Week 7 Fantasy Football Rankings: 5 Players Who Need to Break out

Week 7 marks the halfway point of the regular season in many fantasy football leagues, and while a number of stars have performed as well or even better than they were expected to (such as running back Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears and wide receiver Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions), some have fallen flat, leaving their fantasy owners wondering why the heck they spent a high drat pick on them in the first place.

Here's a look at a handful of players who need to hope that the second half of the fantasy football season is kinder to them than the first, lest they be saddled with the dreaded label of "bust."

1. Matt Ryan, QB (Atlanta Falcons)

2011 Stats: 134-of-218, 1,465 yards, 8 TDs, 6 INTs

After finishing 2010 as the 10th-ranked fantasy quarterback and the selection of wide receiver Julio Jones in April's NFL draft, many fantasy owners expected Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan to take the mythical "next step" in his fourth season in the NFL and become a solid fantasy QB1 along the way.

However, Ryan has regressed to this point in the season, passing for less than 200 yards in three of six games, throwing more than one touchdown pass in only one game and barely finishing inside the top 20 signal-callers in fantasy points per game so far this season.

2. Rashard Mendenhall, RB (Pittsburgh Steelers)

2011 Stats: 81 carries, 319 yards, 3 TDs, 5 receptions, 21 yards

Whether it's due to a poor offensive line, a hamstring injury or just flat-out poor play, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall hasn't come close to living up to his low-end fantasy RB1 draft status, averaging less than four yards a carry and entering Week 7 ranked 26th among fantasy running backs.

However, there is some cause for optimism with Mendenhall, as the fourth-year pro appears fully healthy and is coming off by far his best game of the season, rushing for 146 yards on 23 carries and scoring a touchdown in last week's win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

3. DeAngelo Williams, RB (Carolina Panthers)

2011 Stats: 58 carries, 302 yards, 1 TD, 8 receptions, 48 yards

Many fantasy football enthusiasts were disappointed when Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams re-upped with the team before the season, feeling that the fantasy fortunes of both Williams and fellow running back Jonathan Stewart would be best served if Williams had moved on to a featured back role with another team while Stewart took over as the bellcow in the Carolina backfield.

Few predicted that Williams' production would fall completely off a cliff, however, as more than 20 percent of the sixth-year veteran's rushing yards have come on one carry. Williams has been badly outplayed by Stewart, and Williams slinks into Week 7 as the 43rd-ranked running back in fantasy points per game.

4. Santonio Holmes, WR (New York Jets)

2011 Stats: 20 receptions, 287 yards, 3 TDs

Fantasy owners hoping for a high-end WR2 when they selected New York Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes in drafts last summer have been sorely disappointed, as the sixth-year wideout has done more grumbling than producing. Holmes has averaged less than 50 receiving yards per contest and ranks 40th among receivers in fantasy points per game to this point.

The entire Jets offense has been sporadic at best so far this season, which certainly hasn't helped Holmes' fantasy numbers, but unless something changes fairly quickly for Gang Green, there's not a lot of reason to expect Holmes to rebound any time soon.

5. Antonio Gates, TE (San Diego Chargers)

2011 Stats: 8 receptions, 74 yards

The writing was on the wall that selecting San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates in fantasy drafts this year was a risky proposition, as reports circulated throughout training camp and the preseason that the plantar fasciitis that dogged Gates throughout the second half of the 2010 season had not healed as hoped.

Fantasy owners who rolled the dice that Gates would be able to return to his usual dominant self have so far come up snake eyes; the ninth-year veteran has been limited to only two games this season by the same malady and appears headed toward another injury-marred campaign.