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Joe Flacco and Aaron Rodgers turned back the clock to a different NFL era Thursday, with the 40-something QBs combining for seven touchdowns and nearly 600 passing yards in an outrageous game between the Steelers and Bengals that may end up being the week’s best. Some of us are now trailing Ja’Marr Chase-led opponents by hilarious margins. If you find yourself in such a predicament, let’s not abandon hope. It’s time to get to work …
📰 Lineup NewsInjury carousel keeps turnin’
Weather advisory: Conditions could be messy in Cleveland during the Dolphins-Browns game, including significant rainfall and potentially high winds. Nothing like an autumn monsoon on the shores of Lake Erie. We can trust RBs Quinshon Judkins and De’Von Achane, but it’s a sit-the-kickers situation. Both passing attacks will suffer.
Rams WR Puka Nacua’s ankle injury will prevent him from facing the Jaguars in London on Sunday morning, but it sounds like he should be clear to return after L.A.’s Week 8 bye.
The list of stars and semi-stars ruled out this week also includes RB Bucky Irving (foot), WRs Terry McLaurin (quad), Ricky Pearsall (knee), Josh Downs (concussion), Chris Godwin (fibula), Calvin Ridley (hamstring) and TE David Njoku (knee).
In better news, WR CeeDee Lamb (ankle) is returning to action in Week 7. WR Mike Evans (hamstring) and TE George Kittle (yet another hamstring) also returned to practice this week and are trending in the right direction.
Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard won’t have an injury designation this week, so he’s back in our fantasy lives. Rico Dowdle went supernova over the past two weeks, which complicates the Carolina workload projection. Our senior fantasy writer Jake Ciely breaks down the Panthers’ backfield this way:
Jake’s Take
There is no denying Dowdle’s historic two-week run. At the same time, we can’t deny the Panthers’ fondness for Hubbard, evidenced by the four-year contract extension last season. In truth, we should remember that Dowdle was pretty good (but not this amazing) in Dallas, and they let him walk. The Panthers have the luxury of easing Hubbard back in, and now have two good options on their hands.
I’d compare this to the confusing and complicated Seahawks backfield. If you facepalmed, I get it. I’ll have Dowdle higher than Hubbard this week, but we should be prepared for two RB2s with either having the upside for an RB1 finish. Back to Andy:
It sounds as if head coach Dave Canales has made a decision on the team’s featured runner, but he’s not divulging any information to the fantasy community.
Toolkit
Week 7 wisdom
Cheat sheet: Injuries, inactives and intel. Oh my! If Brock Bowers sits, Raiders TE Michael Mayers may become a target monster.
What to watch: QB controversy brewing in Arizona?
Last-minute waiver help: Ciely ranks streamers and more. Need an RB? Make sure Kimani Vidal and Michael Carter are rostered.
Future waiver help: Players to stash before they break out. Saints RB Kendre Miller is already getting work and trade rumors around Alvin Kamara are very much a thing.
Just Add RiceChiefs’ Death Star offense is fully armed
WR Rashee Rice returns from suspension this week, which means the Las Vegas Raiders are about to be guests at a ceremony that will make Kansas City’s battle station operational.
Much of the discussion around Rice’s reintroduction to the Chiefs has naturally focused on receivers who may lose target share and thus fantasy appeal. Jake just talked through this situation in detail with J.J. Zachariason on the “All In Speed Run.” We only have a three-game sample of Rice and Xavier Worthy sharing the field together, and those games don’t tell us much because they happened to be the first of Worthy’s NFL career.
Whatever comes next for KC’s passing offense is currently known only to Andy Reid, Matt Nagy and Patrick Mahomes. While it may seem likely that Worthy’s fantasy projection — as well as Travis Kelce’s and Hollywood Brown’s — is about to take a hit, there is an alternative scenario we need to consider:
What if the Chiefs are about to level up?
What if Rice’s return is a pure enhancement and not a complication?
Kansas City already has a top-10 offense in terms of scoring and total yardage, so it’s not as if this team is struggling. The Chiefs just beat the Lions by double digits. Mahomes is currently the overall QB1 in fantasy. KC is rolling.
As good as they’ve been, we can also imagine a better and more explosive version of the Chiefs offense that’s yet to be unlocked. Rice, Worthy and Kelce, at least in theory, are receivers who can operate in the same areas of the field while serving different (and complementary) purposes. Worthy possesses a level of weapons-grade speed that can’t be matched — speed enough to expand the field and shred deep double-teams. Brown isn’t the type of player who keeps opposing coordinators up at night, but, as an ancillary threat, he’s a huge luxury.
Instead of damaging anyone’s fantasy value, Rice’s arrival might actually be the thing that boosts this offense from good to OMG.
Last-Minute MovesThree outliers for Week 7
Jake’s fantasy rankings are some of the finest and most deadly-accurate in the business, but that doesn’t mean you won’t occasionally see players in unexpected spots. Let’s review a few Week 7 outliers to explain why:
Quinshon Judkins is the overall RB22 on the season, and he’s coming off a 36-yard rushing performance, but he’s the guy who gets to face Miami’s dreadful run defense this week. Thus, he checks in as the RB12 for Week 7. Start him.
Entering the season, if you didn’t realize Kendrick Bourne was still an active NFL player, we would have forgiven you. He’s taken full advantage of injuries in San Francisco’s receiving room, however, landing him at WR24 this week against Atlanta.
Cade Otton landed at TE9, heading into a probable shootout on Monday night in Detroit. Jake is well ahead of expert consensus on Otton (TE13), but we want to be proactive on matchups with huge Vegas totals like this one (52.5).
Matchups to embrace 🤗 and avoid 😨
Each week, KC Joyner highlights players with the most favorable and unfavorable matchups. Here are a few of the best and worst:
Start with total confidence
QB Caleb Williams (vs. NO), RB J.K. Dobbins (vs. NYG), RB Rhamondre Stevenson (at Ten), WR D.J. Moore (vs. NO), WR Christian Kirk (at Sea), TE Mason Taylor (vs. Car)
Expectations are not high
QB Daniel Jones (at LAC), RB Cam Skattebo (at Den), RBs Woody Marks and Nick Chubb (at Sea), WR Drake London (at SF), TE Tyler Warren (at LAC)
On the cut line 🔪
If any of the following players founder, it’s probably time to toss them back into the free-agent pool:
Bills WR Keon Coleman hasn’t topped 45 receiving yards in any of his last five games, and he certainly can’t help us this week while on bye. Coleman made plenty of sense as a draft-day flier, but we have reached the stage of the season in which unfortunate choices must be made.
Cardinals QB Kyler Murray is moderately injured (foot), and his team has a difficult matchup ahead (Green Bay) before heading into a bye in Week 8. We can consider him as a streaming option against Dallas in November, but he can’t help us now. Unless you play in a superflex league, Murray is expendable.
RB Tyrone Tracy returned to the Giants’ backfield last week against the Eagles, which meant he had a great seat for the Cam Skattebo Show. Tracy is clearly only a supporting player in New York’s offense at this point, an understudy behind a talented oddball rookie.
Sleeper of the week 💤
Jordan Whittington and Tutu Atwell are the Rams receivers likely to see the greatest uptick in targets with Nacua sidelined this weekend. We actually experienced this fire drill last season, when Nacua missed five games early in the year.
Whittington drew three starts in 2024, averaging 5.3 receptions and 79.0 receiving yards in those games. Atwell is more of a big-play specialist than Whittington — perhaps less likely to deliver six catches for 60 yards, but more likely to produce an 80-yard highlight TD. Both are viable flexes in Week 7.
💬 From the Discord
Looking for advice before Saturday? Hop into our Discord server, where we feature daily AMAs with The Athletic’s fantasy team. Here’s a question from Friday’s chat:
jasonH: When you send a trade offer and the person hasn’t responded for two days, what’s your move? Nudge them? Cancel it?
It may seem rude to sit on a trade offer for multiple days, but let’s appreciate the fact that many people are drawn to fantasy football because they can be reasonably competitive without needing to check on their roster every few hours. We aren’t day trading here. I’d recommend a gentle email nudge in most cases, particularly if you think you’ve made a solid offer beneficial to each side. Patience is quite often rewarded in this game.
Of course, it’s also possible that Jason is a trade spammer sending dozens of ludicrous offers each week, in which case this league should continue to mute and ignore his nonsense. (Jason didn’t strike me as such a person, but the spammers often seem so stable in real life.)
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