Another week passed in the NFL and another week of injuries ravage over through the league. Most of the injuries will not affect pickups, but they did seem to solve some two-headed RB Committee issues that fantasy owners may have had. For example Knowshown Moreno is done for the year, enter Lamar Miller. Darren Sproles will miss a couple weeks, just more touches for LeSean McCoy. I will not be going over players like Odell Beckham Jr or Reuben Randle because I expect those players to be already picked up in your leagues, but if they are out there, go after them 1st because the Victor Cruz injury will keep him out for the year. As for the other pickups that might not be as easy to find, let’s get right to the NFL Week 7 Pickups.
QBs
Ryan Tannehill – A lot of people may not be high on Tannehill right now, but he played okay last week. He also has a pretty good schedule for the next month or so. He’s not going to carry your team on his back, but he is good enough to make sure your QB position doesn’t bomb and unless you have a top 6-7 QB, that’s all you can hope for right now.
Derek Carr – Last week Carr wasn’t supposed to play. Not only did he play, but he had by far the best game of his young career. Even though the Raiders lost, Carr threw for 282 yards and 4 TDs. The bye week seems to have settled him down and he has Arizona and Cleveland the next two games, two teams that haven’t been as good as expected against the pass.
RBs
Jerick McKinnon – “Release the McKinnon” is what fantasy owners will be saying this week. McKinnon not only got the start last week, but dominated the time on the field over Matt Asiata. McKinnon is far more athletic and looks to be the future RB for this team. He may not have a great matchup this week, but he is the best person to pick up long-term.
James Stewart – I get the people who will just want to ignore this pick altogether because they’ve heard it all before. The backfield of Stewart and DeAngelo Williams has been back and forth so much, it’s best to probably stay away from the situation. However, Stewart is probably going to be back either this week or next, so if you are looking for a one week starter, he’s your guy..
Storm Johnson – Believe it or not, the underuse of Johnson last week was planned. It says a lot about how the coaches really feel about the 7th round pick. He will once again lead the pathetic backfield of the Jags and should get around 12-13 carries this week. Not much to bank on, but he’s playing a bad rushing defense and may sneak a score in like last week.
WRs
Cecil Shorts III – He’s always an injury risk, but Shorts is definitely worth a pickup. When he is on the field he is a game changer and because he runs great routes, he’s a rookie QB’s best friend. The Jags don’t have a reliable TE, which is normally a young QB’s favorite target, so Shorts should be productive the rest of the year, barring another injury of course.
Andre Holmes – At the worst, Holmes seems to be Derek Carr’s favorite deep threat, at best, the freakishly athletic WR maybe the Raiders new #1 weapon. At 6’4 215 lbs, Holmes runs a 4.5 and has a rare combination of size, speed, and pure athletic ability that you see, even in a league of great athletes. He’s someone to pick up and can be used in a flex spot every week.
TEs
Jared Cook – There have been a lot of up and down regarding the TE position. Someone haven’t performed the way as expected, some have been inconsistent and some just flat out hurt. Cook is going to give you what you expect most of the time. Nothing great, but he’ll also never flatten out for you. He will get you 50-80 yards on most weeks and once every 2-3 weeks, he’ll throw in a TD.
Josh Hill – With Jimmy Graham expected to miss a week or two, his spot will be replaced by Josh Hill and Ben Watson. Hill, in my opinion, is the better guy to pick up. He is athletic and can run some of the routes that Graham does. He isn’t as good of a blocker, which is why Watson is there, but he should be a solid fill in.
DEFs
Cleveland Browns Defense – If you haven’t check the schedule lately, the next three weeks, the Browns play 3 teams that are not very good offensively in the Jaguars, Raiders, and Buccaneers. This is probably one of the best 3 game stretches you can get from a streaming defense.
Buffalo Bills Defense – If you want to talk about good immediate streaming defenses. The next two weeks the Bills play the Vikings and Jets. If Buffalo can’t do well against those teams, they might as well be left un-owned for the rest of the year.
New England Patriots Defense – The Pats defense has been pretty solid lately. They have broken double digits the last couple weeks by normal scoring and face the Jets on a short week. The Jets have given the 4th most fantasy points to their opposing defenses.
Those are your NFL week 7 pickups. Enjoy the games.
