Fantasy Football Week 7 Start Em/Sit Em
by Al Simmons
Fantasy Football Week 7 is here and Denver, Detroit, Tennessee, Seattle, Jacksonville and Baltimore all have bye weeks.
This might be one of the worst bye weeks in fantasy football this year as Brandon Marshall, Knowshon Moreno, Calvin Johnson, Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Joe Flacco and Ray Rice are all unavailable.
To prepare you as best we can for your week of Fantasy Football here is my Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em list.
Start em
Quarterbacks
Tom Brady vs. Tampa Bay: Tom Brady is back and Tampa Bay won’t be able to stop him. Don’t expect 500+ yards and 6 TD’s but 300 yards and 3 TD’s isn’t out of the question.
Peyton Manning vs. St. Louis: Peyton vs one of the worst D’s in the league.
Jay Cutler vs. Cincinnati: Cutler is averaging more than 20 fantasy points per game over the last 4 weeks. He will face Bengals defense (ranked 29th in passing defense) which struggled against Houston last week.
Also expect big performances by Philip Rivers (vs. Kansas City) and Aaron Rodgers (vs. Cleveland). Also Shaun Hill (vs. Houston) might be a viable option this week if you’re starting QB is on a bye week.
Running backs:
Laurence Maroney vs. Tampa Bay: as I said on my Waiver Wire picks this week, Maroney is worth a starting position this week as he scored 19 fantasy points against the Titans last week. He will have a favorable matchup against Bucs defense (ranked second worst in the league against the run).
DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart vs. Buffalo: Buffalo has the worst run defense and both Williams and Stewart had a big performance last week against Tampa. Williams and Stewart are a must start this week as the will bring their momentum to this game.
Ryan Grant vs. Cleveland: has not done much this year but he gets a good matchup this week. Browns are ranked 30th in rushing game defense. Expect Grant to find big holes for big runs down the field.
Wide Receivers
Austin Collie vs. St. Louis: Colts rookie had eight catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns against the Titans two week ago. The Rams have one of the worst pass defenses. Expect Peyton to target Collie multiple times.
Johnny Knox vs. Cincinnati: Johnny Knox caught his third touchdown of the season Sunday night against Atlanta. Cutler seems to be trusting Knox more and more each week.
Vincent Jackson vs. Kansas City: the Chiefs can’t defend the pass and Jackson is Philip Rivers’ top receiver. San Diego is going to light it up
Sit em
QB
Donovan McNabb vs. Washington: Even though the Redskins aren’t winning their defense is still strong. McNabb is coming off a horrible game and broken ribs.
Matt Cassel vs. San Diego: Chargers pass defense is ranked in the top 10.
RB
Steve Slaton vs. San Francisco: Slaton struggled to run the ball Sunday at Cincinnati and now he will struggle to break free against the Niners.
Ahmad Bradshaw vs. Arizona: Bradshaw is having a tremendous season so far but no he will face his biggest challenge in the Cardinals top ranked run defense.
WR
Terrell Owens vs. Carolina: Owens has become a non factor in Buffalo. Even people in the Bill’s front office are saying that TO isn’t the player he use to be. Panthers own the best defense against the pass.
