Fantasy Fallout: Week 7

By :: Mike Johnson (Mjohnson86) and Tony Kneepkens (Tonytk44)

Welcome to the Monday edition of the Daily Dose newsletter, our “Fantasy Fallout” day. In this article, you will get a quick rundown of the relevant things we learned from the week’s games from Thursday through Sunday. 

We won’t talk about every single player and we usually won’t spend time on studs who go nuts (no one needs to be told to start Bijan Robinson right now!), but rather, the idea is to update you on usage trends, injuries, and other relevant things to help your decisions with your teams for the coming week and beyond.

STEELERS @ BENGALS

• Joe Flacco passed for a monster 342-3 line with no turnovers and brought the Cincy offense back to life. The grizzled veteran threw 23 passes to Ja’Marr Chase (16-161-1) and 10 passes to Tee Higgins (6-96-1). RB Chase Brown joined in the fun with a season-best 100 scrimmage yards.

• Aaron Rodgers passed for 249-4-2 and completed passes to eight different players. Pat Freiermuth led the Steelers with a 5-111-2 line on six targets; he was one of three Pittsburgh TEs with 5+ targets.

• Jaylen Warren was afforded 21 of the Steelers’ 26 RB opportunities and racked up 158 scrimmage yards in the back-and-forth game script. Kenneth Gainwell had five touches for 15 scrimmage yards. Warren and DK Metcalf (3-50) are the only Steelers who should be priority starters in fantasy leagues for now.

RAMS @ JAGUARS

• Matthew Stafford threw for 182 yards and 5 TDs in London, tossing three of them to Davante Adams (5-35-3) and leading the Rams to an easy victory without superstar WR Puka Nacua.

• Kyren Williams and Blake Corum split the RB work with 12 carries each. Williams had three of the team's four RB targets and finished with 65 scrimmage yards, while Corum had 43. Kyren’s managers should not be alarmed, Corum handled six of the team’s final seven RB carries in a lopsided win.

• Trevor Lawrence completed less than half of his 48 passing attempts for an uninspiring 296-1 line, he didn’t lead the Jags to a scoring drive until they were down 28 points with nine minutes left in the game. Travis Hunter was a fantasy bright spot for Jacksonville, breaking out with an 8-101-1 stat line on a whopping 14 targets (29% target share).

• Both of these teams head to their bye weeks in Week 8 off of their trip overseas.

SAINTS @ BEARS

• Saints QB Spencer Rattler turned the ball over four times as the Saints lost an ugly game in Chicago. New Orleans is now 1-6 with games against the Bucs and Rams on deck, it wouldn’t be surprising to see 2025 second-round draft pick Tyler Shough get an opportunity to start in the near future.

• Chris Olave finally turned his massive volume into a smash game with five receptions for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Olave now has 98 receiving yards in consecutive games and should continue seeing massive volume as the Saints struggle to be competitive.

• New Orleans RB Kendre Miller had seen his role grow in recent weeks, but he suffered a first-quarter knee injury, which afforded Alvin Kamara a season-high snap rate. 

• Chicago had a run-heavy game plan due to the weather and jumping out to an early lead. Don’t panic on Caleb Williams or Rome Odunze. DJ Moore could be a good trade target as he is playing well, and in different game scripts he’s sure to pop off for a big game or two in the coming weeks.

• D’Andre Swift played great again and rookie RB Kyle Monangai had his best game of the season. This will be a productive backfield under head coach Ben Johnson, especially in juicy matchups like this one.

DOLPHINS @ BROWNS

• The Dolphins are a train wreck in general, but they are also probably the NFL team worst equipped to deal with the tough weather conditions they faced in Cleveland. Next week they get to play in a dome but have to deal with the Falcons’ elite defense. Jaylen Waddle and De’Von Achane are the only guys you can start from Miami. Waddle and Darren Waller left the game early, the former due to the score being out of hand the latter because of a pectoral injury that will bear monitoring this week.

• Quinshon Judkins did what workhorse running backs do to the Dolphins and posted 26 fantasy points thanks to three touchdown runs. Back to reality next week against the Patriots for Judkins, but the thing we should be focused on here is that the Dolphins’ run defense gets to escort the Falcons’ running backs to the end zone in Week 8.

• No real takeaways for the Browns passing game, as they only threw the ball 18 times due to game script.

RAIDERS @ CHIEFS

• The Raiders only ran 30 offensive plays in this game. There are no words that can accurately describe that level of ineptitude. WR Jakobi Meyers and TE Brock Bowers were both out for this game but should be back after the Raiders’ Week 8 bye.

• Rashee Rice got right back in the swing of things with seven receptions for 42 yards and two touchdowns, almost all of which came in the first half. Haters will point to the lack of yardage, but Rice was immediately the engine of the offense and will have some massive games in the coming weeks.

• Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt was injured in the first quarter and did return but played less than rookie Brashard Smith for the first time this season. Smith is explosive and dynamic, and he should be rostered in all leagues.

EAGLES @ VIKINGS

• The Eagles took their “mini-bye” after last Thursday’s debacle to re-calibrate their offense. The result? A dominant performance from their passing game against a very good Minnesota defensive scheme. Jalen Hurts went off through the air, with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith reminding everyone they are one of the best receiver duos in the league.

• Saquon Barkley had another poor outing, but the passing game’s rejuvenation is a great thing for his outlook. If this offense opens up again, Barkley is going to have some of his patented smash games ahead.

• Carson Wentz started another game as J.J. McCarthy (ankle) is not quite ready to return yet. Minnesota is now in last place in the NFC North with a trip to L.A. to face the Chargers on Thursday night.

• It should be noted that veteran RB Aaron Jones is now eligible to return from IR and we should watch for reports on his status.

PANTHERS @ JETS

• Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle effectively had an even split of the running back work for Carolina. Dowdle was far more efficient with his opportunities, but this will likely remain a frustrating committee in the coming weeks while also going off script in some games where head coach Dave Canales opts to ride the hot hand.

• Bryce Young left this game with an ankle injury in the third quarter and was replaced by Andy Dalton. Neither player is one you should be excited to get in your lineup anyway, and Dalton is solid enough to maintain the value of the rest of the offensive pieces.

• Xavier Legette had the best game of his career and Carolina got Jalen Coker back, but he was eased in on only 35% of the offensive snaps.

• Justin Fields was benched as the Panthers didn’t score enough points to let the Jets get empty stats in garbage time. Things are looking bleak in New York.

PATRIOTS @ TITANS

• Drake Maye continued to show that he is a top-10 NFL QB in real life and in fantasy with a near-flawless performance. The only problem with the Patriots is they involve so many players that it is hard to count on any of them.

• Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson played 77% of the team’s offensive snaps and had a great game with 88 yards and a touchdown in a great matchup. The Patriots play two very good run defenses in the Browns and Falcons the next two weeks.

• Tennessee’s offense sprung to life with 13 first-half points but returned to who we thought they were the rest of the way with under 100 yards from scrimmage and two turnovers in the second half.

GIANTS @ BRONCOS

• Bo Nix had 279-2 passing and another 48-2 rushing and the Broncos scored all 33 of their points in the fourth quarter in a wild comeback win. Nix spread the ball to nine different pass catchers, led by Courtland Sutton (6-87) and Marvin Mims Jr. (6-85).

• J.K. Dobbins handled 14 of 18 RB carries but only one of five RB targets, finishing the day with 80 scoreless scrimmage yards. RJ Harvey remained the primary backup, handling the rest of the RB carries and catching a two-yard TD from Nix.

• Jaxson Dart completed less than half of his passes against a tough Denver defense, but he continued to show lots of positives and had his best career fantasy performance, finishing with 283-2-1 passing and adding a rushing TD. Wan’Dale Robinson led the Giants with a dozen targets, six catches, and 95 receiving yards and TE Theo Johnson (3-66-1) continued to show chemistry with his rookie QB.

• Cam Skattebo also performed admirably in a tough matchup, handling 19 touches for 94 scrimmage yards and a receiving TD. Tyrone Tracy Jr. chipped in with 9-46-1 on the ground but wasn’t involved in the passing game, while Skattebo had six targets, third on the team.

COLTS @ CHARGERS

• Daniel Jones had a solid 288-2 passing line, his third straight game with multiple passing TDs. Alec Pierce led the team with 10 targets, catching half for 98 yards. He was afforded an expanded role with Josh Downs missing the game. Tyler Warren (4-69-1) and Michael Pittman Jr. (7-58-1) caught the TDs from Jones.

• Justin Herbert completed 37 of 55 passes for a 420-3-2 line and led the Chargers with 31 yards on the ground. Kimani Vidal had 14 of the Chargers 17 RB opportunities but was held to 35 scrimmage yards. Hassan Haskins had five yards on his three touches.

• A total of 44 of Herbert’s 55 passes (80%) went to his top three WRs and starting TE, and the 55 attempts led to some fantasy-friendly box scores. Oronde Gadsden (7-164-1), Keenan Allen (11-119-1), and Ladd McConkey (9-67) racked up huge PPR scores and Quentin Johnston (2-30-1) salvaged his day with his fifth TD of the season. Gadsden now has consecutive seven-catch games and 17 targets over the past two weeks. He makes for an interesting waiver option at TE heading into a week with several high-profile TE options on their bye.

PACKERS @ CARDINALS

• Josh Jacobs survived a dreaded late-window “true game-time decision” questionable designation and handled 14 of 22 RB opportunities for 58 scrimmage yards and a pair of rushing TDs.

• Jordan Love (179-1) threw 22 of his 29 passes (76%) to Tucker Kraft (5-58-1), Romeo Doubs (6-72), and Matthew Golden (4-37). Kraft is an obvious TE starter any week, but Doubs and Golden make for interesting plays heading into a Week 8 road primetime showdown against a beatable Steelers defense that was just torched by Flacco, Chase, and Higgins on Thursday night.

• Bam Knight (64 scrimmage yards) handled two-thirds of the Cards’ RB carries and Michael Carter (36 scrimmage yards) got the rest.

• Jacoby Brissett had a solid 279-2 passing game while making another spot start for Kyler Murray. He threw more than half of his 36 passes to Trey McBride (10-74-2) and Marvin Harrison Jr. (2-58). Murray has been rumored to be ready to return following the Cardinals’ Week 8 bye.

COMMANDERS @ COWBOYS

• Commanders superstar QB Jayden Daniels left the game with an apparent hamstring injury and his status must be monitored. Fantasy managers should be prepared to make other arrangements for at least the short-term as the team heads to KC next week, playing on Monday Night Football.

• CeeDee Lamb (5-110-1) returned to the lineup to lead the Cowboys in targets, catches, and receiving yards. Dak Prescott (264-3) wisely threw 25 of his 30 passes to Lamb, Jake Ferguson (7-29-2), George Pickens (4-82), and RB Javonte Williams. Williams finished with 118 scrimmage yards and a rushing TD.

• Jacory Croskey-Merritt continued to operate as Washington’s top RB, being afforded 15 of the Commanders’ 23 RB opportunities, but he was held to 32 scoreless scrimmage yards. Zach Ertz (3-37-1) paced the Commanders in targets while rookie Jaylin Lane (3-60) led them in receiving yards while playing without Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel.

FALCONS @ 49ERS

• George Kittle returned to the 49ers lineup for his first game action since Week 1. He didn’t catch either of his two targets from Mac Jones but helped the 49ers revitalize their running game and will be one of the top fantasy options at TE any week that he suits up.

• Jauan Jennings (4-31) had the most targets among SF WRs and TEs and should have brighter days ahead, especially once he has QB Brock Purdy back and as they both start to move past their various injuries.

• Michael Penix Jr. (241-1) threw more than half of his 38 passes to Kyle Pitts (7-62) and Drake London (4-42). Bijan Robinson (92 scrimmage yards) had eight targets, third on the team, while Darnell Mooney (3-68) paced the Falcons in receiving yards in their SNF loss to the 49ers.