NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 7: Wide receivers

A.J. Green got a ton of looks last week, and that’s cool. Having Green on the field motivated is only going to help this passing game. Boyd has at least five receptions and 50 yards in four of five games this season. He did well against the Browns last time they played, going for 20.2 fantasy points, which was the ninth-highest total of the week. And with the Browns having allowed the fourth-most receiving yards per game this year, I’m in. Now, I don’t believe Cleveland is as bad as they looked against Pittsburgh (and Baltimore earlier). They aren’t going to be a push over. But with my guy Joey Burrow throwing 41 passes per game, give me part of this offense.

I feel for McLaurin right now. Asking him to be a productive receiver for the Football Team is like asking Gordon Ramsey to be a cook at Taco Bell. Sure his Doritos Tacos Locos might be the best; it would just be an underuse of his talents. The thing is, McLaurin has scored at least 11 fantasy points in five of six games. His 28% target share is the fourth in the NFL. And he’s getting on average six receptions per game. Love all of that. And the Cowboys defense is dreadful. They did keep DeAndre Hopkins out of the end zone last week, which cost me a victory in numerous leagues around the world. But I like McLaurin a lot. He might be a guy I have in all of my DFS lineups, too. 

I know, I know. Baker was benched last week. The Browns are the worst team in football again. And you’re never going to start a Browns player ever again. I know that meme, too. Just chill out, though. We’ve been pretty good at when we use OBJ this season. He’s like a high-end IPA. You can’t just break those things out every night. You have to use your best judgement and find the right moment. This is the right moment. We saw OBJ against the Bengals in Week 2. He scored 17.4 fantasy points. The Bengals have allowed a top-20 receiver five times in the last four games. I expect this to be a fun game with a lot of points.

Sometimes I feel like we have given the Jaguars way too much credit for the way they started the season. Kind of like when you’re golfing and you hit a couple of pars off the top. And you start getting ahead of yourself thinking that this is the day you’re going to shoot in the 70s. And then you triple bogey No. 3 and you end up in the 90s again and you wonder what’s even the point of playing. That’s what it is like with Chark. He’s had some OK games. He’s had at least 11 points in four of five games this year. And the Chargers have allowed the fourth-most yards per game this year. The matchup is sound. I’m going to choose to believe.

You’re like, “great job, Rank. Way to tell me to start the guy who has smashed for the past two weeks.” That’s fair. He’s had at least 17 fantasy points in three of his last four games and is currently the WR4 since Week 2. Six scrimmage touchdowns will do that for you. But I’ve received questions from people who worry about the matchup with the Titans. But Tennessee is undefeated. It isn't invincible. The Titans have allowed the second-most fantasy points to receivers since Week 2. So don’t worry about it. He’s a great start this week. And I really do believe this will start impacting JuJu Smith-Schuster in a positive way. And if somebody in your league has given up on JuJu, then you need to see if you can swing a deal.

Woods scored a touchdown this week, and it was kind of upsetting for all of the shares of Cooper Kupp I have. And really, Kupp should have had a pair of scores, but kind of blew that one. I honestly don’t believe the Rams are as bad as they showed on Sunday night. I liked them as the best team in the NFC at the moment. The Packers lost their claim. Seattle is still undefeated, but can’t stop anybody. This is a prove-it game for the Rams. The thing is, they have averaged more than 30 points in three games on the East Coast. The offense hasn’t been as good in California (Sunday’s game in NorCal being the latest example). Now they have the Bears, who have allowed one receiving touchdown to wide receivers this season, and only one top-20 fantasy receiver this year (D.J. Moore last week). It’s going to be tough for Woods and Kupp.

Speaking of Moore, he was the most-targeted receiver for the Panthers on Sunday. But he dropped a lot of passes and didn’t look like he was on the same page as Teddy Bridgewater a lot of the times. He could have won the game for the Panthers, or at least put them in position to win, but he made some crucial mistakes. He hasn’t been consistent, either. Just one game with more than 20 fantasy points. He’s scored just one touchdown on the season. And the Saints have allowed the fewest receptions per game to wideouts this year.

I know the moment I cast any doubt on Lockett, he’s going to put up a monster game. He had 13 targets in Week 3, but just nine in the following two games. Lockett has also had less than nine points in back-to-back games as a result. DK Metcalf is the more consistent threat. They are like a tag team and one of them is about to turn heel. I guess in this instance it would be Lockett, since he’s getting overshadowed by the bigger, younger guy. Like when Evolution turned on Randy Orton? That’s not perfect. Maybe X-Pac turning on Kane? I’ll think about this some more.

I know, you weren’t going to start him anyway. Maybe I should have listed Tim Patrick, who has been a better receiver over the past couple of games. But Jeudy has less than 65 receiving yards in every game this season. The Broncos offense hasn’t been prolific enough, either, averaging just one passing touchdown per game this year. The Chiefs allowed just the second receiver to land in the top 15 this season when Stefon Diggs was able to accomplish that. But if you watched the game, the Bills were so intent on getting Diggs there, it was ridiculous. I say that as someone who was going against Diggs in that game. But I have a hard time trusting any Broncos pass catcher this week.