Fantasy Football Week 7 Cheat Sheet: Waiver, Rankings, Projections and More

Think you have the NFL pegged? Some of the league's premier fantasy stars collaborated to teach confident owners that uncertainty always looms around the corner.

A revitalized Eli Manning finally worked his way back into starting fantasy lineups due to stellar play and a terrific matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. Of course, he responded with 151 yards and zero touchdowns.

On the flip side, a left-for-dead Tom Brady decimated the Buffalo Bills to a tune of 361 yards and four scores. Remember when Brady wasn't a starting fantasy quarterback anymore? I hope so, because that was the thought just two weeks ago.

All the preparation in the world won't eliminate the frustration of fantasy, but it still beats blindly filling out a lineup. It's never too early in the week to start researching for the weekend, so let's take a comprehensive look at rankings, sleepers and waiver-wire adds for Week 7.

Top-10 Skill Position Rankings

Rank	QB	RB	WR	TE
1	Peyton Manning	DeMarco Murray	Julio Jones	Julius Thomas
2	Aaron Rodgers	Marshawn Lynch	Antonio Brown	Rob Gronkowski
3	Andrew Luck	Jamaal Charles	Jordy Nelson	Greg Olsen
4	Philip Rivers	Giovani Bernard	Dez Bryant	Jordan Cameron
5	Matt Ryan	Matt Forte	Demaryius Thomas	Jordan Reed
6	Tom Brady	Arian Foster	Brandon Marshall	Antonio Gates
7	Drew Brees	Andre Ellington	Alshon Jeffery	Martellus Bennett
8	Jay Cutler	Le'Veon Bell	Steve Smith	Jason Witten
9	Joe Flacco	Ben Tate	Randall Cobb	Delanie Walker
10	Cam Newton	Eddie Lacy	Mike Wallace	Vernon Davis

This is a tough week to be a premier quarterback, with Peyton Manning and Drew Brees facing premier passing defenses in the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions, respectively. You're playing Manning no matter what, but Brees gets stripped of must-start recognition if Jimmy Graham can't play.

Two other studs have matchups that appear tougher than they actually are. Although the Cincinnati Bengals and Carolina Panthers both appear tough after boasting stingy defenses in 2013, neither have lived up to that success this year.

Carolina ranks No. 20 against the pass, with Cincinnati down to No. 22 after a hot start. Don't put any thought into sitting Aaron Rodgers or Andrew Luck.

Not to keep picking on the Panthers, but they have also surrendered an NFL-worst 5.5 yards per carry. Now it's only a matter of which Green Bay Packers rusher will capitalize. As noted by Rotoworld's Adam Levitan, Eddie Lacy has split the workload in recent games.

Lacy has already faced four top-10 rushing defenses this season, compiling 153 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the other two games. Continue to treat him as a No. 1 fantasy back this week.

The Atlanta Falcons rank No. 29 with 277.7 passing yards allowed per game. Meanwhile, Steve Smith has averaged nine targets per game with four 100-yard outings already under his belt. Look for Joe Flacco to use his new toy plenty more on Sunday afternoon. 

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

It's not like the Baltimore Ravens are much better with the No. 27 passing defense, so Matt Ryan and Julio Jones should engage them in a shootout all fantasy owners will enjoy.

What's a fantasy column without picking on the Jacksonville Jaguars? Per ESPN's standard scoring, only the Dallas Cowboys have allowed more fantasy points to opposing tight ends, and Jordan Cameron finally broke out of his funk last week with 102 yards and a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dust the slumping tight end off and insert him into the starting lineup.

Sleeper Projections

Position	Player	Opponent	Projections
QB	Brian Hoyer	at Jacksonville Jaguars	265 YDs, 2 TDs
RB	Bernard Pierce	Atlanta Falcons	14 Rush, 70 YDs, 1 TD
WR	Cecil Shorts	Cleveland Browns	7 Rec., 85 YDs
TE	Larry Donnell	at Dallas Cowboys	5 Rec. 60 YDs, 1 TD
D/ST	Arizona Cardinals	at Oakland Raiders	3 SKs, 2 INTs, 13 PA

Brian Hoyer has amassed at least 200 passing yards and one touchdown in every game this season. Also, he's playing the Jaguars! Per NFL.com's Albert Breer, he has former teammate Brady's support. Are you saying you're better than Tom Brady?

In ESPN leagues, the Atlanta Falcons have allowed 27.4 fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. Not only is that the worst rate, but it's 5.4 points more than the second-place Jaguars. Bernard Pierce received 15 carries, albeit inefficient ones, on Sunday, so he could thrive as a sneaky flex play for someone needing to replace the idle LeSean McCoy.

The Cleveland Browns have relinquished 259.6 passing yards per game on 7.5 yards per attempt, and the Jaguars can't establish any running game. Cecil Shorts scooped up 16 targets last week, and Cleveland's offense is good enough for him to rack up garbage-time points with the game out of Jacksonville's reach.

Rob Carr/Getty Images

Larry Donnell has one catch for six yards during the last two weeks. It's a solid reason to bench him, but the Dallas Cowboys are vulnerable against tight ends, allowing 39 receptions, 406 yards and six touchdowns. Eli Manning will try to involve him again as he adjusts to life without Victor Cruz.

Peyton Manning's 479-yard outburst is largely responsible for the Arizona Cardinals' league-worst passing defense. Now they get a chance to return to the mean against the Oakland Raiders, who don't have Peyton Manning.

Waiver-Wire Targets

Position	Player	Team	ESPN Ownership %
QB	Joe Flacco	Baltimore Ravens	36.4
QB	Carson Palmer	Arizona Cardinals	6.4
RB	Jerick McKinnon	Minnesota Vikings	5.1
RB	Brandon Bolden	New England Patriots	1.8
WR	Brandon LaFell	New England Patriots	2.9
WR	Andre Holmes	Oakland Raiders	0.4
WR	Odell Beckham Jr.	New York Giants	7.8
TE	Jace Amaro	New York Jets	1.3

Johnny Manziel is owned in more than double the ESPN leagues (15.2 percent) than Carson Palmer, who has a pair of passing touchdowns in each of the two games he played this season. Palmer has two straight 4,000-yard, 20-touchdown seasons under his belt with an assortment of talent to work with in Andre Ellington, Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd. 

Last Sunday, Jerick McKinnon gained 82 yards through the pass and run while Matt Asiata ran for minus-five yards on two carries. John Paulsen of 4for4.com noted the hiked percentage of plays in which McKinnon took the field.

There's a new back running things for the Minnesota Vikings. 

Brandon LaFell now has 236 receiving yards and three touchdowns during the past three weeks. With the New England Patriots offense back on the right track, he has emerged as a long-desired big-play target Brady can trust.

Did Geno Smith find himself a new favorite target? Rookie Jace Amaro reeled in a career-high 10 catches last week against the Denver Broncos. Without an assortment of other options, isn't it possible he can become a solid fantasy tight end in a barren New York Jets offense?

There you go.