Week 7 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Projecting Stats for Top 10 Players at Every Position

Injuries, injuries and more injuries.

The NFL has been stricken by the injury bug this season and so have fantasy football owners. Perhaps no week has been more challenging to prepare for than Week 7 of this season.

With the likes of Ben Roethlisberger out and Eddie Lacy going down and to the IR this past week, setting a good lineup is as unlikely as Landry Jones leading the Pittsburgh Steelers past the New England Patriots this weekend.

Sorry, Pittsburgh. It's just not going to happen.

But there is one thing you can control, and that is who you start and sit this week in your lineup. Please note that for the tight-end positions, Jimmy Graham and Jordan Reed have been left out of the rankings. Neither participated in practice on Thursday, and it's uncertain whether either will suit up this weekend. No point projecting them to score any points if they can't play. 

Rank	Player	Team	Start/Sit	Predicted Stats
1	Matt Ryan	Atlanta Falcons	Start	270 yards, 4 TDs
2	Blake Bortles	Jacksonville Jaguars	Start	315 yards, 3 TDs
3	Tom Brady	New England Patriots	Start	300 yards, 3 TDS
4	Marcus Mariota	Tennessee Titans	Start	205 yards, 3 TDs ( 2 pass, 1 rush)
5	Alex Smith	Kansas City Chiefs	Start	282 yards, 2 TDs (1 pass, 1 rush)
6	Andy Dalton	Cincinnati Bengals	Start	276 yards, 3 TDs
7	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints	Start	294 yards, 2 TDs
8	Philip Rivers	Atlants Falcons	Start	270 yards, 2 TDS
9	Derek Carr	Oakland Raiders	Start	267 yards, 2 TDs
10	Kirk Cousins	Washington Redskins	Start	254 yards, 2 TD
--	Eli Manning	New York Giants	Sit	272 yards, 1 TD, 1 int
--	Ryan Tannehill	Miami Dolphins	Sit	265 yards, 1 TD, 2 int
--	Jameis Winston	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Sit	238 yards, 1 TD, 1 int

Matt Ryan has been on an absolute tear this season, even against an elite defense such as the Seattle Seahawks last week. Ryan threw for 335 yards and three scores with one interception for 22.60 fantasy points. 

Ryan's success, however, is no real surprise when you look at the targets he has around him on offense.

What has been a surprise, especially when you consider the slow start he had to kickoff the 2016 season, has been the improved play of Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota.

Scoring 30.52 and 28.76 fantasy points in his last two outings, Mariota will be licking his chops at the prospect of playing the Indianapolis Cols and their subpar defense on Sunday.

While Mariota is projected to score a respectable 18.91 points in Yahoo fantasy leagues this week, look for the second-year signal-caller to rack up the yardage and scorch the Colts defense. 

Rank	Player	Team	Start/Sit	Predicted Stats
1	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons	Start	145, 2 TD
2	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals	Start	123, 1 TD
3	Allen Robinson	Jacksonville Jaguars	Start	91 yards, 1 TD
4	Odell Beckham Jr.	New York Giants	Start	88 yards, 1 TD
5	Mike Evans	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Start	80 yards, 1 TD
6	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers	Start	136 yards, 0 TD
7	Mike Wallace	Baltimore Ravens	Start	107 yards, 0 TD
8	Brandin Cooks	New Orleans Saints	Start	70 yards, 0 TD
9	Amari Cooper	Oakland Raiders	Start	28 yards, 1 TD
10	Marvin Jones Jr.	Detroit Lions	Start	72 yards, 0 TD
--	Jordan Matthews	Philadelphia Eagles	Sit	60 yards, 0 TD
--	DeAndre Hopkins	Houston Texans	Sit	58 yards, 0 TD
--	Allen Hurns	Jacksonville Jaguars	Sit	42 yards, 0 TD

There's no point in talking about why the likes of Julio Jones, Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. are all good plays in fantasy this week. They're good plays every week.

Instead, let's look past the usual wideouts and highlight a player who is destined to have a good game in Week 7. How about Mike Wallace?

Nick Wass/Associated Press

Wallace is having a breakout season for the Ravens this year. He's in a great situation with Joe Flacco, who has a big enough arm to keep up with Wallace's speed, as his quarterback. Yahoo Sports projects Wallace to score 10.91 points this week against the New York Jets, and he should manage to haul in a few big plays against a less-than-stellar Darrelle Revis and Jets secondary.

While he won't find the end zone, Wallace will take advantage of his matchup on Sunday and amass 107 receiving yards, a notch lower than Yahoo's projection.

Rank	Player	Team	Start/Sit	Predicted Stats
1	DeMarco Murray	Tennessee Titans	Start	126 total yards, 3 TD
2	Le'Veon Bell	Pittsburgh Steelers	Start	110 total yards, 1 TD
3	David Johnson	Arizona Cardinals	Start	106 total yards, 1 TD
4	Todd Gurley	Los Angeles Rams	Start	94 total yards, 1 TD
5	Lamar Miller	Houston Texans	Start	87 total yards, 1 TD
6	Devonta Freeman	Atlanta Falcons	Start	83 total yards, 1 TD
7	Isaiah Crowell	Cleveland Browns	Start	78 total yards, 1 TD
8	Jacquizz Rodgers	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Start	66 total yards, 1 TD
9	Melvin Gordon	San Diego Chargers	Start	57 total yards, 1 TD
10	Mark Ingram	New Orleans Saints	Start	44 total yards, 1 TD
--	Spencer Ware	Kansas City Chiefs	Sit	36 total yards, 0 TD
--	Frank Gore	Indianapolis Colts	Sit	45 total yards, 0 TD
--	Matt Jones	Washington Redskins	Sit	34 total yards, 0 TD

Remember when I said that Mariota is going to have a good game against the Colts? Well prepare yourself because DeMarco Murray is going to make the Colts defense look like a high school team out there on the field this weekend.

Murray and the Titans offense will run all over Indianapolis. If you have Derrick Henry on your bench as a handcuff to Murray, I'd recommend playing them at the same time. The Colts can't stop the run, and Murray can't stop scoring points in fantasy.

It's the perfect storm.

Running behind one of the NFL's most underrated offensive lines, Murray is on his way to another Pro Bowl this season and might even become the fantasy player of the year.

For those of you wondering why Spencer Ware is on the "sit" list, it's because the Chiefs backfield is a mystery.

The Chiefs will be a in a high-scoring game against the Saints. With Jamaal Charles back in the fold—he is a much better receiving back than Ware—it's possible that Ware spends most of the game on the sidelines as Kansas City runs its spread offense with Charles.

Ware's value, along with Charles', will hopefully become clear after Week 7. 

Rank	Player	Team	Start/Sit	Predicted Stats
1	Rob Gronkowski	New England Patriots	Start	106 yards, 2 TD
2	Travis Kelce	Kansas City Chiefs	Start	84 yards, 1 TD
3	Delanie Walker	Tennessee Titans	Start	73 yards, 1 TD
4	Coby Fleener	New Orleans Saints	Start	70 yards, 1 TD
5	Dennis Pitta	Baltimore Ravens	Start	103 yards, 0 TD
6	Hunter Henry	San Diego Chargers	Start	42 yards, 1 TD
7	Julius Thomas	Jacksonville Jaguars	Start	78 yards, 0 TD
8	Martellus Bennett	New England Patriots	Start	88 yards, 0 TD
9	Charles Clay	Buffalo Bills	Start	69 yards, 0 TD
10	Kyle Rudolph	Minnesota Vikings	Start	17 yards, 1 TD
--	Antonio Gates	San Diego Chargers	Sit	34 yards, 0 TD
--	Zach Ertz	Philadelphia Eagles	Sit	27 yards, 0 TD
--	Eric Ebron	Detroit Lions	Sit	16 yards, 0 TD

Don't worry that Graham and Reed are not listed due to injury concerns. There are plenty of tight ends who are looking to have big games this week.

Rob Gronkowski is back and 100 percent healthy. He's a must-start every week, and it's almost a disappointment if he doesn't register at least 10 fantasy points each week. But talking about Gronkowski as the league's best tight end gets old after a while.

Enter San Diego Chargers tight end Hunter Henry.

Scoring at least 12.10 points in each of his last three contests, Henry has become a legitimate No. 1 tight end in fantasy football and has taken over as the Chargers' best tight end. Antonio Gates is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but his time as San Diego's go-to receiving option is over. 

He's projected to score just 5.69 points in Yahoo leagues this week, but Henry is for real. Play him if you can afford it and watch as Philip Rivers decimates the Falcons secondary with Henry as his favorite weapon in the red zone.