Fantasy Football Start or Sit, Week 7: Get Matt Ryan in your lineups

Fantasy football starts and sits for Week 7 of the 2020 NFL season.

This is the point of the NFL season that can make or break your fantasy football season. Even if you are staring at a losing record through these first six weeks, a comeback and playoff run is possible if you consistently make the right start and sit decisions.

If that means benching a player with a big name and a tough matchup for a bench player with a good one or cutting ties with underperforming players like JuJu Smith-Schuster, who was drafted as a high-end WR2 but is currently the WR38.

In Week 7, the Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts are on bye, so your fantasy football lineups will be without Devante Parker, Adam Thielen, Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook, Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews and Jonathan Taylor.

Here are players that you should feel confident starting in their absence and those who need to ride the bench in Week 7.

Note: All fantasy stats info via Fantasy Pros.

Fantasy Football Starts for Week 7

QB Matt Ryan, Atlanta (vs. Detroit)

After three down weeks, Matt Ryan exploded in Week 6 for 371 yards and four touchdowns. There seems to be a pretty clear correlation with Julio Jones’s health and Matt Ryan’s performance, and with Jones appearing fully healed, Ryan should be a locked-in QB1 in a soft matchup with Detroit.

Projection: 335 yards, 3 touchdowns, 25.4 fantasy points. 

QB Matthew Stafford, Detroit (vs. Atlanta)

Stafford failed to make the most of his matchup in Week 6, only throwing for 223 yards, a touchdown, and an interception against Jacksonville. However, this stat line does not tell the whole tale, as the Detroit running backs accounted for two early goal-line touchdowns and game script took over from there.

With Atlanta likely to be a more competitive offense and an even weaker defense, Stafford should be in for a big game this week.

Projection: 321 yards, 3 touchdowns, 20 rushing yards, 26.8 fantasy points. 

RB Ronald Jones II, Tampa Bay (vs. Las Vegas)

Since taking over the backfield, Ronald Jones II has gone for over 100 yards rushing in three straight. Regardless of whether or not Leonard Fournette is active, this is clearly Jones’s backfield to lose. Twenty opportunities against a league-worst rushing defense in Las Vegas should provide an RB1 finish.

Projection: 133 total yards, 2 receptions, touchdown, 20.3 fantasy points. 

RB Antonio Gibson, Washington (vs. Dallas)

Antonio Gibson has been relatively disappointing thus far and is clearly stuck in a committee with J.D McKissic. However, the good news is that Gibson gets a majority of the rushing work, out-touching McKissic 64-27 on the ground, and is still seeing work in the receiving game, seeing five targets each of the past three games.

Gibson also gets an entirety of the goal-line work and gets to face a Dallas defense that just revived Kenyan Drake’s season. Though his limited workload caps his upside, you can still view him as an RB2 in this matchup where Washington may actually not be playing from behind.

Projection: 81 total yards, 4 receptions, touchdown, 16.1 fantasy points. 

WR Will Fuller V, Houston (vs. Green Bay)

Will Fuller is no longer the boom-bust player that we have become accustomed to and has become one of the most consistent fantasy options at the volatile position of wide receiver.

Despite a tough Green Bay matchup, Houston’s offense is starting to pick up the pace and has put up their two highest-scoring games the past two weeks. At this point, the only risk Fuller carries is injury, as he has either scored a touchdown or gone over 100 yards in every game he has played this season and should be locked in as a borderline WR1 in your lineup.

Projection: 7 receptions, 109 yards, touchdown, 20.4 fantasy points. 

TE TJ Hockenson, Detroit (vs. Atlanta)

Speaking of consistent, T.J. Hockenson has seen at least four targets in every game and found the end zone in three of five. Even though he has yet to put up a monster game he is clearly a part of the Detroit passing game, which should be in full swing against Atlanta’s pitiful defense. With the current tight end landscape, Hockenson is an easy TE1 with the floor he offers week-in and week-out.

Projection: 5 receptions, 69 yards, touchdown, 15.4 fantasy points. 

Fantasy Football Sits for Week 7

QB Jared Goff, Los Angeles (vs. Chicago)

Goff struggled in Week 6, throwing for only 198 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception en route to a tough divisional loss. Despite being the QB13 on the year, it is important to acknowledge that they have played the entirety of the historically bad NFC East thus far and he has disappeared against any legitimate defense.

Now he gets a matchup with Chicago, who is allowing the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks and has shut down the likes of Tom Brady and Matt Ryan.

Projection: 210 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 14.4 fantasy points. 

RB Le’Veon Bell, Kansas City (vs. Denver)

The fantasy football world got quite a surprise with the release and subsequent signing of running back Le’Veon Bell. Even though Bell was unable to get anything going in his time with the Jets, he finds himself in a much more favorable situation with the Chiefs, despite likely facing a smaller workload.

With his first game in a Chiefs uniform being against the league’s best run defense, keep Bell on the bench until his role in his new offense becomes more clear.

Projection: 39 total yards, 2 receptions, 4.9 fantasy points. 

WR Julian Edelman, New England (vs. San Fransisco)

Since putting up a career performance in Week 2, Edelman has caught seven passes for 66 yards. Whether you chalk it up to having Cam Newton out with COVID or his old age, the fact of the matter is he is no longer producing at the consistent level he was with Brady under center. With San Fransisco having a formidable defense, Edelman should not be in your fantasy lineup until the Patriots offense begins to take form.

Projection: 4 receptions, 37 yards, 5.7 fantasy points. 

WR Jerry Jeudy, Denver (vs. Kansas City)

After seeing an average of eight targets per game over the first three weeks, Jeudy has only seen nine in his past two. While many hoped he would immediately step into the WR1 role with the injury to Courtland Sutton, that has not been the case with a lot of the spare targets being given to Tim Patrick.

Even with the game-script likely being in Jeudy’s favor, Kansas City boasts a formidable secondary and with Noah Fant nearing full health, he could very well be the third target in a game where the Broncos offense is shut down.

Projection: 3 receptions, 49 yards, 6.4 fantasy points. 

TE Eric Ebron, Pittsburgh (vs. Tennessee)

With Ebron being a tight end that many fantasy managers have looked to in these desperate times, he has been unable to produce in recent weeks despite great matchups. The problem with Ebron is that there are just too many mouths to feed in the Pittsburgh offense.

With the emergence of rookie wideout Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson looking to be healthy, Ebron is going to be the fourth look in the Steelers offense, and fantasy managers can certainly do better on the waiver wire.