Saturday, October 24, 2020

Fantasy Football Start'Em, Sit'Em: Week 7 WRs

The decision on which player to start, or sit, largely comes down to the options on your roster (and/or possibly the players available on your league's waiver wire).

As an example, Chase Claypool is listed below as a "start" for Week 7. And we'd certainly be comfortable going into Week 7 with him as one of our starting wide receivers.

Then again, Claypool may be a "sit" for your team.

In other words, if you own both Davante Adams, Calvin Ridley and Claypool and start two wide receivers, you should start Adams and Ridley and, in turn, bench Claypool.

For a more direct answer on whether we would start Player X over Player Y, check it our Week 7 Fantasy Football Rankings. Instead of those direct comparisons, the goal here is to highlight players that we like, or dislike, for the week.

Week 7 Fantasy Football WR Start'em

Chase Claypool, Pittsburgh Steelers (at TEN)

As teammate Joe Haden had said, Claypool was going to a "problem" (for opposing secondaries) and that he has. The rookie out of Notre Dame is a height-weight-speed mismatch and he has a total of six touchdowns in his past four games. During that four-game stretch, Mapletron has 15 catches for 296 yards and four touchdowns plus 15 rushing yards and another two scores.

Robby Anderson, Carolina Panthers (at NO)

Anderson has exceeded our expectations for the 2020 season. Across all scoring formats, the former Jet is a top-10 receiver -- 10th in non-PPR, ninth in half-PPR and sixth in PPR -- despite scoring only one touchdown this season. Through six games, Anderson has 40 catches for 566 yards and a touchdown. While he has 99-plus yards in four of six games, he has yet to have less than 55 receiving yards or four receptions in any game this season.

Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills (at NYJ)

Based on implied totals from Vegas odds, the Bills are forecast to score the fourth-most points this week. And while the Bills are double-digit favorites, which could prompt them to take their foot off the gas early, Diggs has been extremely consistent all season. Not only does he have three 100-yard games, but he now has 86-plus yards and/or a touchdown in every game this season. Averaging nearly double-digit targets per game (9.83), Diggs had eight catches for 86 yards on nine targets in his first matchup against the Jets.

Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals (vs. CLE)

Higgins set career highs in receptions (six) and yards (125) last week and now has a minimum of 62 yards in three consecutive games. Over the past four weeks, the Clemson rookie has scored double-digit fantasy points (half-PPR) in three games with an average of 13.35 per game. In addition, Higgins has a minimum of seven targets per game over that span and an average of eight per contest. Inside my top-24 fantasy wide receivers for the week, Higgins is a viable WR2 and my preferred Bengals receiver for Week 7.

Week 7 Fantasy Football WR Sit'em

JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers (at TEN)

Since starting the season with a bang (6/69/2 at NYG), Smith-Schuster has failed to reach the 50-yard mark. In fact, his weekly yardage total has dropped every week this season: 69, 48, 43, 28 and six. Meanwhile, here is how JSS has performed since Week 2 (half-PPR scoring): WR48, WR25, WR63 and WR86. With the emergence of Claypool (see above) and return of Diontae Johnson, it's difficult to trust Smith-Schuster as anything more than a low-end WR3 or flex option in Week 7.

Julian Edelman, New England Patriots (vs. SF)

Like Smith-Schuster, Edelman has struggled more recently for fantasy owners. Edelman had 13 catches for 236 yards on 18 scoreless targets in the first two weeks of the season, but since then, he has finished with 2/23 (Week 3), 3/35 (Week 4), BYE (Week 5) and 2/8 (Week 6). In other words, Edelman hasn't finished as a top-65 weekly wide receiver since Week 2. The 49ers defense has been decimated by injuries, but they have allowed the ninth-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing receivers this season.

A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals (vs. CLE)

Targeted 11 times in Week 6, Green turned in his best performance (8/96, WR16) of the season last week. Another positive for Green was a season-high in targets (13) the first time the Bengals faced the Browns this season. That said, AJG's only weekly finish inside the top 45 wide receivers was last week's performance. Meanwhile, Tee Higgins has emerged as a more reliable target for fellow rookie Joe Burrow. Despite his immense talent, we'd prefer to see him string together two strong outings before trusting him in our lineups.

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