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Quarterbacks

Start ‘Em

Davis Mills, Houston Texans

This is probably a classic bye week, deep league pick here, but I’m going to go with Davis Mills this week. Mills has been up and down with his production but is facing a Raiders defense giving up 25 points per game to quarterbacks and a second-highest D-PAC Score. Coming off the bye week, I could see Mills having a solid outing against this struggling Raiders squad.

Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers

When bye weeks come around, you gotta do crazy things sometimes. Starting Jimmy Garoppolo this week isn’t actually crazy as he’ll be facing off with the Chiefs who are sporting the third-highest D-PAC score (13.22) and allowing the third most fantasy points to quarterbacks (21.92) this season. Not to mention, Garoppolo has thrown for two scores and more than 250 yards in consecutive games.

Sit ‘Em

Taylor Heinicke, Washington Commanders

Carson Wentz underwent surgery on his finger and will be out for at least the next four weeks. In his absence, Taylor Heinicke is expected to be the starter. Heinicke has shown he can be serviceable in spot duty and has even put together a few solid starts. However, in his first start of the season, he’ll be facing a formidable Packers defense that only gives up 11 points per game to opposing quarterbacks. Heinicke might be a decent start over the next few weeks, but not in week seven.

Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

After a great Week 6 performance, Trevor Lawrence should be quickly moved to your bench – or traded at a higher value. In the last two weeks, the Giants kept Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson in check. In fact, no quarterback has thrown for more than 222 yards against them since Week 1. The next week’s matchup with Denver also makes him a candidate for this list in Week 8.

Running Backs

Start ‘Em

Tony Pollard, Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are a tough nut to crack, especially their running back room. Tony Pollard tied his season high in touches last week against the Eagles, with 13. His YPC and yards per catch were down (4 YPC, 2.7 yards per catch), but this was more of a testament to the stingy Eagles defense than anything. This week he faces the Lions that are giving up a league-leading 28 points per game to running backs and nearly 40 points to wide receivers. With his touches trending up, and this matchup, I foresee a big game from Pollard this week.

Eno Benjamin, Arizona Cardinals

First of all, shake off the nasty 2.5 YPC from last week. Eno Benjamin is going to get plenty of touches like the 18 he had in Week 6. Opportunity is king in fantasy. Just two weeks ago, this same Saints defense gave up 142 rushing yards on 16 carries between Rashaad Penny and Kenneth Walker. After a disappointing week, it’s hard to roll with a guy like Benjamin, but it’s going to be worth it.

Sit ‘Em

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Kansas City Chiefs

Clyde Edwards-Helaire started off the season with a bang, seeing really good production in the running and receiving game. However, the last two games have not been as pretty. He’s still seeing a decent number of touches, but his YPC has only been 2.67 in the last two weeks. Facing a 49er defense that only gives up 17 points per game to running backs isn’t a great matchup, so try to sit Helaire this week.

James Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars

Over the past three games, James Robinson has looked down-right pedestrian with 30 carries and just 3.7 yards per attempt. With Travis Etienne averaging 6.8 yards on 28 carries in that same span, it makes things look even bleaker for Robinson. With the Giants allowing less than 20 fantasy points per game to the position, you can probably find a higher ceiling elsewhere.

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Wide Receivers

Start ‘Em

Michael Pittman, Indianapolis Colts

The Colts seemed to be struggling a bit the last few weeks with the loss of Jonathan Taylor, but they seemed to find a bit of a groove last week. Michael Pittman saw a huge boost being targeted 16 times and catching 13 of them for 134 yards. Add a touchdown to that mix, and that is elite fantasy production right there. The Colts face the Titans this week who are giving up 44 points per game to wide receivers, and a league-leading 21.78 D-PAC score. I expect big things from Pittman this week.

Brandin Cooks, Houston Texans

I wanted to put Alec Pierce here, but I thought it a bit much to suggest another Colts receiver. Just as solid of a pick is Brandin Cooks. The Raiders defense is currently issuing the fourth nicest D-PAC rating on the season against wide receivers. In Week 5, Mecole Hardman and Marquez Valdes-Scantling combined for 163 receiving yards on 10 receptions. With so many big-ticket wide receivers on bye this week, Cooks is a wily veteran you should slide into your lineup.

Sit ‘Em

Christian Kirk, Jacksonville Jaguars

I liked Christian Kirk a lot in the preseason, but his stock is going way down only averaging 5.9 fantasy points per game over the last three games. His targets are also down to 5.6 per game over the last three games compared to nine per game over the first three games. The Giants are only giving up 23 points per game and a league-low D-PAC score against wide receivers at 7.3. Kirk’s numbers haven’t been good, and this matchup is worse. Sit Kirk this week.

Jerry Jeudy, Denver Broncos

With all of the struggles of the Denver offense, it’s hard to count on any of them to produce in a given week. The quality of targets just isn’t there and Jeudy’s numbers show it. He’s caught just 13 of 29 targets since his huge Week 1 output. For the mathematically challenged, that’s less than half! Whether it’s Russell Wilson’s bad passes or Jeudy’s inability to catch them, there’s no way I’d be starting either of them anytime soon.

Tight Ends

Start ‘Em

Gerald Everett, Los Angeles Chargers

Gerald Everett didn’t exactly have the best stat line against Denver on Monday night, hauling in five receptions for 29 yards, but the Chargers offense on a whole struggled. The encouraging piece is that Everett’s utilization in the passing game has steadily been increasing over the last few weeks, and plus he just looked good out there. He faces a Seahawk defense giving up a lead-leading 24 points per game to tight ends and a second-highest D-PAC score of 7.39. No better time to take a chance with Everett this week.

Daniel Bellinger, New York Giants

When you’re streaming tight ends, you should always be looking at targets. Daniel Bellinger’s targets went up to five after back-to-back weeks of three. There’s a decent floor with this rookie tight end as the Giants wide receivers can’t seem to stay healthy. On top of that, the Jaguars allowed six catches for 65 yards and a touchdown last week. Bellinger has also seen 80 percent of the tight-end targets in the last four games. He’s definitely worth considering this week.

Sit ‘Em

Robert Tonyan, Green Bay Packers

The Packers, on the whole, have not looked good so far this season. Last week against the Jets was really bad, but one of the only bright pieces was the 10 reception day from Robert Tonyan. However, the Commanders defense has been really good against Tight Ends, only allowing 6 points per game to tight ends and a second-lowest D-PAC score of 2.02. Tight ends seem to be the hardest week-to-week prediction this season, so I don’t blame you if you start Tonyan, but I would look for other options if I were you.

Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins

Don’t chase those two touchdowns scored by Mike Gesicki in Week 6 as that was a product of Teddy Bridgewater’s method of passing – short and over the middle of the field. With Tua Tagovailoa likely returning this week, the passing focus goes back to the wideouts. In fact, the only position that the visiting Steelers have been able to stymie this season is the tight ends. If you still have Gesicki on your roster, you should really be shopping him, not starting him. 

Don’t forget to hit us up on Twitter with any of your lineup questions. You can find Benjamin @FFRabbitDad and Brendan @OBryanBren. If you have a question, we will give you some guidance. After all, we want you to win!

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