Fantasy Football Week 7 Rankings: Top Players and Matchups for All Positions

This is a tough week for fantasy owners as a slew of the top fantasy players are on bye. That means you'll need to get creative on the waiver wire, yes, but it also means you'll need to nail your lineup selections and ensure you get the most bang for your buck at every position.

I'm here to help. Let's break down the rankings for this week at every position.

Schedule

Date	Matchup	Time	Watch
Date	Matchup	Time	Watch
Date	Matchup	Time	Watch
Thursday, Oct. 22	Seattle at San Francisco	8:25 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 25	Buffalo at Jacksonville	9:30 am	Yahoo
Sunday, Oct. 25	Pittsburgh at Kansas City	1:00 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 25	Houston at Miami	1:00 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 25	Atlanta at Tennessee	1:00 pm	FOX
Sunday, Oct. 25	Cleveland at St. Louis	1:00 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 25	Tampa Bay at Washington	1:00 pm	FOX
Sunday, Oct. 25	Minnesota at Detroit	1:00 pm	FOX
Sunday, Oct. 25	New Orleans at Indianapolis	1:00 pm	FOX
Sunday, Oct. 25	N.Y. Jets at New England	1:00 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 25	Oakland at San Diego	4:05 pm	CBS
Sunday, Oct. 25	Dallas at N.Y. Giants	4:25 pm	FOX
Sunday, Oct. 25	Philadelphia at Carolina	8:30 pm	NBC
Monday, Oct. 26	Baltimore at Arizona	8:30 pm	ESPN

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Carson Palmer, ARI	BAL
2	Andrew Luck, IND	NO
3	Philip Rivers, SD	OAK
4	Tom Brady, NE	NYJ
5	Eli Manning, NYG	DAL
6	Drew Brees, NO	IND
7	Russell Wilson, SEA	SF
8	Cam Newton, CAR	PHI
9	Matt Ryan, ATL	TEN
10	*Ben Roethlisberger, PIT	KC
11	*Tyrod Taylor, BUF	JAX
12	Blake Bortles, JAX	BUF
13	Colin Kaepernick, SF	SEA
14	Joe Flacco, BAL	ARI
15	Alex Smith, KC	PIT

You have to love Carson Palmer against the Baltimore Ravens this week. While Palmer has accumulated 16 or more fantasy points in every game he's played this season, the Ravens are giving up 21.5 fantasy points per week to opposing quarterbacks, worst in the NFL.  

To put Baltimore's problems against opposing quarterbacks in perspective, they gave up 26 fantasy points to Derek Carr in Week 2, 35 to Josh McCown in Week 5 and 22 to Colin Kaepernick in Week 6. Palmer is a better quarterback with better weapons than any of the aforementioned three players, so he should fare quite nicely this week. 

Ditto for Andrew Luck against the New Orleans Saints, a team that has given up 17 or more fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks in five of six games this season. Missing two starts has dropped Luck down the fantasy leaderboard, but he's still averaging a respectable 17 fantasy points per game.

His 312 passing yards and three touchdowns against New England is a good indicator that Luck is about to blow up for fantasy owners.

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Devonta Freeman, ATL	TEN
2	Le'Veon Bell, PIT	KC
3	Todd Gurley, STL	CLE
4	Mark Ingram, NO	IND
5	Adrian Peterson, MIN	DET
6	Marshawn Lynch, SEA	SF
7	LeSean McCoy, BUF	JAX
8	Arian Foster, HOU	MIA
9	Chris Ivory, NYJ	NE
10	DeMarco Murray, PHI	CAR
11	Latavius Murray, OAK	SD
12	Doug Martin, TB	WAS
13	Justin Forsett, BAL	ARI
14	Frank Gore, IND	NO
15	Lamar Miller, MIA	HOU
16	Carlos Hyde, SF	SEA
17	Joseph Randle, DAL	NYG
18	Danny Woodhead, SD	OAK
19	Chris Johnson, ARI	BAL
20	Dion Lewis, NE	NYJ
21	LeGarrette Blount, NE	NYJ
22	Alfred Morris, WAS	TB
23	Isaiah Crowell, CLE	STL
24	Rashad Jennings, NYG	DAL
25	Jonathan Stewart, CAR	PHI

Time to get Latavius Murray back in those starting lineups, folks. While the Oakland running back stalled in his two games before a Week 6 bye, scoring a combined nine fantasy points, a tasty matchup against San Diego should solve all that ails him.

The Chargers are giving up 24.3 fantasy points to opposing running backs per week, worst in the NFL. Murray should have a very nice week for fantasy owners.

Another running back coming off of a bye, Todd Gurley, should absolutely blow up against a Cleveland Browns defense that has given up 150 or more rushing yards four times this season. Gurley has rushed for 314 in just two games with the Rams, so he should tee off against the Browns. 

I like LeSean McCoy this week against a Jacksonville defense that has twice given up 40 or more fantasy points to an opponent's running backs. But Bleacher Report's Matt Camp thinks you might want to temper your expectations for Shady going forward:

However, assuming he's healthy for this week at least, I think you can gamble on McCoy posting solid numbers in London.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	DeAndre Hopkins, HOU	MIA
2	Julio Jones, ATL	TEN
3	Odell Beckham Jr., NYG	DAL
4	Brandon Marshall, NYJ	NE
5	Allen Robinson, JAX	BUF
6	Larry Fitzgerald, ARI	BAL
7	Keenan Allen, SD	OAK
8	T.Y. Hilton, IND	NO
9	Travis Benjamin, CLE	STL
10	Antonio Brown, PIT	KC
11	Calvin Johnson, DET	MIN
12	Julian Edelman, NE	NYJ
13	Steve Smith Sr., BAL	ARI
14	Martavis Bryant, PIT	KC
15	Sammy Watkins, BUF	JAX
16	Jeremy Maclin, KC	PIT
17	Amari Cooper, OAK	SD
18	Allen Hurns, JAX	BUF
19	John Brown, ARI	BAL
20	Donte Moncrief, IND	NO
21	Jarvis Landry, MIA	HOU
22	Rishard Matthews, MIA	HOU
23	Mike Evans, TB	WAS
24	Eric Decker, NYJ	NE
25	Stefon Diggs, MIN	DET

Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant are probably praying Ben Roethlisberger can return for a matchup against a Kansas City defense giving up 32.5 fantasy points per week to opposing wideouts, worst in the NFL. Even Landry Jones would suffice after he relieved Michael Vick in Week 6, throwing for 168 yards and two touchdowns.

If Vick starts, you can pretty seriously downgrade both Brown and Bryant this week. If Roethlisberger is able to return, Brown is the top wideout in fantasy this week and Bryant is a high-end WR2. If Jones gets the nod, it's a tougher call, but both players should still be considered top-20 options.

Larry Fitzgerald will continue his resurgent season with an excellent matchup against Baltimore. The Ravens have given up 200 or more receiving yards to opposing wideouts four times this season and gave up a whopping 349 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns to Cincinnati's wide receivers in Week 3. Fitzgerald should have a very nice game.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Rob Gronkowski, NE	NYJ
2	Jimmy Graham, SEA	SF
3	Antonio Gates, SD	OAK
4	Greg Olsen, CAR	PHI
5	Travis Kelce, KC	PIT
6	Gary Barnidge, CLE	STL
7	Jordan Cameron, MIA	HOU
8	Charles Clay, BUF	JAX
9	Jason Witten, DAL	NYG
10	*Eric Ebron, DET	MIN

A pair of AFC West tight ends will be licking their chops this week, as Antonio Gates and Travis Kelce have excellent matchups against Oakland and Pittsburgh, respectively.

Oakland is giving up a league-worst 14.4 fantasy points to opposing tight ends per week, while Pittsburgh has twice given up 25 or more points to the position. Gates and Kelce should have fun in Week 7.

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Defense	Opponent
1	STL	CLE
2	SEA	SF
3	ARI	BAL
4	CAR	PHI
5	WAS	TB
6	PIT	KC
7	PHI	CAR
8	ATL	TEN
9	MIN	DET
10	NE	NYJ

Take a chance on Buffalo this week. While the Bills defense is averaging a disappointing 5.0 fantasy points per week, they'll face a Jacksonville team that has given up a combined 29 fantasy points to opposing defenses over the past two weeks, including nine sacks.

If Buffalo's front seven can't dominate this contest, the Bills are in big trouble this season.

Kickers

Rank	Player	Opponent
1	Stephen Gostkowski, NE	NYJ
2	Steven Hauschka, SEA	SF
3	Josh Brown, NYG	DAL
4	Justin Tucker, BAL	ARI
5	Chandler Catanzaro, ARI	BAL
6	Cairo Santos, KC	PIT
7	Travis Coons, CLE	STL
8	Josh Lambo, SD	OAK
9	Adam Vinatieri, IND	NO
10	Dustin Hopkins, WAS	TB

You know the drill: Stick with a consistent kicker on a solid offense. Projecting individual production beyond that is basically impossible when it comes to this position.

All fantasy stats and points-against totals via ESPN standard leagues.