Fantasy Football Week 7: Rankings, Projections and Waiver-Wire Tips

Nobody likes a Monday. Sure, Monday Night Football is a small consolation, but in general Monday means going back to work and trying to hide the fact that you're still recovering from that wedding over the weekend where you probably had just a bit too much fun and are still feeling the effects.

Isn't getting older just the best?

But for the initiated, Monday is also when you start preparing for your next week in fantasy. Any chump can get started on a Tuesday, but you're a champ. You want an early stab at next week's rankings. You want to know who is trending up and who is trending down. You want a preview of this week's waiver wire. 

Well, guess what? You've come to the right place. You'll find all of that and more below, so let's get to it.

Schedule

Thursday, October 16	Time (ET)
Sunday, October 19	Time (ET)
Monday, October 20	Time (ET)
NY Jets at New England	8:25 PM
Atlanta at Baltimore	1:00 PM
Tennessee at Washington	1:00 PM
Seattle at St. Louis	1:00 PM
Cleveland at Jacksonville	1:00 PM
Cincinnati at Indianapolis	1:00 PM
Minnesota at Buffalo	1:00 PM
Miami at Chicago	1:00 PM
New Orleans at Detroit	1:00 PM
Carolina at Green Bay	1:00 PM
Kansas City at San Diego	4:05 PM
Arizona at Oakland	4:25 PM
NY Giants at Dallas	4:25 PM
San Francisco at Denver	8:30 PM
Houston at Pittsburgh	8:30 PM

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Peyton Manning	24
2	Aaron Rodgers	22
3	Andrew Luck	21
4	Philip Rivers	20
5	Tom Brady	19
6	Cam Newton	19
7	Jay Cutler	18
8	Matt Ryan	17
9	Russell Wilson	17
10	Drew Brees	17
11	Matt Stafford	16
12	Joe Flacco	16
13	Colin Kaepernick	15
14	Tony Romo	15
15	Andy Dalton	15

The Good

Peyton Manning is the only player in fantasy football to have 20 or more fantasy points in every game. Andrew Luck has yet to dip below 18 points.

Tom Brady has 50 total fantasy points in the past two weeks, so he seems to be back in the QB1 discussion. Cam Newton rushed 17 times for 107 yards and a score against a very good Cincinnati defense, suggesting that the Newton who has been a top-five fantasy quarterback the past three years has resurfaced.

Philip Rivers has been as good as any quarterback in the NFL in the past five weeks.

Leon Halip/Getty Images

The Bad

Matt Stafford sans Calvin Johnson. With Megatron either hobbled or out of action entirely in the past two weeks, Stafford has scored just 11 points in each contest. If Johnson can't go again this week, don't expect things to improve.

The Ugly

Drew Brees without Jimmy Graham. Brees has yet to reach 20 fantasy points in a week, and now reports are emerging that Graham, his top target, could be out for several weeks. ESPN has more:

"

It's highly questionable that Jimmy Graham will be able to play next Sunday when the New Orleans Saints return from their bye week to play the Detroit Lions, a source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. Had the Saints played this Sunday, the tight end, who suffered a sprained shoulder against the Buccaneers, would not have played, the source said.

"

Now, Brees faces one of the top defensive lines in the league and a Detroit defense that has played quite well this season. Given his history and talent, Brees is always in the QB1 discussion. But without Graham against this defense, he's an extremely risky play this week.

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	DeMarco Murray	20
2	Arian Foster	20
3	Marshawn Lynch	18
4	Giovani Bernard	18
5	Matt Forte	18
6	Jamaal Charles	17
7	Le'Veon Bell	16
8	Alfred Morris	15
9	Andre Ellington	14
10	Ben Tate	14
11	Frank Gore	13
12	Branden Oliver	13
13	Justin Forsett	12
14	Fred Jackson	12
15	Ahmad Bradshaw	12
16	Eddie Lacy	11
17	Andre Williams	11
18	Lamar Miller	10
19	Ronnie Hillman	10
20	Jerick McKinnon	9
21	Knowshon Moreno	8
22	Joique Bell	8
23	C.J. Spiller	7
24	Shane Vereen	7
25	Zac Stacy	7
26	Trent Richardson	7
27	Bishop Sankey	6
28	Chris Ivory	6
29	Pierre Thomas	6
30	Reggie Bush	6

The Good

The first eight guys on this list. They're about as safe as it gets at running back this year. If you have one of those players this week, you hold a nice advantage over your opponent. Don't let two rough matchups (Seattle, Arizona) and two disappointing weeks (seven points total) scare you off of Alfred Morris—he's a stud, and Tennessee's defense isn't nearly as stingy.

Players like Ben Tate, Branden Oliver and Justin Forsett should take advantage of great matchups.

Fred Jackson (seven or more fantasy points in five of six weeks) is once again the more appealing back to own in Buffalo, as C.J. Spiller (one total point the past two weeks) is floundering.

The Bad

Jacksonville's offensive line. Perhaps "The Atrocious" would be more accurate for this category. Avoid that backfield at all costs.

And while we're at it, why don't the Atlanta Falcons get Antone Smith more touches? All this guy does is break off long touchdown plays (more on him later). 

The Ugly

Trying to figure out who will replace Stevan Ridley in New England. Shane Vereen's role seems secure, but trying to figure out who will get the touches between Brandon Bolden and James White will cause owners to pull their hair out. This was already a confusing backfield. Now it's just a mess.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Julio Jones	20
2	Antonio Brown	18
3	Brandon Marshall	18
4	Jordy Nelson	17
5	Dez Bryant	17
6	Demaryius Thomas	16
7	Alshon Jeffery	15
8	Randall Cobb	15
9	Steve Smith	14
10	DeSean Jackson	14
11	Mike Wallace	13
12	Mohamed Sanu	13
13	Kelvin Benjamin	13
14	Emmanuel Sanders	12
15	Michael Floyd	12
16	Andre Johnson	11
17	Larry Fitzgerald	11
18	DeAndre Hopkins	11
19	Julian Edelman	10
20	Sammy Watkins	10
21	T.Y. Hilton	10
22	Reggie Wayne	10
23	Eric Decker	9
24	Torrey Smith	9
25	Pierre Garcon	9
26	Michael Crabtree	9
27	Brian Quick	8
28	Terrance Williams	8
29	James Jones	8
30	Percy Harvin	7
31	Rueben Randle	7
32	Odell Beckham Jr.	7
33	Brandin Cooks	6
34	Roddy White	6
35	Wes Welker	6

The Good

Everything happening in Green Bay right now. Jordy Nelson has 50 fantasy points in the past three weeks, while Randall Cobb already has seven touchdown receptions. Keep riding these two and enjoy the wins along the way. 

Antonio Brown now has reached double-digit fantasy points in 12 of his past 15 games, and he has seven or more fantasy points in 19 of his last 22 games. Talk about reliable. 

Remember when Demaryius Thomas started sort of slowly? He has 52 fantasy points in the past two weeks. 

Elsa/Getty Images

The Bad

Wes Welker's days as a top fantasy option are over. Since returning in Week 3, he has 14 receptions for 126 yards and no touchdowns. He's clearly fourth in the passing-game pecking order in Denver behind the the two Thomases and Emmanuel Sanders.

Kendall Wright had 20 fantasy points in Week 5. He has 20 points total in the other five weeks this year.

Keenan Allen had 13 fantasy points in Week 4. He has 13 points total in his other four games this year. He's clearly just another guy in San Diego this year, with Malcom Floyd, Eddie Royal and of course Antonio Gates all attracting the eye of Philip Rivers on a regular basis. Allen should be on your bench more often than not at this point.

The Ugly

Simply not knowing what the future holds for Calvin Johnson and A.J. Green feels pretty darn ugly. Football is worse off without two of the best receivers in the game. Fantasy owners who invested a high pick in one of these two are currently pacing around their living rooms, waiting for updates while they mumble, "Oh, my season, what has happened to my season?" and blink way too rapidly.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Julius Thomas	16
2	Rob Gronkowski	15
3	Jordan Cameron	15
4	Greg Olsen	12
5	Vernon Davis	11
6	Jordan Reed	10
7	Martellus Bennett	10
8	Antonio Gates	9
9	Travis Kelce	9
10	Jason Witten	8
11	Delanie Walker	8
12	Larry Donnell	7
13	Owen Daniels	6
14	Dwayne Allen	6
15	Coby Fleener	6

The Good

Julius Thomas' touchdown rate. Last season, 15 players finished the year with nine or more touchdown receptions. Orange Julius has reached that mark after just five games. While his pace to score 28 touchdowns pretty obviously isn't sustainable, the fact that Denver continuously utilizes him in the red zone (and constantly finds themselves in the red zone given their excellent offense) means he should threaten 20 scores this year.

Jordan Reed's return was a boon for his fantasy owners, as he caught eight passes for 92 yards. Niles Paul can be dropped in all formats—Reed is clearly the superior option.

Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

Rob Gronkowski being back atop his game is nice, though you don't have to take my word for it.

“Oh yeah, [Gronkowski] is back,” Brady told reporters after beating the Buffalo Bills, per Lee Schechter of ESPN Boston. “Absolutely.” 

Gronk now has nine or more fantasy points in all but one game this season. Players that spent a high pick on him are seeing their investment pay off.

The Bad

Simply not knowing how effective Vernon Davis will be from week to week given his injury concerns this season. Davis is a top-five guy when he's healthy, but it's certainly been an issue to this point.

The Ugly

Graham's injury. Folks selecting Graham as a first-round pick were expecting last year's numbers, perhaps a best-case scenario. This is far from that scenario.

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Team	Projected Points
1	New England Patriots	15
2	Buffalo Bills	12
3	San Francisco 49ers	12
4	Arizona Cardinals	11
5	Seattle Seahawks	11
6	Chicago Bears	10
7	Houston Texans	9
8	Detroit Lions	8
9	Dallas Cowboys	8
10	Minnesota Vikings	7

Kickers

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Stephen Gostkowski	15
2	Dan Bailey	13
3	Justin Tucker	13
4	Chandler Catanzaro	12
5	Phil Dawson	12
6	Adam Vinatieri	11
7	Nick Novak	11
8	Dan Carpenter	10
9	Matt Bryant	10
10	Josh Brown	9

Waivers

Player	Position	Team	% Owned
Joe Flacco	QB	Baltimore Ravens	36.4
Antone Smith	RB	Atlanta Falcons	5.1
Ronnie Hillman	RB	Denver Broncos	5.1
Jerick McKinnon	RB	Minnesota Vikings	5.1
Brandon Bolden	RB	New England Patriots	1.8
Storm Johnson	RB	Jacksonville Jaguars	1.1
Andre Holmes	WR	Oakland Raiders	0.4
Brandon LaFell	WR	New England Patriots	2.9
Mohamed Sanu	WR	Cincinnati Bengals	38.8
Malcom Floyd	WR	San Diego Chargers	4.2
Davante Adams	WR	Green Bay Packers	0.9
Coby Fleener	TE	Indianapolis Colts	14.9
Tim Wright	TE	New England Patriots	3.6

Fantasy football is often the art of projecting sustainability. And to this point in the season, there is nothing that suggests Smith's production is sustainable. Just consider this stat, from the NFL on Twitter:

And yet, at what point do you stop questioning what might happen and acknowledge what keeps happening? Despite the Falcons maddeningly giving them limited touches, Smith keeps breaking off long touchdown plays and now has at least nine fantasy points in five of six games. 

Smith is the ultimate gamble on a weekly basis. But given his production thus far in the season, he's a gamble that should be rostered across the board. 

Ronnie Hillman's fantasy value is much simpler to determine. He's currently the lead back on the best offense in football and just rushed for 100 yards on 24 carries against a good Jets run defense. Until Montee Ball returns, Hillman is a viable starter. 

Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

It would appear as though Jerick McKinnon was given the starting gig in Minnesota this past week, out-touching Matt Asiata by a 17-3 margin and playing 46 snaps to just 16 for Asiata, according to Andrew Krammer of 1500ESPN.com. McKinnon was always the more talented player, and now it appears as though he might be getting the workload needed to be a viable fantasy starter and RB2 on a weekly basis.

Don't drop Asiata just yet, but it looks as though the torch has been passed in Minny. 

With Stevan Ridley potentially tearing his ACL, Brandon Bolden seems likely to take over the early-down work in New England. He should be rostered across the board, though before starting him it would likely be wise to see the division of labor between he and Shane Vereen.

Meanwhile, Storm Johnson led the Jaguars in carries (10) and scored a rushing touchdown on Sunday, while also inspiring an annoying number of "Storm" puns on Twitter in the process. Given how atrocious the Jacksonville offensive line is, Johnson isn't a great option in your starting lineup just yet, but he should definitely be rostered. 

Andre Holmes has nine receptions for 195 yards and three touchdowns in his last two games. That makes the third-year player worth a speculative add, especially in deeper leagues.

Brandon LaFell's fantasy relevance has coincided with the awakening of the New England passing attack, as he had 17 fantasy points in Week 4 and 21 points in Week 6. His production has been all or nothing this year, but with the Patriots lacking a better vertical threat, LaFell could end up being one of the sneakier and productive pickups for your team this week. He's certainly worth a spot start against the heinous Jets secondary.

With or without A.J. Green in the lineup, Mohamed Sanu should be rostered across the board. He has eight or more fantasy points in four straight weeks and if Green misses any more action, Sanu is a legitimate WR2 after notching 18 fantasy points this week. Add him immediately. 

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Keenan Allen owners are probably pretty annoyed with Malcom Floyd this season, as the receiver has seven or more fantasy points in five of six weeks and has—along with Antonio Gates and Eddie Royal—helped to steal the gaze of Rivers away from Allen this season. Floyd is hardly a sexy addition, but thus far he's been a player worthy of flexing more often than not. 

The fact that Davante Adams has posted back-to-back weeks with seven fantasy points isn't the reason he's on this list. No, he's on this list because he's clearly locked down the No. 3 receiver role in Green Bay's explosive offense, a team that has supported fantasy value for three receivers in the past. At some point, Adams is going to have a huge week. Be sure he's on your roster when that happens.

Coby Fleener and Timothy Wright's are stretches at tight end, given that the position is fairly deep this season, but each are worth a look as TE2's in deep leagues or two-TE formats. Wright has touchdowns in back-to-back weeks, while Fleener has seven or more fantasy points in three of four games.

Finally, if you are streaming quarterbacks, Joe Flacco just went off for 32 fantasy points and has a favorable matchup against the Atlanta Falcons this week. You could certainly do a lot worse.

Hit me up on Twitter—I'll answer your fantasy questions and make some corny jokes, too. It's more fun than math class with Jason Pierre-Paul.