Whos Hot Whos Not 2016 Week 7

By Jen Ryan
Jen Ryan As we get another week closer to the halfway mark of the fantasy football season we should all start paying attention to bye weeks and planning accordingly. The 5-1 Cowboys and 1-5 Panthers are both off this week. Look at those records, just as we all predicted right? This most definitely is a league of parity. Here’s a quick recap of last week.

I Knew It



Jimmy Graham – 6 rec, 89 yds - TE10
He didn’t go for the century mark hat trick, but Graham still posted a top-ten day.

Lamar Miller – 24 att, 149 yds, 1TD / 3 rec, 29 yds, 1recTD – RB4
Miller finally reminded us why we drafted him where we did.

Arian Foster – 3 att, 3 yds / 2 rec, 12 yds – RB60
I didn’t trust Foster at all, and apparently the coaching staff didn’t either. Jay Ajayi had a 200-yard career day.

Brandon Marshall – 3 rec, 70 yds – WR44
I was worried with Fitzpatrick’s erratic play, which led to – gulp – Geno Smith getting the nod.

Jason Witten – 4 rec, 42 yds – TE18
Witten belonged on your bench, and I hope you put him there.

I Blew It



Alex Smith – 19 att, 22 comp, 224 yds – QB28
The matchup was there, but it blows my mind he wasn’t able to throw a touchdown. QB28 is abysmal.

DeSean Jackson – 4 rec, 55 yds – WR53
If he hauled in the long touchdown that he flat out dropped, he would be in the section above.

Andy Dalton – 31 att, 21 comp, 254 yds, 1TD – QB11
I still don’t like Dalton as a play last week, but a top 12 quarterback is what you are looking for and he squeezed in.

Onward to this week, where we have some juicy matchups on the schedule.

Who’s Hot


Fire Starter: Spencer Ware – Kansas City Chiefs vs. New Orleans Saints
If you haven’t checked our latest breaking news on the home page, you may have missed that Jamaal Charles has swelling in his knee and is questionable this week. Charles poached a few touches and a score from Ware last week which may have had owners concerned but with this news he is my top play this week. The Saints are a bad road team and if the Chiefs get a bit of a lead they will ride Ware even more than anticipated. The Saints are the only team in football who have allowed ten rushing touchdowns this year and you have to wonder if Ware will add two more to that total.

QB: Kirk Cousins – Washington Redskins @ Detroit Lions
The Lions are in the same company as the Saints, and by company I mean the worst in the league against the position I am writing about. Cousins should feast this week, even without Jordan Reed. Cousins has thrown six touchdowns in his past three games and is in line for a multi-touchdown day. I am looking for him to go over 300 yards and finish as a top five quarterback this week.

WR: Jamison Crowder – Washington Redskins @ Detroit Lions
I am sticking with the Redskins passing attack this week and I am loving Crowder due to his red zone usage. He is one of a handful of receivers with double-digit red zone targets. Darius Slay will be in charge of the WR1 for Washington, whether that will be Pierre Garcon or DeSean Jackson. Crowder will run from the slot where he could rack up some cheap PPR points. He should also continue to dominate the red zone looks with Reed out. Look for a big day from Crowder.

TE: Gary Barnidge – Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals
Barnidge is currently the TE18 in fantasy football and you don’t need me to tell you that is not very good. This may come off as a bold call but I feel it makes sense. The Bengals are a bottom-five unit against tight ends and with Terrelle Pryor dinged up, Cody Kessler could rely heavily on the veteran tight end. Barnidge has the upside to get his first touchdown of 2016 this weekend.

Who’s Not


Ice Cold: Sam Bradford – Minnesota Vikings @ Philadelphia Eagles
It hurts me to even write this. There is nothing more that I love than a revenge game on a player’s former home turf, especially a quarterback. I love the narrative for Bradford so much but narratives don’t always mean sound fantasy football decisions. The fact of the matter is that Bradford’s former team is super stingy against quarterbacks, allowing a league-low average of 10.3 points a game. Through six games, quarterbacks have thrown five touchdowns. Throw him in a GPP if you want but everywhere else you should keep him on your bench.
WR: Doug Baldwin – Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals

Full disclosure: In my family league, I am benching Doug Baldwin for Jamison Crowder this week. In ten career games against the Cardinals he has scored a single touchdown. Russell Wilson appears to be favoring Jimmy Graham as of late anyway and I fear Baldwin could be blanked in the stat line this week.

RB: Terrance West – Baltimore Ravens @ New York Jets
West is coming off of a game where he carried the ball for a season-high 23 carries, caught a season-high four receptions, and scored a season-high two touchdowns. The Jets are a middle of the pack team against the run so this is not to say this will be a difficult matchup, I just smell a trap game coming for the Ravens. The 1-5 Jets made a change at quarterback and will need to play lights out at home. This could lead to throwing on the poor Jets’ secondary. I know this is a bit of a bold call, but it is not nearly as bold of the call that I want to go with here in saying that you should bench Le’Veon Bell, who you simply cannot bench (but I do think he will have his worst game of the season against the Patriots this week).

TE: Coby Fleener – New Orleans Saints @ Kansas City Chiefs
I already discussed that fact that Drew Brees is a much different quarterback on the road than he is in the Super Dome, but I also need to point out that the Chiefs have allowed one touchdown to tight ends this year. One touchdown and an average of 3.6 points per game is more than enough reason to bench fantasy football’s TE6 in PPR scoring. Fleener can be a bit of a boom-or-bust anyway, so consider an alternative this week.

Some of these calls may be way off but I am not here to tell you to start Julio Jones and bench Geno Smith. That would be a huge waste of your time. Consider my suggestions here, but ultimately (and always) you have to go with your gut. Be sure to take a look at our Ease of Schedule tool (https://www.footballdiehards.com/eosforecast.cfm) to assist you with any tough decisions.