Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 7: Smart Matchup Plays, Sleepers and More

By now, fantasy football owners have just injury woes to struggle with as Week 7 approaches.

Everything else can be tackled with a by-the-book approach now that six weeks of action have provided owners with a strong sample size to easily project top matchups, sleepers and busts in order to best formulate an ideal lineup.

Of course, crunching the numbers can be quite the daunting task, especially early in the week after an exhausting run of homework before the Sunday deadline. So let's make the early-week work a tad easier and break down some of the top names to watch in various categories below.

Top Matchup Plays

Tom Brady, QB, NE (vs. NY Jets)

Gary Wiepert/Associated Press

Just a few weeks ago, the best course of action may have been to drop New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady outright.

After all, Brady had scored in double digits just once in four tries before a 20-point explosion in Week 5 against Cincinnati. This past weekend, he went for 30 while tossing 361 yards and four scores against Buffalo. 

Suffice it to say, Brady is back in full force and now gets to pick on a New York Jets defense that entered Sunday giving up the fourth-most points to quarterbacks. The numbers this year have been staggering:

WK	OPP	PTS
1	Oak	14
2	@GB	27
3	Chi	16
4	Det	25
5	@SD	21
6	Den	21

So yes, feel confident with Brady once again.

Ben Tate, RB, CLE (at JAC)

The fifth-highest scoring back of Week 6 turned out to be Cleveland's Ben Tate, who essentially missed three games this season due to injury, as most should have expected from the oft-injured back.

But Tate is healthy now and ridiculously effective as a result. In Week 5 he notched a cool 12 points in his comeback, then last week gained 19 on a pair of scores against Pittsburgh, not that he was necessarily happy with the performance, as captured by ESPN.com's Jeremy Fowler:

Now Tate gets to run wild in Jacksonville against a Jaguars defense that ranks among the league's worst in terms of points allowed to backs. In fact, the outlook would be even worse for the defense if Tennessee had elected to run it more than 24 times last week.

Tate is in for a major day, and while he is an injury risk each time out, the matchup this week is undeniably good.

Sleepers to Utilize

Antone Smith, RB, ATL, (at BAL)

John Bazemore/Associated Press

Entering Sunday, Atlanta Falcons running back Antone Smith was owned in just 5.1 percent of leagues.

All he did was score a touchdown in his fourth straight game to reward the small amount of owners who believe in him. A tweet from the NFL puts things into perspective:

Smith now has a minimum of 11 points in four games this year thanks to his big-play ability. While true the Falcons do encounter one of the better teams against fantasy backs in Baltimore this week, Smith's ability to break plays open scoffs at the notion he will be bottled up entirely.

Besides, with any luck, he will only continue to see more opportunities headed his way. Smith is the highest-upside flex option available for the foreseeable future.

Jarvis Landry, WR, MIA (at CHI)

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

Normally a 13-point outburst from a rookie wideout who scored all of five points over the course of his first four pro games could be written off as dumb luck.

With Jarvis Landry, that may not be such a good idea.

Landry was a bit of a diamond in the rough on his own team last week in the face of a stout Green Bay pass defense, catching six passes on eight targets for 75 yards and a score. From the reaction of offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, per ESPN.com's James Walker, it sounds as if owners should expect more in the near future:

Why not? Week 7 is a date with a Chicago defense that ranks among the 10 worst units versus wideouts on a weekly basis. Lazor will have no qualms about airing it out in an effort to keep pace with an explosive Bears offense, so Landry figures to contribute in at least a flex manner once again.

Busts to Avoid

Dwayne Bowe, WR, KC (at SD)

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Owners must still believe there is still some value to be had out of Kansas City Chiefs wideout Dwayne Bowe, because he was still owned in 81.4 percent of leagues entering Sunday. 

The leader of the league's most boring wideout corps has been a dud so far this season, scoring 4, 3, 8 and 4 points before last week's bye.

Do not expect Bowe to get back to his borderline WR2 ways in San Diego.

Entering Sunday, the Chargers allowed the fewest points to wideouts on average, even holding two opponents to a combined six points and another to all of 12. Things were a bit worse against Oakland last week, but it is certainly nothing to hang the hat on when taking into account Bowe's disappearing act and a large sample size of elite pass defense.

Matt Asiata, RB, MIN (at BUF)

Tom Lynn/Associated Press

Matt Asiata was supposed to be the next big fantasy thing as he paved his way on the ground for the Minnesota Vikings, hence his being owned in 82.0 percent of leagues.

Against Detroit last week, though, he ran for negative yardage on two carries. Now, Detroit is an elite defense against backs, but his usage rates tell the whole story, as illustrated by James Morris of Dolphins.com:

Asiata is clearly being phased out of the plan in Minnesota, or has a nagging injury most are unaware of at this juncture. To make matters worse from a short-term standpoint, the Bills rank among the top five best defenses against backs, having allowed just one team as a whole to break double digits this year.

No matter how horrible a lineup may be, Asiata needs to be on the bench.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats as of Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. ET. Statistics courtesy of ESPN. Philadelphia, Tampa Bay on bye.