Week 7 of the NFL season is here which marks about halfway through the fantasy football regular season. Now is the time to start thinking about building up your rosters for playoff time or finding players to help you in the short term to secure a playoff spot.

In this one we will look at players to get on the waiver wire this week as well as who to sit or start in your lineup. We will also look further into some players comparing them one on one for who should be more worthy of a roster spot in week seven fantasy lineups.

RB’s

Week six had a good amount of running back injuries that should make for some good pickups for week seven lineups.

Kareem Hunt

The first is the injury to Kareem Hunt who was already filling in in a primary role rather than his normal secondary role to Nick Chubb. Chubb will also miss the week seven game for the Cleveland Browns as well as quarterback Baker Mayfield making room for two running backs who could be good fantasy plays.

D’Ernest Johnson

The first is D’Ernest Johnson who is more of a three down running back than Demetric Felton.  Johnson is under 5% owned on most sites and should get a good amount of work against a Denver defense that is giving up the 5th most points to running backs so far this year. Felton is also a good play but he is more of a third down back who could see a slight increase in carries.

Devonta Freeman

Next is Devonta Freeman with Latavius Murray going down with an injury.  This is truly a running back by committee in Baltimore with Murray, Bell, Freeman, and quarterback Lamar Jackson all getting carries.

Last week all of them had at least eight carries.  With Murray out it could pave the way for Freeman to get 10+ carries this week and going forward even with Murray back Freeman could be good to have.

Freeman has had 11 and 7 fantasy points the last two weeks and Baltimore will go with the hot hand at any point in a game.  The last pickup is Kenyan Drake who we had promise for before the season.

Jon Gruden

Now, with Jon Gruden gone in Las Vegas, Drake saw six touches which he converted into two touchdowns.  He only had three combined in the previous two weeks and could be in line for more going forward this year.

WR’s

Looking at wide receivers this week there seems to be more wide receivers who are good week seven plays but also rest of season pickups and none of them are due to teammate injuries.

A.J. Green

The first is one that has been recommended all season long in A.J. Green who is still only 58% owned in most leagues. Green will have some off games but finds a way to be productive most weeks.

He has three games this year with five catches and a touchdown and also three games with 67 yards or more including one game with 112 yards.  He comes into week seven with more fantasy points on the year than Chase Claypool, Corey Davis, and Calvin Ridley.

Sterling Shepard

The next pickup is Sterling Shepard who had a great start to the year but was dropped by a lot of owners after he missed a couple of games. He was back last week and still was just as involved in the offense with 10 catches for 76 yards and a season high 14 targets.

Jamison Crowder

Lastly, we have Jamison Crowder who in just two weeks this year has 11 catches for 85 yards and a touchdown.  He is a ppr monster and is a great pickup in those leagues as he is just 48% owned on most sites.

In week seven the Miami Dolphins get the Atlanta Falcons who are one of the teams that fantasy players love to beat up on.

Tua Tagovailoa

Tua Tagovailoa is just 32% owned on most sites and had a monster week last game in London with 329 passing yards and two touchdowns after missing the previous two games.

Cam Newton

If you are looking for a quarterback to stash, Cam Newton could be an option. Newton is a candidate to get picked up by the Seattle Seahawks to fill in for Russell Wilson after Geno Smith was underwhelming in his first start in four years.  Newton would be well built for that offense and could do fantasy damage with them.

TE’s

Top Tight End Target For Week 7

Top tight end target for a week seven pickup would have to be Ricky Seals Jones.  Jones has had 9 catches the last two weeks with Logan Thomas out for 99 yards and a touchdown.  He looks like he has good chemistry with quarterback Taylor Heinicke.  He will also have a good matchup with Green Bay in week seven where they will need to throw the ball to compete.

Zach Ertz

Next is Zach Ertz who is the best tight end pickup possibly of the year so far at tight end. Ertz had a good game last week with four catches and a touchdown with the Eagles but now he has been traded to the Arizona Cardinals.  He is now in line to be the number one tight end in one of the best passing offenses in the NFL.  We will see how involved he is in week seven, however.

Players to Start For Week 7

With week seven having six teams on byes you will have to go deeper to find some players to start.

A running back that looks like a good start this week is Darrel Williams filling in for Clyde Edwards-Helaire yet again this week. In this matchup he gets the Tennessee Titans who have been giving up a lot of points this year so far.

Williams also got 21 carries in week six which is more than Edwards-Helaire received in any week before that. He is also a good pass catching running back and has three catches in each of his last two games.  It should be another good game for Williams after getting 89 total yards and two touchdowns last week against Washington.

Darrell Henderson

Darrell Henderson is another running back who has been a bit under the radar so far this season. He was in a great spot last week against the Giants as a healthy starting running back for the Rams. Last week he got 21 carries, the same as Williams, and had 107 total yards with a touchdown.

In every game he has played in this year he has had at least 13 carries and only has one game below 70 rushing yards.

Myles Gaskin

Myles Gaskin of the Dolphins is one of the most hit or miss fantasy players this year.  In week five he had 10 catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns. In every other week this year besides that game he is averaging less than three catches per game and 12.4 receiving yards per game. His rushing performances this year haven’t been much better averaging less than 30 yards per game and also he hasn’t gotten more than five carries since week three.  Even in a good matchup this week against the Falcons, he should be a sit in your lineup.

Wide Receivers For Week 7

Looking at wide receivers for week seven Jaylen Waddle from the Dolphins looks good.  The Dolphins look committed to the pass with Tua at quarterback as he threw 47 passes last week.  Not good for Gaskin but for Waddle, he had a breakout game.

Last week Waddle had two touchdowns, 10 catches, and 70 yards.  That is his second game with at least 10 catches as he had 12 in a week before and his last game with Tua in week one he had 61 yards and a touchdown.

Eagles DeVonta

The Eagles DeVonta Smith is a good bounce back candidate this week for a strong performance. Last week he had a tougher matchup where he struggled a bit but this week he gets Las Vegas.

Smith has had big games this year such as two seven catch games and one game with 122 yards. This week could be another big week for him.

Tyler Lockett

A sit again this week is one of the fantasy stars from earlier in the year.  That is Tyler Lockett who had 278 yards and three touchdowns in the first two weeks but is very dependent on Russell Wilson.  Wilson throws the deep ball so well and Lockett has struggled with Geno Smith at quarterback.

Matt Ryan

Matt Ryan has been up and down this year but this week looks like a start and a top 10 fantasy quarterback. Since week one, Ryan hasn’t thrown less than 243 yards with three games of 283 yards or more. In week five he had 342 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions before his week six bye game.

Carson Wentz

Carson Wentz has been a quality fantasy quarterback so far this year but now faces a tough matchup. The Colts will face the 49ers who only gave up 17 points to the Arizona Cardinals. Jonathan Taylor has started to come on lately too and could continue to eat up yards and touchdowns from Wentz moving forward.

Mike Gesicki

A tight end to start is another Miami Dolphin, Mike Gesicki. Gesicki struggled severely early in the year but has come into his own lately.  In the last four weeks he has had 27 catches including 115 yards last week with Tua back at quarterback. Before that he had three total catches in the first two weeks.

David Njoku

David Njoku is a player who had a recent breakout game with seven catches and 149 yards and a touchdown in week five. That game aside, Njoku had one game with three catches for 76 yards but hasn’t had another game with more than 18 yards.

Now in week seven he will face the Denver Broncos solid pass defense without Baker Mayfield and a backup who hasn’t started a game since 2019 in Case Keenum.

Players to Have on Your Roster

For the final section we are going to look at some players that you may have on your roster and are wondering if you should start them over some other similarly ranked players in week seven.

Running Backs

The first position we are going to look at is running back.

Devontae Booker or Chase Edmonds

A running back that has been doing well in a new lead back role is Devontae Booker since Saquon Barkley has been out.  Barkley is expected to miss at least another week with an ankle injury and Booker has done well in his place.

In a tough matchup in week five Booker got two touchdowns against the Cowboys and in an even tougher matchup in week six he got 69 total yards and four catches.  This week he will play the Panthers who have been the number one ranked defense against running backs this season.

Even with six teams on bye Booker is a fringe top 20 running back this week.  He looks to be a better play than Chase Edmonds who had a good start to the season but saw a season low in touches last week due to a lingering injury.

Against the Texans this week Edmonds probably will be limited again in what is likely to be a blowout game and Booker should be a better play.

Devontae Booker Vs Melvin Gordon and Jevontae Williams

Booker also looks like a better play than both Denver running backs Melvin Gordon and Jevontae Williams.  Neither of them has had more than 11 carries or scored a touchdown in the last three weeks after both having strong starts to the season.  Josh Jacobs does look like he can be better play than Booker in week seven with the Raiders getting back to the run he had the most carries of his season last week and has had a touchdown in back to back games.

Khalil Herbert

Another running back who has been filling in nicely is Khalil Herbert for the Bears.  Herbert has had 18 and 19 carries in the last two weeks and faces the Buccaneers in week seven but has proven to be matchup proof.  He looks like a better play than Michael Carter who has had a touchdown in back to back weeks for the Jets but only 38 rushing yards in each game and Myles Gaskin who has been underutilized in Miami.  James Conner looks like a better bet to score a touchdown for the Cardinals against Houston and could be a better and safer play as well.

Wide Receivers

D.K. Metcalf

For wide receivers let’s look at D.K. Metcalf first who doesn’t have Russell Wilson in the Seahawks matchup against the Saints.  He still put up six catches for 58 yards but like Lockett will miss that deep ball threat from Wilson.

Still Metcalf or Michael Pittman

Still Metcalf looks like a better play than Michael Pittman who a lot of people were high on last week but the return of TY Hilton took away his large target share he had before that game.

Metcalf vs DeVonta Smith

Another receiver that Metcalf should still be played over is DeVonta Smith who can be explosive but the Eagles don’t score many touchdowns on the year and Metcalf still has a better touchdown upside than Smith.

Consider playing Robert Woods over Metcalf as Woods had a massive week five game and then continued it with a touchdown in week six and now faces the Lions where he should have plenty of opportunities.

Mike Evans

Another interesting player and team to look at is Mike Evans on the Buccaneers.

This team seems to trade off of which receiver has a big week between the three of Evans, Antonio Brown, and Chris Godwin.

Mike Evans vs Brown vs Godwin

This week feels like a Mike Evans week although I would put Brown ahead of him still because he is safer to get a lot of shorter catches at least.  Evans could explode any week though and we haven’t really seen that much from Godwin so Evans seems to be a better play this week than Godwin until he can start to find the end zone again which he hasn’t done since week two.

Quarterback positions

Looking at the quarterback position there are a lot of fantasy starting quarterbacks on bye weeks such as Josh Allen, Dak Prescott, and Justin Herbert.

Let’s look at a backup fantasy quarterback you might have to fill in for your starter on a bye week.

Ryan Tannehill

Ryan Tannehill has not been the fantasy quarterback he was last year but gets the Chiefs in this week who are giving up the most points to fantasy quarterbacks on the year so far.

Tannehill looks like a better play than other backups such as Derek Carr who threw a season low 18 times last week without Jon Gruden and also Joe Burrow who will face the Ravens who shut down Justin Herbert last week.

Tua or Tannehill

Another fantasy backup to start over Tannehill could be Tua, who was mentioned earlier.  Tua is coming off of his best game as a pro arguably and has a dream matchup against the Falcons and unlike Tannehill has a good fantasy game this year.

Zach Ertz in Week 7

Zach Ertz is a very interesting tight end in week seven to try to predict.  Ertz has been productive in a split role with Dallas Goedert in Philadelphia but now is the number one tight end in Arizona.

That makes him the top pickup at tight end on the week but it remains to be seen if he will make an impact this week.  Ertz was just acquired Thursday which doesn’t give him a lot of time to practice or learn the plays and could see limited snaps.

It makes sense to take a flier on Ertz in week seven over some tight ends such as OJ Howard who has been inconsistent since Gronk has been injured and CJ Uzomah against the Ravens.

Some players to consider over Ertz however, are Hunter Henry against the Jets and Tyler Higbee who has been inconsistent but is a big play tight end looking for a breakout game against the beatable Lions after a good start to the season with five catches for 68 yards.