Fantasy Football Week 7 Rankings: Top 50 Flex PPR Players

Believe it or not, we've already waded through the first month and a half of the 2016 NFL season. This means, of course, that it's getting to be crunch time in the fantasy football world.

There are 11 weeks remaining in the NFL regular season. For many fantasy leagues, however, the midway point of the regular season is here or rapidly approaching.

Hopefully, you've gotten off to a solid start, but it's never too late to improve your fantasy team. This is especially true with injuries and bye weeks impacting the value of some top players. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is out for at least two weeks (vs. New England Patriots and a Week 8 bye), plus the Carolina Panthers and the Dallas Cowboys have the week off.

This means plenty of you are probably examining your options on the waiver wire and around the general fantasy world. We're here to lend a hand as Week 7 quickly approaches.

Today, we're going to take what we've learned so far this season and use it to help you prepare for Week 7. We'll be providing flex rankings for the top 50 skill players, while examining some of the top fantasy storylines coming out of Week 6.

We will provide separate lists for standard and PPR scoring, and we will base our rankings on factors like past performances, projected role, matchup and injury where applicable.

Rank	Standard Flex	PPR Flex
1	DeMarco Murray, RB, TEN	DeMarco Murray, RB, TEN
2	LeSean McCoy, RB, BUF	Julio Jones, WR, ATL
3	Devonta Freeman, RB, ATL	Allen Robinson, WR, JAX
4	Julio Jones, WR, ATL	A.J. Green, WR, CIN
5	Allen Robinson, WR, JAX	LeSean McCoy, RB, BUF
6	A.J. Green, WR, CIN	Jarvis Landry, WR, MIA
7	Eddie Lacy, RB, GB	Jordy Nelson, WR, GB
8	Spencer Ware, RB, KC	Mike Evans, WR, TB
9	Jarvis Landry, WR, MIA	Devonta Freeman, RB, ATL
10	Carlos Hyde, RB, SF	Odell Beckham Jr., WR, NYG
11	Jordy Nelson, WR, GB	Jeremy Maclin, WR, KC
12	C.J. Anderson, RB, DEN	Le'Veon Bell, RB, PIT
13	Frank Gore, RB, IND	David Johnson, RB, ARI
14	David Johnson, RB, ARI	Melvin Gordon, RB, SD
15	Le'Veon Bell, RB, PIT	Rob Gronkowski, TE, NE
16	Melvin Gordon, RB, SD	Spencer Ware, RB, KC
17	Mark Ingram, RB, NO	T.Y. Hilton, WR, IND
18	Mike Evans, WR, TB	Eddie Lacy, RB, GB
19	Jeremy Hill, RB, CIN	C.J. Anderson, RB, DEN
20	Todd Gurley, RB, LA	Marvin Jones, WR, DET
21	Odell Beckham Jr., WR, NYG	Frank Gore, RB, IND
22	Jay Ajayi, RB, MIA	Antonio Brown, WR, PIT
23	Matt Forte, RB, NYJ	Julian Edelman, WR, NE
24	Rob Gronkowski, TE, NE	Mark Ingram, RB, NO
25	Terrelle Pryor, WR, CLE	Larry Fitzgerald, WR, ARI
26	Jeremy Maclin, WR, KC	Brandin Cooks, WR, NO
27	Christine Michael, RB, SEA	Terrelle Pryor, WR, CLE
28	Matt Jones, RB, WAS	Carlos Hyde, RB, SF
29	Lamar Miller, RB, HOU	Todd Gurley, RB, LA
30	Marvin Jones, WR, DET	Brandon Marshall, WR, NYJ
31	T.Y. Hilton, WR, IND	Steve Smith, WR, BAL
32	Antonio Brown, WR, PIT	Doug Martin, RB, TB
33	Brandin Cooks, WR, NO	Travis Benjamin, WR, SD
34	T.J. Yeldon, RB, JAX	Doug Baldwin, WR, SEA
35	Cameron Meredith, WR, CHI	Lamar Miller, RB, HOU
36	Tevin Coleman, RB, ATL	Cameron Meredith, WR, CHI
37	Jordan Howard, RB, CHI	Amari Cooper, WR, OAK
38	LeGarrette Blount, RB, NE	Emmanuel Sanders, WR, DEN
39	Isaiah Crowell, RB, CLE	DeAndre Hopkins, WR, HOU
40	Julian Edelman, WR, NE	Willie Snead, WR, NO
41	Amari Cooper, WR, OAK	Randall Cobb, WR, GB
42	Duke Johnson, RB, CLE	Duke Johnson, RB, CLE
43	Steve Smith, WR, BAL	Alshon Jeffery, WR, CHI
44	Travis Benjamin, WR, SD	Stefon Diggs, WR, MIN
45	Larry Fitzgerald, WR, ARI	Jeremy Hill, RB, CIN
46	Brandon Marshall, WR, NYJ	Christine Michael, RB, SEA
47	Doug Baldwin, WR, SEA	Tevin Coleman, RB, ATL
48	Emmanuel Sanders, WR, DEN	James White, RB, NE
49	Terrance West, RB, BAL	Michael Crabtree, WR, OAK
50	Alshon Jeffery, WR, CHI	Martellus Bennett, TE, NE

Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Let's start out by discussing one of the top wide receivers in the league and how the loss of his quarterback affects him.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for at least this week's game against the New England Patriots. Roethlisberger underwent surgery for a torn meniscus on Monday, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN:

Exactly how long Roethlisberger is out remains a bit of a mystery, but the Steelers seem hopeful that he will make a quick recovery. The team is on a bye in Week 8.

For now, though, the loss of Roethlisberger means Landry Jones will be under center for the Steelers. This obviously has a bit of a trickle-down effect on Pittsburgh's skill-position players. Running back Le'Veon Bell shouldn't see too much of a decline, but wide receiver Antonio Brown may.

It created issues last year anyway.

Roethlisberger missed four starts in 2015. In the games he played, Brown scored 10 touchdowns and averaged 124 yards per game. Without him, Brown only averaged just 59 yards per game and couldn't find the end zone.

This isn't a guarantee that Brown cannot do better without Roethlisberger under center this year, but let's consider this. Big Ben was banged up for most of the day Sunday, and Brown ended up with just four receptions and 39 yards.

Brown is too talented of a player for us to recommend benching. However, he finds himself much lower in our rankings than he usually would.

DeMarco Murray, RB, Tennessee Titans

Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

Brown may be down, but Tennessee Titans running back DeMarco Murray is definitely a player on the rise. So far this season, he has racked up 526 yards rushing, 172 yards receiving and six total touchdowns.

It's also worth noting that Murray leads the Titans with 24 total receptions. If you're playing in a PPR league, he is a veritable must-start.

Owners worried about Murray splitting time with rookie Derrick Henry can rest easy for now. Though Tennessee originally envisioned the two forming a powerful backfield tandem, the Titans have found that Murray is just too valuable to take off the field.

According to Pro Football Focus, Murray has seen 119 offensive snaps over the past two weeks. Henry has seen a mere 31.

Murray also benefits from a favorable Week 7 matchup, as the Titans are set to face off against the rival Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are rated dead last in run defense by Pro Football Focus.

After producing "just" 65 yards and a score against the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, Murray should be set for a bounce-back performance. Houston Texans running back Lamar Miller just gashed the Colts defense for 178 combined rushing and receiving yards with two touchdowns.

Jay Ajayi, RB, Miami Dolphins

Since we're talking about impressive running back performances, let's talk about the one Miami Dolphins back Jay Ajayi had against the Steelers this past Sunday. The Boise State product finally looked like a top-quality back, rushing for a whopping 204 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon.

For the time being, it seems the Dolphins have found their running back.

"I think that's safe to say," Ajayi said when asked by Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio if the Dolphins had their workhorse back. "I'm just thankful for the opportunity and just want to continue to build off of performances like yesterday."

If you're in need of running back help, you'll be thankful to know that there's a good chance Ajayi is available in your league. He's currently owned in just 42.7 percent of ESPN fantasy leagues.

Keep in mind, though, that we're not likely to see any more 200-yard games from Ajayi anytime soon. His previous high in rushing this season was just 42 yards. This week, he gets to go up against the Buffalo Bills, who are rated sixth in run defense by Pro Football Focus.

Ajayi is definitely worth an add, even if he doesn't have another monster day this season. The Dolphins likely trust him enough to give him a workload that justifies your RB2 or flex slot.