NFL Players You Should Start & Sit in Fantasy Football for Week 7

Time flies, doesn’t it? It feels like fantasy drafts just wrapped up yesterday.

Nonetheless, here we are. We’ve just about reached the midway point of the fantasy football regular season. Most players have seven weeks remaining before the playoffs begin. That’s it!

In Week 6, some of our fantasy heroes of Week 5 flopped—wide receivers, in particular (Will Fuller, Amari Cooper, D.J. Chark). However, several big-name QBs saved the day by continuing their recent hot streaks—Deshaun Watson, Matt Ryan, and Russell Wilson.

Meanwhile, two hyped-up AFC North running backs—James Conner and Nick Chubb—are proving themselves worthy of the substantial preseason attention they received, while a third (Joe Mixon) still can’t find his rhythm. Given the first-round pick you probably spent on him, we know this suggestion is painful, but it might be time to float Mixon out there to other managers in your league as trade bait—particularly if you’re out of the playoff picture presently. Gotta take a chance and cut your losses.

So, which players and storylines will define Week 7 of the 2019 NFL season? We’re here to give you a heads-up on what might unfold.

Below, we lay out players who are must-starts and must-sits for your fantasy lineup, based on variables such as opponent strength, recent trends, and injuries.

If you’d like to keep tabs on how we’ve performed to date, you can check out our picks for Weeks 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.

Last week, we told you to start Matt Ryan, and the veteran from BC proved worthy of the prediction. In the Falcons' narrow loss to the Cardinals, Matty Ice was practically flawless, completing 83.3 percent of his passes for 356 yards and four touchdowns to zero picks. His QBR was 144.9. One hundred forty-four point nine!

Freeman was also a stud, running 19 times for 88 yards but making an even bigger mark in the passing game. Of his three catches, two turned into scores. The former fourth-round pick from FSU struggled early in the year but is now finding his stride. And in Week 7, he has an advantageous matchup against the Rams.

Murray has been up and down early in his career, but he’s gotten ample opportunity to shine. He has the fourth-most pass attempts in the league. And he had by far his best game as a pro in Week 6, completing 73 percent of his passes for 340 yards and three TDs to zero INTs. The 22-year-old is going to be a star; it’s just a matter of him getting accustomed to the NFL amid the typical trials of your rookie campaign.

He’s a great play this week against the Giants, who have the second-worst passing D in the league. Despite losing Josh Gordon, Tom Brady shredded Big Blue’s secondary last week, spreading the ball around to eight different receivers. Expect Murray to build on his uplifting Week 6 performance with another strong outing.

Coming off a bye, the Bills are 4-1 and feeling pretty good about themselves. Granted, they haven’t played the toughest schedule so far, with wins over the Jets, Giants, Bengals, and Titans. But they played New England well, and they have a legitimate shot at making the postseason as part of the crowded AFC second tier.

The Bills now play the Dolphins two times in five weeks so they’re feeling #blessed in Western New York. The Fins are simply miserable. They couldn’t even corral the lowly Redskins. They’re No. 26 in pass defense and No. 31 in run defense. And given Allen’s dual abilities as passer and runner, that spells danger. The two best games of Allen’s rookie season both came against Miami. We’re all-in on him this week.

Gallup missed two weeks with a knee injury, but he's been back for the Cowboys' two most recent games. In their surprising loss to the Jets on Sunday, Amari Cooper suffered a thigh injury and was knocked out of the game almost immediately. Gallup got seven targets, but only caught four passes for 48 yards. Nonetheless, we like his matchup with Philly this week.

The Eagles have the No. 28 pass D in the league and just got blown up by the Vikings’ pass game. They’ve given up six 100-yard receiving days in their past six games (to Stefon Diggs, Davante Adams, Marvin Jones, Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, and Terry McLaurin). Further, Cooper’s status is in serious doubt. Even if he does play—which appears to be a long shot -- he’ll be limited. Dallas has a bye coming up, so the Cowboys would be wise to play the long game and give Cooper the extended rest. Gallup has been boom-or-bust this season; bet on ‘boom’ for the 2018 third-round pick in Week 7.

Robinson is another big-name player who took some time to find a rhythm this season, largely a result of Mitchell Trubisky’s struggles. But Robinson looked like his vintage Jacksonville self while playing with Chase Daniel in Week 5, catching seven passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Oakland. Finally, some real points on the board for A-Rob!

We believe in Robinson again this week. Though New Orleans has a respectable defense, Chris Godwin lit the Saints up two weeks ago, Tyler Lockett and DeAndre Hopkins did it earlier this season, and Robinson will be the receiver with the opportunity to post big numbers this week. He's gotten plenty of targets all season—his 42 are almost three times the next-highest wideout on the list (Anthony Miller with 15)—so you can count on him as a volume play. He has a high floor.

We are Auden Tate fans, so don’t consider this pick a reflection of his long-term value (snag him if you still can, dynasty owners!).The 2018 seventh-round pick from Florida State is getting a chance this year, and he's shown flashes of potential. This past week, in a loss to Baltimore, he received 12 targets, his second double-digit-target game of the season, and caught five balls for 91 yards.

The Bengals are 0-6 and going nowhere in Year 1 of the Zac Taylor Era, so they’re giving Tate a chance to prove himself. His role in the offense will only increase when (not if) A.J. Green is traded. However, Cincy plays a stingy Jaguars D this week. The Jags mostly held Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara in check in Week 6 and they’ll key in on stopping Tate and Mixon in Week 7.

Anderson finally broke through in Week 6 with Sam Darnold back after a bout with mono. Anderson caught five passes for 125 yards and a touchdown. Prior to the win over the Cowboys, though, the 26-year-old speedster had only 11 catches through four games this season.

Darnold’s return increases Anderson’s value to fantasy owners by, like, 500 percent. But the matchup this week—against New England—is daunting. Last season, Anderson had two of his worst games as a Jet against New England, and the Patriots’ D is measurably better this season. Stephon Gilmore will likely flank him, which means...a tough day at the office for the former Temple standout.

Sigh. What once was for Ekeler fantasy managers. Then Melvin Gordon returned and ruined everything. Gordon has failed to please Chargers fans, to say the least, in his two weeks of action following a contract holdout. He has 20 carries for 49 yards (an average of 2.5 yards per carry).

Ekeler has struggled in the past two weeks as well, totaling only 21 rushing yards. The Chargers’ offense is all out of sorts at the moment, so neither of those guys should be a confident play at this point. That’s not to mention that L.A. draws a tough opponent in Week 7 in Tennessee. Keep Ekeler on the bench this week—though he should be a consistent RB1 when the Chargers move on from Gordon, either this year (via trade) or in the offseason.

Montgomery hasn't posted great rushing numbers this season: 69 carries for 225 yards (3.3 YPC) and two touchdowns. And he has only nine catches. But he's a rookie, he’s clearly still figuring things out (including his role in Chicago’s offense), and Matt Nagy & Co. believe in him. All the noise is positive. He should develop into a solid back in this league for years to come.

Nonetheless, the Saints present a challenge this week. Their run defense, though only ranked No. 14 in the league, is improving each week, as evidenced over the past two weeks by their performances against Leonard Fournette (3.6 YPC) and the Bucs' two-headed monster of Ronald Jones and Peyton Barber. We like this matchup more for Tarik Cohen than Montgomery, but neither is a strong play.

Wentz threw the ball 40 times in the Eagles' rough loss to Minnesota in Week 6, completing 65 percent of his throws for 306 yards, two TDs and an INT. He hasn't been great this year—though he has mostly taken care of the ball (three total turnovers)—and faces a big challenge this week.

The Sunday night matchup pits the Eagles against Dallas. Both teams are 3-3, tied at the top of the NFC East. The Cowboys have a talented defense, but more importantly, they’re desperate for a win, with questions rising about Jason Garrett’s job security and the team’s Super Bowl aspirations. When this Dallas team is good, it’s really good, and we’re expecting that version of America’s Team to show up with the nation watching on Sunday.