Week 7 Fantasy Football Rankings: Breaking Down Each Position

Countless fantasy football owners will see their roster depth tested this week. With the Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears all on byes in Week 7, a number of fantasy studs will be unavailable to start.

Their collective absence will open the door for other stars to emerge as top options this weekend.

Here's a look at the rankings for each position and a handful of players who could be on the verge of big things in Week 7.

Fantasy Football Rankings

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Andrew Luck, IND	New Orleans Saints
2	Carson Palmer, ARI	Baltimore Ravens
3	Russell Wilson, SEA	San Francisco 49ers
4	Matt Ryan, ATL	Tennessee Titans
5	Tyrod Taylor, BUF	Jacksonville Jaguars
6	Cam Newton, CAR	Philadelphia Eagles
7	Philip Rivers, SD	Oakland Raiders
8	Landry Jones, PIT	Kansas City Chiefs
9	Tom Brady, NE	New York Jets
10	Brian Hoyer, HOU	Miami Dolphins

Andy Dalton and Aaron Rodgers are the only two quarterbacks who have outscored Tom Brady in NFL.com's fantasy leagues. Since both the Bengals and Packers are off this week, Brady is gonna earn top honors, right?

Let's not jump to any conclusions. The New England Patriots face off against the New York Jets, who boast one of the best pass defenses in the league. The Jets are allowing 186.6 yards a game through the air (second-best in the NFL) and 5.4 yards an attempt (first).

According to ESPN.com, New York is also second in average fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks (9.0).

Brady is going to put up respectable numbers because he's a great quarterback. Just don't count on him delivering a monster performance.

At the other end of the spectrum from the Jets sit the Kansas City Chiefs, who are allowing an average of 21.2 points a game to opposing QBs. That's good news for Landry Jones, who in all likelihood will start for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ben Roethlisberger could possibly return to the field in Week 7, but that's far from a guarantee.

"We're going to tape it and brace it and I'm going to see what I can do," Roethlisberger said Monday, per Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "My plan is to go out Wednesday and practice. We'll see what happens. I know I've got to be smart about it. I've got to be able to defend myself. We're just going to take it day by day."

NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala also reported Michael Vick is a serious doubt for Week 7 as he deals with a hamstring injury.

That leaves the spotlight on Jones, who should be able to build upon his impressive Week 6 performance.

Having wide receivers like Martavis Bryant and Antonio Brown will make Jones' life a lot easier, so as long as he can be even somewhat accurate with his throws, the third-string signal-caller should post QB1-like numbers.

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Devonta Freeman, ATL	Tennessee Titans
2	Le'Veon Bell, PIT	Kansas City Chiefs
3	Todd Gurley, STL	Cleveland Browns
4	Adrian Peterson, MIN	Detroit Lions
5	Chris Ivory, NYJ	New England Patriots
6	Latavius Murray, OAK	San Diego Chargers
7	Marshawn Lynch, SEA	San Francisco 49ers
8	LeSean McCoy, BUF	Jacksonville Jaguars
9	Doug Martin, TB	Washington Redskins
10	Frank Gore, IND	New Orleans Saints
11	T.J. Yeldon, JAX	Buffalo Bills
12	Joseph Randle, DAL	New York Giants
13	Bishop Sankey, TEN	Atlanta Falcons
14	Chris Johnson, ARI	Baltimore Ravens
15	Arian Foster, HOU	Miami Dolphins
16	Mark Ingram, NO	Indianapolis Colts
17	Justin Forsett, BAL	Arizona Cardinals
18	LeGarrette Blount, NE	New York Jets
19	Carlos Hyde, SF	Seattle Seahawks
20	Danny Woodhead, SD	Oakland Raiders

In his last two games, Todd Gurley has rushed for 305 yards on 49 carries. Whatever doubts lingered about his recovery from a torn ACL have been put to rest.

The stars are aligning for the rookie running back in Week 7, so a third straight 100-yard rushing game is well within reach.

The St. Louis Rams face off with the Cleveland Browns, who are allowing 149.8 yards a game on the ground and five yards a carry, which rank 32nd and 31st, respectively. The Browns have a more respectable pass defense (257.5 YPG), which means the Rams might lean even more heavily on the running game.

The one blemish on Gurley's season so far is his lack of a touchdown, which is something he's hoping to change Sunday.

"It's definitely frustrating not going all the way," he said Monday, per ESPN.com's Nick Wagoner. "It's something I have got to practice at. The running backs get on me a lot. You've got to just keep practicing."

Gurley should break his touchdown drought against the Browns and finish among the highest-scoring fantasy backs in Week 7.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Larry Fitzgerald, ARI	Baltimore Ravens
2	DeAndre Hopkins, HOU	Miami Dolphins
3	Donte Moncrief, IND	New Orleans Saints
4	Antonio Brown, PIT	Kansas City Chiefs
5	Julio Jones, ATL	Tennessee Titans
6	Keenan Allen, SD	Oakland Raiders
7	Calvin Johnson, DET	Minnesota Vikings
8	Allen Robinson, JAX	Buffalo Bills
9	Odell Beckham Jr., NYG	Dallas Cowboys
10	Torrey Smith, SF	Seattle Seahawks
11	Steve Smith, BAL	Arizona Cardinals
12	Willie Snead, NO	Indianapolis Colts
13	Julian Edelman, NE	New York Jets
14	Rishard Matthews, MIA	Houston Texans
15	Brandon Marshall, NYJ	New England Patriots
16	Doug Baldwin, SEA	San Francisco 49ers
17	Martavis Bryant, PIT	Kansas City Chiefs
18	Allen Hurns, JAX	Buffalo Bills
19	Pierre Garcon, WAS	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
20	Ted Ginn, CAR	Philadelphia Eagles

DeAndre Hopkins is basically a cheat code at this point. The numbers he has posted so far aren't merely impressive; they're approaching near-historic territory, per the Houston Texans:

For Pro Football Focus, whether Hopkins is an elite NFL wideout is no longer a question:

The standard statistics and advanced metrics tell two different stories about the Texans' Week 7 opponent, the Miami Dolphins.

Miami is allowing 238.4 yards passing, which ranks 12th in the NFL. The Dolphins also rank 22nd in yards allowed per attempt (7.6), which is not good but not terrible, either.

Football Outsiders, on the other hand, considered the Dolphins the second-worst team against the pass—at least heading into Week 6. Miami sat 31st in pass-defense DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average). The team was also dead last when it comes to defending an opposing team's No. 1 wide receiver.

It's not as if anybody was considering whether to drop Hopkins with the Dolphins on the horizon, but owners might have lessened their expectations for the Texans star after looking at Miami's per-game averages.

Fear not, if you have Hopkins on your team, for he should continue his hot streak and be among the top Week 7 WRs.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Rob Gronkowski, NE	New York Jets
2	Travis Kelce, KC	Pittsburgh Steelers
3	Greg Olsen, CAR	Philadelphia Eagles
4	Jimmy Graham, SEA	San Francisco 49ers
5	Ladarius Green, SD	Oakland Raiders
6	Gary Barnidge, CLE	St. Louis Rams
7	Eric Ebron, DET	Minnesota Vikings
8	Jason Witten, DAL	New York Giants
9	Benjamin Watson, NO	Indianapolis Colts
10	Charles Clay, BUF	Jacksonville Jaguars

Only Greg Olsen posted more fantasy points than tight end than Benjamin Watson in Week 6 on NFL.com. Watson was among the week's biggest surprises, and now you wonder whether that was a fluke or a sign of things to come.

Expecting him to catch 10 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown for the second week in a row would be a fool's errand, especially since the Indianapolis Colts are allowing a paltry 4.2 fantasy points to opposing tight ends this year, per ESPN.com.

But the Atlanta Falcons weren't exactly pushovers, and they had no answer for the 12-year veteran.

Watson never received more than five targets in any of the New Orleans Saints' first five games. If he sees such a small number of passes Sunday, then he'll be a fantasy non-factor.

Should Drew Brees look his way somewhere around seven to nine times, however, Watson could put together what would be his third strong game in a row.

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Team	Opponent
1	Seattle Seahawks	San Francisco 49ers
2	Atlanta Falcons	Tennessee Titans
3	Washington Redskins	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4	St. Louis Rams	Cleveland Browns
5	New York Giants	Dallas Cowboys
6	Pittsburgh Steelers	Kansas City Chiefs
7	New England Patriots	New York Jets
8	Cleveland Browns	St. Louis Rams
9	Arizona Cardinals	Baltimore Ravens
10	Detroit Lions	Minnesota Vikings

Colin Kaepernick could be in for a rude awakening when the San Francisco 49ers play the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday.

Historically, the Seahawks have done well to limit Kaepernick through the air. In six games against the 49ers' fiercest division rival, the veteran QB has completed 52.5 percent of his passes and averaged 134.7 yards, 0.3 touchdowns and 1.2 interceptions a game.

Of course, the Seahawks secondary has taken a step back from its obscene levels of dominance in 2013 and 2014. The rest of the league looks to be catching up with Seattle, and the loss of Byron Maxwell has undoubtedly hurt the team.

Still, Seattle's defense is far from a pushover, and the Seahawks are bound to actually finish a game sooner rather than later.

They'll likely want to rebound following back-to-back losses, and they'll take their aggression out on Kaepernick and the Niners offense.

Kicker

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Josh Lambo, SD	Oakland Raiders
2	Dustin Hopkins, WAS	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
3	Josh Brown, NYG	Dallas Cowboys
4	Dan Carpenter, BUF	Jacksonville Jaguars
5	Justin Tucker, BAL	Arizona Cardinals

The Oakland Raiders are fourth in the league in red-zone defense, allowing a touchdown on 42.9 percent of opponent's possessions inside the 20-yard line, per TeamRankings.com.

The more Oakland shuts down the San Diego Chargers close to the goal line, the more opportunities Josh Lambo should have to split the uprights.