Week 7 Fantasy Football Rankings: Breaking Down Top Skill Position Matchups

Any good fantasy football owner knows that exploiting each week's most favorable matchup is the biggest key to success.

Unless you're playing in a four-team league, you can't possibly have fantasy studs at every position. You can hope to have two or three top guys. The rest are reliable starters who can have a few really great weeks to push you over the top.

The hard part is figuring out when those outbursts are going to happen. Some are completely unpredictable and arrive without reason. Others, however, are a little easier to forecast when looking at the numbers.

Below are Week 7 rankings for each of the four skill positions, with one player who looks poised to capitalize on a favorable matchup.

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Philip Rivers, SD	Kansas City Chiefs	29
2	Aaron Rodgers, GB	Carolina Panthers	27
3	Peyton Manning, DEN	San Francisco Giants	27
4	Cam Newton, CAR	Green Bay Packers	23
5	Tom Brady, NE	New York Jets	23
6	Drew Brees, NO	Detroit Lions	22
7	Andrew Luck, IND	Cincinnati Bengals	21
8	Joe Flacco, BAL	Atlanta Falcons	21
9	Jay Cutler, CHI	Miami Dolphins	20
10	Russell Wilson, SEA	St. Louis Rams	19
11	Matt Ryan, ATL	Baltimore Ravens	19
12	Carson Palmer, ARI	Oakland Raiders	18
13	Matthew Stafford, DET	New Orleans Saints	17
14	Alex Smith, KC	San Diego Chargers	17
15	Tony Romo, DAL	New York Giants	16

Philip Rivers has been one of the highest-scoring fantasy quarterbacks this season, and Week 7 looks to be no different. While the Kansas City Chiefs are giving up an average of 214 passing yards a game (seventh in the league), their pass defense is among the middle of the pack. Football Outsiders ranks the Chiefs 15th in pass defense DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average).

Branden Oliver could end up stealing some fantasy points away from Rivers, but with the emergence of Malcom Floyd, the San Diego Chargers should continue giving Rivers more than enough passing opportunities.

Chargers tight end Antonio Gates spoke about how impressive of an athlete Floyd is.

"If you gave me five chances, I couldn’t make those catches," Gates said of a 44-yard catch in which Floyd managed to hold on despite plenty of resistance from Oakland Raiders safety Charles Woodson, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. "I’ve made some good ones, but those are the ones Malcom Floyd makes—and only Malcom."

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The Chargers highlighted Floyd's propensity for making big plays in 2014:

Lurking in the shadows is also Keenan Allen, who's got to break out of his funk sooner or later, right? Against the Chiefs in 2013, Allen had 14 receptions for 213 yards.

Sunday's as good of a day as any for the sophomore wideout to get his season on track.

It all spells good things for Rivers.

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	DeMarco Murray, DAL	New York Giants	25
2	Matt Forte, CHI	Miami Dolphins	24
3	Arian Foster, HOU	Pittsburgh Steelers	22
4	Giovani Bernard, CIN	Indianapolis Colts	22
5	Marshawn Lynch, SEA	St. Louis Rams	21
6	Jamaal Charles, KC	San Diego Chargers	21
7	Andre Ellington, ARI	Oakland Raiders	20
8	Le'Veon Bell, PIT	Houston Texans	19
9	Shane Vereen, NE	New York Jets	19
10	Ben Tate, CLE	Jacksonville Jaguars	18
11	Eddie Lacy, GB	Carolina Panthers	17
12	Lamar Miller, MIA	Chicago Bears	16
13	Frank Gore, SF	Denver Broncos	16
14	Alfred Morris, WAS	Tennessee Titans	15
15	Justin Forsett, BAL	Atlanta Falcons	15

One of the most disappointing fantasy running backs this year has been Eddie Lacy. Considered a fringe first-rounder, he's performed below expectations, putting up numbers more in keeping with an RB2 rather than an RB1.

Lacy showed signs of life against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 5, and with the Carolina Panthers on tap this weekend, the opportunity is there for the Green Bay Packers star to have one of his best fantasy showings of the season.

Bleacher Report's Stephen Nelson and Anita Marks went a little in depth as to why Lacy would be a smart play for Week 7.

The Panthers have gone from being one of the best defensive teams in the league in 2013 to one of the worst in 2014. They're giving up an average of 140.2 rushing yards a game, which is tied for 27th, and 5.5 yards a carry, which is 32nd.

According to Football Outsiders, Carolina's rush defense ranks 27th in the league.

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers receivers are going to get theirs, but enough should be left over for Lacy. He could even crack the top five for Week 7.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Jordy Nelson, GB	Carolina Panthers	23
2	Julio Jones, ATL	Baltimore Ravens	22
3	Demaryius Thomas, DEN	San Francisco 49ers	19
4	Antonio Brown, PIT	Houston Texans	18
5	Brandon Marshall, CHI	Miami Dolphins	16
6	Dez Bryant, DAL	New York Giants	16
7	Steve Smith, BAL	Atlanta Falcons	15
8	Randall Cobb, GB	Carolina Panthers	14
9	Mohamed Sanu, CIN	Indianapolis Colts	14
10	Alshon Jeffery, CHI	Miami Dolphins	13
11	T.Y. Hilton, IND	Cincinnati Bengals	13
12	Keenan Allen, SD	Kansas City Chiefs	12
13	Andre Johnson, HOU	Pittsburgh Steelers	12
14	Terrance Williams, DAL	New York Giants	12
15	Brian Quick, STL	Seattle Seahawks	11

The Houston Texans possess a defense—J.J. Watt excluded—that most would agree is among the middle of the pack, if not worse, throughout the league. Numbers-wise, the unit is firmly in the bottom half, ranking 27th in yards per game (397.2), 28th in passing yards per game (271.5) and 22nd in rushing yards per game (125.7).

The metrics are more kind to Houston, with Football Outsiders ranking the team 15th in defensive DVOA.

One area in which they really struggle is defending an opponent's best wide receiver. No. 1 WRs are averaging 9.5 passes and 99.4 yards per game, and Houston's DVOA against WR1s ranks 28th in the league.

Antonio Brown doesn't need much help out there. He's been a model of consistency, catching at least five passes for 22 games in a row, per ESPN's Trey Wingo:

The Pittsburgh Steelers star also has a streak of 10 games with a reception of at least 20 yards, so the big-play potential is there, per ESPN Monday Night:

"

. @Steelers Antonio Brown has caught at least one pass of 20 yards or more in 10 consecutive games pic.twitter.com/5NoqojJlO2

— ESPN Monday Night (@ESPNMondayNight) October 16, 2014"

Brown has been one of the best WRs in fantasy this year, and that should continue in Week 7.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Rob Gronkowski, NE	New York Jets	16
2	Martellus Bennett, CHI	Miami Dolphins	14
3	Jordan Reed, WAS	Tennessee Titans	12
4	Julius Thomas, DEN	San Francisco 49ers	11
5	Jason Witten, DAL	New York Giants	11
6	Delanie Walker, TEN	Washington Redskins	10
7	Greg Olsen, CAR	Green Bay Packers	10
8	Jordan Cameron, CLE	Jacksonville Jaguars	9
9	Travis Kelce, KC	San Diego Chargers	8
10	Dwayne Allen, IND	Cincinnati Bengals	8

Jordan Reed made an impressive return from injury in Week 6, catching eight passes for 92 yards. Some will naturally question whether that performance was a false dawn.

At least for this week, Reed should remain in the upper echelon of fantasy tight ends. Marks and Nelson discussed his value in Week 7, and they firmly came down on the side of TE1.

The Tennessee Titans have had trouble defending tight ends, ranking 24th in DVOA and allowing an average of 7.1 passes for 53.8 yards.

There's no question how good Reed is when he's healthy:

With Kirk Cousins putting that dreadful Week 4 performance in his rearview mirror, the Redskins passing game shouldn't hinder Reed whatsoever. He looks on course for another strong game.

Note: All stats are courtesy of ESPN.com and Football Outsiders unless otherwise noted.