Fantasy Football Week 7: Updated Rankings for Sunday's Action

Picking whom to start on a week-to-week basis can be a headache.

Cross-checking matchups with recent trends and then trying to find ways to maximize a lineup is enough to give any owner a migraine. We've all been there.

Luckily, you don't have to do all the work yourself anymore. Below you'll find updated rankings for each position in fantasy, just in time for you to set your lineups before Sunday's action.

Note that the players included do not include those from Thursday Night Football. This is all about Sunday.

Some ibuprofen is always the best way to make that headache go away, but the following rankings are a great way to prevent it from happening altogether.

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent
1	Philip Rivers	SD	KC
2	Aaron Rodgers	GB	CAR
3	Cam Newton	CAR	GB
4	Peyton Manning	DEN	SF
5	Joe Flacco	BAL	ATL
6	Andrew Luck	IND	CIN
7	Brian Hoyer	CLE	JAC
8	Jay Cutler	CHI	MIA
9	Russell Wilson	SEA	STL
10	Tony Romo	DAL	NYG

Surprised to see Brian Hoyer here? Don't be.

Hoyer has been great this year with minimal weapons in the Cleveland Browns offense. He has thrown just one pick on the year and has eclipsed the 200-yard mark in each of his five games.

Those numbers make him barely viable in fantasy, but his recent roll (508 yards, four touchdowns in his last two games) and his matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars make him a good starting option in Week 7.

Jacksonville allows 294 yards per game through the air and has surrendered 12 touchdowns via the passing game. Look for Hoyer to approach 300 yards with a couple of scores this week.

The Browns score 26.8 points per game. That's a pretty potent offense considering the team is without its most explosive weapon (Josh Gordon).

Much of its success has come because of how comfortable Hoyer is with his offensive coordinator, as the quarterback told Kevin Jones of ClevelandBrowns.com. "I get a feel for how Kyle wants to call a game. He gets a feel for plays that I like and I’m comfortable with. He trusts me a little bit more. I think you see our offense open up," he said.

If you're going to roll with Hoyer in any week, Week 7 is the time.

Running Backs

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent
1	DeMarco Murray	DAL	NYG
2	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	HOU
3	Giovani Bernard	CIN	IND
4	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	STL
5	Matt Forte	CHI	MIA
6	Lamar Miller	MIA	CHI
7	Jamaal Charles	KC	SD
8	Arian Foster	HOU	PIT
9	Justin Forsett	BAL	ATL
10	Andre Ellington	ARZ	OAK

If you haven't hopped aboard the Lamar Miller bandwagon, then Week 7 will give you another opportunity to do so. He faces a pretty favorable matchup, as the Chicago Bears surrender 4.3 yards per carry—20th in the NFL.

The second-year back has also come on strong in his past three games. He has 225 rushing yards and three touchdowns in that span. With Knowshon Moreno on the shelf for the rest of the season, the bulk of the carries are his. That gives him the opportunity to become a stalwart for owners.

Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel tweeted about how productive Miller has been despite fewer carries than most lead backs:

It's time to jump on the bandwagon. If healthy for the rest of the season, Miller will perform like a top-10 running back.

Wide Receivers

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent
1	Antonio Brown	PIT	HOU
2	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	SF
3	Julio Jones	ATL	BAL
4	Steve Smith	BAL	ATL
5	James Jones	OAK	ARZ
6	Golden Tate	DET	NO
7	Mohamed Sanu	CIN	IND
8	Jordy Nelson	GB	CAR
9	Dez Bryant	DAL	NYG
10	T.Y. Hilton	IND	CIN

With Derek Carr's recent surge (five touchdowns and over 400 yards in the past two games), his top receiving option has suddenly become a fantasy asset. Don't be the owner who sits James Jones in Week 7.

Jones has nearly the best matchup of all wideouts this week. The Arizona Cardinals allow 27.8 fantasy points per game to receivers, second-most in the NFL. Given the Cardinals' stingy run defense, Carr and the Oakland Raiders will probably look to throw more.

That's good news for owners of Jones. More targets equal more opportunities for points, and Jones hasn't let his teammates—or owners—down the season when the ball has been thrown his way:

It's never easy to predict that a player will find the end zone in any given week, but Jones is a good candidate for at least six catches and 80 yards against Arizona.

Tight Ends

AJ Mast/Associated Press

Rank	Player	Team	Opposition
1	Jordan Cameron	CLE	JAC
2	Delanie Walker	TEN	WAS
3	Julius Thomas	DEN	SF
4	Jordan Reed	WAS	TEN
5	Antonio Gates	SD	KC
6	Martellus Bennett	CHI	MIA
7	Dwayne Allen	IND	CIN
8	Travis Kelce	KC	SD
9	Vernon Davis	SF	DEN
10	Charles Clay	MIA	CHI

Dwayne Allen doesn't rack up the yards or the catches, but he's arguably Andrew Luck's favorite target in the red zone. The 6'3" tight end has four touchdowns on the year, including three in the past four weeks.

Somewhat of a wild card at the position entering the year, Allen has proven himself a worthy player to own in all leagues. And there might not be a better time to get him active.

The Cincinnati Bengals don't contain opposing tight ends particularly well. They average close to 95 yards allowed per game against the unit, meaning that Allen is in line for his highest yardage of the season.

Luck is enjoying a career year, and the Bengals leave plenty of room in the middle for tight ends to get open. That means success is on the horizon for Allen.

Kickers

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

Rank	Player	Team	Opposition
1	Steven Hauschka	SEA	STL
2	Adam Vinatieri	IND	CIN
3	Matt Prater	DET	NO
4	Brandon McManus	DEN	SF
5	Dan Bailey	DAL	NYG
6	Dan Carpenter	BUF	MIN
7	Chandler Catanzaro	ARZ	OAK
8	Billy Cundiff	CLE	JAC
9	Justin Tucker	BAL	ATL
10	Nick Novak	SD	KC

Picking kickers on a weekly basis is a crapshoot. That hasn't changed, so don't be afraid to take a risk this week—start Matt Prater.

Prater made his debut with the Detroit Lions last week, hitting just one of three field-goal attempts. His lone make came from 52 yards away. As a team, the Lions have been a black hole for kickers thus far. They've connected on just five of 15 attempts on the year, but Prater is the guy capable of bucking the trend.

He hit a league-high 96.2 percent of his tries last year. He also has the ability to boot it from long range, something that makes him a pretty attractive option even if he misses a field goal per game from here on out.

NFL.com's Michael Fabiano knows that his leg is a good reason to pick him up immediately:

The Lions are going to give Prater plenty of attempts to kick, especially in Week 7 against the New Orleans Saints.

Defense/Special Teams

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Rank	Defense	Opponent
1	Buffalo	Minnesota
2	Cleveland	Jacksonville
3	San Diego	Kansas City
4	Arizona	Oakland
5	Chicago	Miami
6	Seattle	St. Louis
7	Denver	San Francisco
8	Houston	Pittsburgh
9	Washington	Tennessee
10	Green Bay	Carolina

A good rule of thumb is to always roll with the defensive unit playing the Jaguars. The Jags have yet to really explode offensively, and until they do, there's no reason to change the game plan.

The Browns defense should be better. It currently ranks 29th in the NFL in yards per game allowed (409.2), but that's not indicative of the personnel on this team.

Joe Haden, Justin Gilbert, Karlos Dansby, Paul Kruger and Barkevious Mingo are all above-average defenders at their respective positions, so it's really just a matter of cohesion and proper play-calling for this unit.

The Browns have a real shot at gaining some confidence against Jacksonville. Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post wrote about why:

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This is one of the few times Cleveland is worth a play, as the Browns face off against Jacksonville. The Jaguars offense ranks in the bottom five for first downs, net yards per pass, rushing yards per attempt and are dead last in points per drive (1.1).

"

Rolling with the Browns in previous weeks was a big risk, but there's really little risk involved in Week 7.

Fantasy information courtesy of ESPN.com.

Follow Kenny DeJohn on Twitter: @KennyDeJohn_BR