Week 7 Fantasy Football Start Em Sit Em: Colt McCoy and More Fringe QBs to Start

With Tom Brady, Michael Vick, Ryan Fitzpatrick and other notable quarterbacks all enjoying bye weeks in Week 7, there are a lot of quarterback slots out there that must be filled. The question is who can be trusted to fill them.

Answer: me.

Answer that's not a joke: quarterbacks that are going to be good enough for one week.

There are a couple of these QBs out there, but there are five guys in particular that I think are slightly more trustworthy than their comrades.

Curtis Painter, Indianapolis Colts

Kind of an odd suggestion seeing as how he was bad enough to force the Colts into kidnapping Kerry Collins out of retirement, but he's actually been pretty decent in recent weeks.

Painter was nothing special against the Cincinnati Bengals and their tough defense in Week 6, but in the two games prior he had four touchdown passes and no interceptions.

Going up against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints' high-powered offense, the Colts are going to need Painter to move the ball and score points. The bright side is that the Saints' pass defense is just okay, and they've given up multiple touchdown passes in four of their six games.

Perhaps Painter will make it five of seven.

Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs

After enjoying a week off in Week 6, Matt Cassel and the Chiefs will head to Oakland to take on the Raiders.

Here's a widely known fact about the Raiders: their pass defense stinks. They're 28th in the NFL in passing yardage allowed, and they've allowed multiple touchdown passes in five straight games.

By the way, the last time we saw Cassel he was throwing four touchdown passes against the Colts. If he throws half that many against the Raiders, he will have been a good decision to play.

Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns

Colt McCoy is on the bad side of "just okay" as far as quarterbacks go, but the Browns don't really have a choice but to trust him. Their rushing attack just hasn't produced this season, and McCoy's arm has been active as a result.

I don't expect that to change all that much on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. They play the pass pretty well, but McCoy is going to throw the ball enough that it won't really matter. He's going to rack up yards, and yards mean at least some points.

Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

It might be slightly unfair to label Josh Freeman as a "fringe" quarterback, but the truth is that you never really know what you're going to get from him. He tends to be feast or famine.

Either way, I like Freeman's chances against the Chicago Bears at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. The Bears do not boast a great defense, and Freeman will have extra throws coming his way with LeGarrette Blount, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, still out with a knee injury.

So in this case, you can probably expect something more along the lines of a feast.

Tim Tebow, Denver Broncos

Tim Tebow is another guy that you might think doesn't deserve the "fringe" label.

If so, may I remind you that this is a guy who was backing up Brady Quinn not too long ago. That essentially means he was on the fringe of the NFL, much less the Broncos.

At any rate, Tebow is going to do just fine on Sunday. He'll pass for some yards, he'll run for some yards and I anticipate him finding the end zone at least twice.

He may also turn water into wine, though I'm not sure how many fantasy points that's worth.