Fantasy Football Week 7: Identifying Lineup-Ruining Busts to Avoid

Stubborn owners lose fantasy football contests on a regular basis.

Owners are human. That running back somebody grabbed in the first round, who an owner feels attached to as a result? He is a complete dud this year. Yet said owner still plays the back in the same way the Indianapolis Colts still trot out Trent Richardson, refusing to admit a mistake.

Those who can avoid this very human trap win leagues. So owners of Maurice Jones-Drew, Percy Harvin, Doug Martin, Steven Jackson and Shonn Greene, along with many more, face a challenge in that it is time to let go, but doing so is quite the uphill battle.

Week 7 personifies this battle. The following names can and will lose fantasy games outright, the reasons are there upon research, but it is up to owners to bench their favorites.

Frank Gore, RB, SF (at DEN)

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Despite his status as the 14th-highest scorer at the position, San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore has been anything but reliable this season for his owners.

Go ahead, pick out the alarming trend in his numbers that immediately rules him as a must-sit option this week:

WK	OPP	ATT	YDS	TD	PTS
1	@Dal	16	66	0	6
2	Chi	13	63	1	13
3	@Ari	6	10	0	1
4	Phi	24	119	0	22
5	KC	18	107	0	10
6	@StL	16	38	0	3

That is correct—Gore has all of 10 points on the road over the course of three games away from San Francisco this season.

Keep in mind that Gore is also sharing the load with rookie Carlos Hyde at this point. He watched from the sideline last week as his counterpart soaked up red-zone snaps, and as Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee points out, the snap counts as of late have been disconcerting:

Now, Denver ranks right in the middle of the pack in terms of points allowed to running backs, but do owners really want to hope that the 49ers are not taking to the air a lot and chasing points while behind?

The affinity toward Gore is understandable. His being in starting lineups is not.

Darren McFadden, RB, OAK (vs. ARI)

Many predicted that changes at the top of the Oakland Raiders organization such as the implementation of interim coach Tony Sparano would birth more usage of Darren McFadden and others quickly. 

It proved correct, as McFadden went for eight points last week coming out of the team's bye, thanks to an impressive 80 yards on 14 totes. It wound up as the second-best performance of his season, only outmatched by a Week 2 outing of 12 points.

As Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle captures, McFadden's new head coach sounds as if he will continue to heavily feature the former Arkansas star:

This makes McFadden a superb stash in all formats, especially considering he is owned in 82.3 percent of leagues.

But Week 7 is a no-fly zone. Well, actually, it's a no-run zone, as the Arizona Cardinals allow the third-fewest points to backs on average this season, with just three backfields as a whole managing double digits against the unit.

McFadden's follow-up performance after his 12 points in Week 2? Five the next week. Expect something similar this time around.

Eli Manning, QB, NYG (at DAL)

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This one goes both ways but meets at the same conclusion—Eli Manning needs to sit in Week 7 against the Dallas Cowboys. 

Manning will be without pass-catching back Rashad Jennings once again this week, meaning the bulk of the work will be left to Andre Williams. To make matters worse, Victor Cruz is lost for the season as a result of an injury suffered in last week's 27-0 loss to Philadelphia.

Speaking of that loss, it was the second time this year that Manning has mustered just six points in a contest. He has been in double digits four times, but the downright elite, QB1 performances have been few and far between.

This is not exactly the same old Cowboys defense, either. Dallas actually ranks well against the run and pass this year, with the highlight from a fantasy standpoint being the fact the unit surrenders just the sixth-fewest points to quarterbacks this season. That includes encounters with Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson and Drew Brees.

In a critical divisional battle with an offense suddenly in shambles around him, there is no reason to have Manning in lineups this week.

Zac Stacy, RB, STL (vs. SEA)

Billy Hurst/Associated Press

Zac Stacy could have easily fit in with some of the names above such as Tampa Bay's Martin.

A former breakout fantasy star, Stacy has yet to take more than 12 carries in a game this season. He has scored 11 points on two separate occasions this year, but his other outputs have been of four, five and two points.

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

For a back owned in 94.9 percent of leagues, that simply is not getting it done.

Stacy has rapidly gone from a surefire workhorse back to just one facet of a triple-headed backfield that also includes Benny Cunningham and Tre Mason.

Now sprinkle in the fact Week 7 is an encounter with Seattle. The Seahawks allow the ninth-fewest points to backs this year, and while Stacy posted 13 points on the same team in their first meeting last year, he is in no way getting 26 looks based on his usage rates so far this year. His last encounter with Seattle is more likely—three points.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats. Statistics courtesy of ESPN. Philadelphia, Tampa Bay on bye.