Fantasy Football Week 7 Rankings: Updated Positional Breakdown for Flex and PPR

It's a weekly lesson at this point with Week 7 on the horizon—the flex spot might be the most important position of all to a successful lineup.

Last week, owners who noticed the downward trend of Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy might have thrown James Starks in the lineup—a wise decision considering Starks went for 23 points, the third-highest total at the position.

At wideout, owners who had stashed the Pittsburgh Steelers' Martavis Bryant cashed in big with 25 points, the second-highest total at the position.

There's no exact science to the flex, but what owners can do is break down all of the available information and sort each position into rankings. Let's do so below.

Running Backs

Rank	Player
1	Devonta Freeman
2	Le'Veon Bell
3	Arian Foster
4	Todd Gurley
5	LeSean McCoy
6	Adrian Peterson
7	Latavius Murray
8	Doug Martin
9	Dion Lewis*
10	Lamar Miller
11	Justin Forsett
12	Danny Woodhead
13	DeMarco Murray
14	Frank Gore
15	Mark Ingram
16	Christine Michael
17	Chris Ivory
18	Chris Johnson
19	T.J. Yeldon*
20	Matt Jones
21	Melvin Gordon
22	Rashad Jennings
23	Jonathan Stewart
24	LeGarrette Blount
25	Antonio Andrews
26	Shane Vereen
27	Ameer Abdullah
28	Duke Johnson Jr.
29	Alfred Morris
30	C.J. Spiller

Passing-down backs such as the San Diego Chargers' Danny Woodhead climb the ranks when sorting things by points-per-reception (PPR) leagues, as do top-tier backs such as Pittsburgh's Le'Veon Bell who will see plenty of dump-offs with question marks under center. 

This notion applies to one of Week 7's notable PPR options, Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy. Shady made his return last week and ran for 90 yards and a score with two receptions while starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor watched from the sideline with an injury.

With Taylor out once again in Week 7, per Joe Buscaglia of 7 Eyewitness News in Buffalo, Shady figures to see plenty of targets through the air once again. It only helps that the matchup is against the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin made a return of sorts in recent weeks too, having rushed for more than 100 yards in each of his last two outings with three total scores. In the same span, he's caught eight passes. 

With a rookie quarterback under center and newfound usage, matchup doesn't matter much when it comes to Martin. The situation means he's going to be an impeccable flex PPR start.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player
1	DeAndre Hopkins
2	Larry Fitzgerald
3	Brandon Marshall
4	Julian Edelman
5	Keenan Allen*
6	Odell Beckham Jr.*
7	Julio Jones
8	Antonio Brown
9	Calvin Johnson
10	Allen Robinson*
11	Eric Decker
12	Jordan Matthews
13	T.Y. Hilton
14	Michael Crabtree
15	Jeremy Maclin*
16	John Brown
17	Willie Snead
18	Steve Smith Sr.
19	Jarvis Landry
20	Donte Moncrief
21	Travis Benjamin
22	Golden Tate
23	Mike Evans
24	Mike Wallace
25	Allen Hurns*
26	Brandin Cooks
27	Amari Cooper
28	Pierre Garcon
29	Rishard Matthews
30	Kendall Wright
31	Martavis Bryant
32	Kamar Aiken
33	Michael Floyd
34	Ted Ginn Jr.
35	Vincent Jackson

There's a long list of PPR target monsters headlining the rankings each week no matter what, led by DeAndre Hopkins of the Houston Texans. 

New York Jets wideout Brandon Marshall sits close to the top as well, but it would be silly for owners to forget about No. 2 wideout Eric Decker.

Decker is something of a target hog himself, ranking second on the team in targets despite having only suited up for four games this year. As NFL.com's Matt Harmon pointed out, Decker makes the most of his chances too:

With at least four catches in three of his four outings, Decker looks like a sure thing in what should be a shootout with the New England Patriots.

So does Oakland Raiders wideout Michael Crabtree as the team will attempt to keep pace with the San Diego Chargers on the road.

Amari Cooper gets the spotlight with Oakland, but Crabtree quietly has four grabs in every game so far and actually has four more targets than Cooper this season.

“He’s been terrific. We hit him on a couple vertical routes in the last game, which were things that we hadn’t done yet, so there was some growth there. We just want to keep building his role in the offense,” Oakland offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said, per Jerry Knaak of Raiders.com.

In other words, all signs point up for Crabtree, a guy already doing quite well for owners in PPR formats.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player
1	Rob Gronkowski
2	Antonio Gates*
3	Greg Olsen
4	Julius Thomas
5	Travis Kelce
6	Delanie Walker
7	Jason Witten
8	Jordan Cameron
9	Jordan Reed
10	Benjamin Watson
11	Charles Clay
12	Gary Barnidge

No format can knock New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski out of the top spot.

After him, though, things get quite a bit more interesting.

Stephen B. Morton/Associated Press

Look at Julius Thomas with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He's been healthy for all of two games this year but sports 15 targets through those two, the first which was really just a test run more than anything.

Thomas has turned the chances into nine grabs for 98 yards and a score already. Quarterback Blake Bortles now has a massive safety valve (6'5", 260 lbs) to hit on every down, and owners have a new PPR beast to consider at the position each week.

Stick in the AFC South for another target monster. Delanie Walker of the Tennessee Titans certainly qualifies considering he sits second on the team in targets at 29, just two behind leader Kendall Wright.

Walker hasn't had a breakout game yet, but he's caught seven or more passes in two of five outings. He too should be in a shootout thanks to an encounter with the Atlanta Falcons, a team that has already allowed four touchdowns to the position.

At worst, he's going to catch a ton of balls thanks to the iffy situation under center.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as are points-against info and ownership stats as of Oct. 23. Statistics courtesy of ESPN. Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers on bye.