mahomes is, I’d expect this to be a high-scoring game, which means lots of throwing for Dalton, and lots of opportunity for fantasy points not just from Dalton, but from A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd as well.
• I think it’s hard not to rank Jameis Winston as a QB1 after his performance last week, but there’s one important thing to keep in mind—so far this year, the Browns have given up the fourth-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. Now, to be fair, they haven’t exactly faced a murderer’s row of quarterbacks—two of their best weeks were against Joe Flacco and Sam Darnold—however, they did limit Phillip Rivers to just 14.4 fantasy points, Drew Brees to 17.6, and Ben Roethlisberger to nine. On the other hand, Derek Carr lit them up for over 30 fantasy points, so I think they’re definitely beatable. Winston makes for a low-end QB1 this week and a solid bye week fill-in if he’s still available.
• The Bills are terrible, right? Fun fact—they’ve given up over 15 fantasy points to an opposing quarterback just twice (their first two games of the season). Since then, they’ve limited Kirk Cousins to just 10 points, Aaron Rodgers to 15, and Deshaun Watson to 5.3. I still think Andrew Luck is a low-end QB1 this week, but don’t be shocked if he doesn’t totally light the Bills up.
• I’m assuming Leonard Fournette isn’t playing on Sunday, or if he is playing, he’s very limited. As a result, I think T.J. Yeldon represents a low-end RB1 against a beatable Texans run defense that’s given up at least 20 points to opposing running backs in all but two weeks this year. However, if we hear that Fournette’s workload will be significant, obviously Yeldon will take a hit and Fournette will enter the rankings.
• I’m assuming Dalvin Cook plays this week. He was reportedly very close to playing last week and didn’t, so hopefully after a full week of practice, he’ll be able to play. If he does and he’s healthy, he should be a low-end RB1 against a Jets run defense that’s been pretty mediocre so far this year.
• Last week, Tarik Cohen had 23.1 fantasy points in PPR leagues, and in Week 4 (before the Bears’ bye), he had 30.4 points. Also last week, Jordan Howard had 4.9 points. Now, Cohen’s points all came from his job as a receiving back, Howard still had the vast majority of the carries. But Cohen was on the field for 49% of the offensive snaps and Howard was there for 51%. Cohen is out there on the field a lot, and we’ve seen how dynamic of a player he can be in the passing game. We’ve also seen how uninspiring Jordan Howard has been (he hasn’t topped 90 yards once yet and has just one touchdown). As a result, I’ve got Cohen just slightly higher than Howard this week. The Patriots have given up at least 20 fantasy points to opposing running backs every week except one (against the Dolphins who, admittedly, don’t have the best run game around). I think Howard could definitely have success, and I think Cohen could too. I wouldn’t say I necessarily feel a lot safer in Cohen than Howard in a standard league, but I do in a PPR. I think both represent low-end RB2s with some good potential for Cohen.
• Last week, the Ravens figured out that giving Alex Collins a sizable workload works out pretty well. I’m hopeful that they’ll continue that this week against the Saints, however I could see this being a more pass-heavy game, as the Saints run defense has been fairly solid while their secondary has been porous.
• As of this writing, Chris Thompson is day-to-day with his ribs and knee injuries. Keep an eye on him this week as he practices, if he’s out there starting, he’s a low-end RB2, but if he’s out again, it’ll be all Adrian Peterson with a dash of Kapri Bibbs in the passing game.
• T.Y. Hilton looks good to go this Sunday. Obviously, monitor him this week in case there are any setbacks, but he should be started as a WR2 against what’s been an actually pretty solid Bills secondary, as mentioned earlier.
• The Saints’ secondary hasn’t been very good this year, so I think John Brown and Michael Crabtree both could make for good plays this week, but I also like Willie Snead as an interesting flex play in deeper leagues. He’ll likely be matched up against P.J. Williams, and I think that could provide him with a significant advantage. Joe Flacco seems to like throwing to Snead, so there could be some potential here. However, there is the built-in risk of the volatility of Snead’s target share this year.
• I also think Jermaine Kearse is an interesting flex play this week. He had himself a nice game last week with nine catches for 94 yards and should be matched up against Mackensie Alexander who has not been playing well and is noticeably smaller than Kearse. With Quincy Enunwa out, I think Kearse has some potential.
• I’m a big David Njoku fan this week. He’ll likely be matched up against Justin Evans and I think that presents a significant advantage for Njoku. Plus, Njoku has been pretty involved in the passing game so far.
• So far, the news on Evan Engram is hopeful but far from guaranteed that he’ll play. Monitor him has the week goes on, but if he’s playing, he should be a decent low-end TE1/high-end TE2.

Check out the full rankings below: