We all know the failures of the entire season, but potential fraudulent performances await behind the scenes every week. Whether it’s because a player loses playing time, gets injured, faces a tough matchup, or is simply due to a cold streak, there are a number of reasons they can disappoint. Identifying potential failures before you start, making decisions about feeling them is paramount, and can help you avoid having disastrous weeks. We’ve screened potential Week 7 fantasy busts, like hot waiver players Rashod Bateman and Rashaad Penny and more established players like Joe Burrow and Elijah Mitchell, who carry risks in their matchups.
As always, even perennial stars can fail in favorable matchups, but it can be difficult to call superstars “failures.” We’ll just name the guys in the start-or-sit bubble, not the “mandatory starts” and not the guys who are in more than 90 percent of the exemption leads. As mentioned above, you can’t always avoid the players on this list. Sometimes you don’t have the depth to reasonably evaluate these guys (or you may totally disagree with our evaluations), especially in a week like this.
WEEK 7 FANTASY: Sleepers | Get started, feel them
We had a hot Week 6 on our sleeper picks, but our bust picks were a mixed bag. We were right on David Njoku, Robert Tonyan, Ryan Tannehill, Chase Claypool, Tyler Lockett and Ben Roethlisberger. We won’t take a W for Kadarius Toney as he looked ready for another good performance before pinching his ankle again. However, we were wrong about Derek Carr, Dalton Schultz and Alex Collins. Technically, Devontae Booker was fine in the PPR leagues, but would be considered a Week 6 flop in the standard leagues.
WEEK 7 STANDARD RATINGS:
Field marshal | Running backwards | Wide receiver | Tight end | D / ST | Kicker
Fantastic busts of week 7: runners
Chase Edmonds, Cardinals vs. Texans (Jackson Sparks). Edmonds is a discarded candidate for the same reason James Conner is a sleeper: The Cardinals will dominate this game. When the Cardinals lead, they hit the stone with Conner, who has scored five touchdowns this season. Edmonds is best suited for at least neutral game scripts when Arizona keeps passing. We don’t blame you if you start it in PPR, but it should stay on the bench in the standard leagues.
Elijah Mitchell, 49ers vs. Colts (Vinnie Iyer). We have no idea what Kyle Shanahan will do with his backfield coming off a break, and the Indianapolis defense is starting to reassert itself up front again.
Rashaad Penny, Seahawks vs. Saints (Matt Lutovsky). Penny (calf) will apparently come out of the IR at the perfect time. Chris Carson (neck) is out and Alex Collins (hip) is hit. If Collins is out, Penny should see 12-15 touches, but considering she’s playing Monday night, Fantasy owners might not know if she’ll start until they have to secure the rest of their lineups. Plus, it’s a brutal showdown, as New Orleans has the No. 2 rushing defense. It’s not a bad idea to pick up Penny, but don’t count on him in this showdown, even if Collins is out.
WEEK 7 PPR RANKINGS:
Field marshal | Running backwards | Wide receiver | Tight end | D / ST | Kicker
Fantasy Football busts from week 7: quarterbacks
Joe Burrow, Bengals @ Ravens (Sparks). Burrow could prove us wrong here because Baltimore has given up on great quarterback games, including Carson Wentz. However, the Ravens simply beat the Chargers and kept Justin Herbert and company. to six points. We’ve seen Baltimore’s defense dominate in the past, and the performance against LA could be the start of that this year.
Derek Carr, Raiders vs. Eagles (Iyer). Just when you think you can trust him, he enters a tough duel against a strong inside pass balanced by cornerbacks who can take turnovers out of him and limit big plays.
Daniel Jones, Giants vs. Panthers (Lutovsky). It’s not a terrible matchup, but Jones is still dealing with a meager offense and, as we saw last week, he’s not always able to show his running ability. Even if you’re desperate for goodbyes, you should be able to do better than Jones.
WEEK 7 DFS LINEUPS: DraftKings | FanDuel | Yahoo!
Fantasy Football busts from week 7: wide receivers
Corey Davis, Jets @ Patriots (Sparks). The last time these two teams met, Davis caught just two passes for eight yards. Maybe Zach Wilson improved during the bye week, but Davis’s ceiling is extremely low here. The Jets ‘offense hasn’t improved enough to trust the Jets’ pass receivers this week on the road in Foxboro.
Tyler Boyd, Bengals @ Ravens (Iyer). He has a decent history against them, but on the offense today, he’s a distant third fiddle from Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Tight end CJ Uzomah’s work is hurting him on the inside, too.
Rashod Bateman, Ravens vs. Bengals (Lutovsky). Bateman looked good in his NFL debut last week, catching four of six goals and playing 66.7 percent of plays. However, that yielded only 29 yards. If Sammy Watkins (hamstring) comes back, he can’t rely on Bateman, as he will be the fourth option in an offense that doesn’t happen much. Even if Watkins is out again, Bateman is far from a block to produce against the Bengals defense, allowing the 10th fewest fantasy points per game (FPPG) to WR. It’s worth having it on your bench, but don’t put it in your lineup.
MORE WEEK 7 DFS: Best Stacks | Best values | Lineup Creator
Fantasy Football busts from week 7: tight ends
Zach Ertz, Cardinals vs. Texans (Sparks). We understand the excitement surrounding Ertz, but there are three reasons you might be leaving here. For one thing, it’s just his first full week with the team, so it might take time for that to be a factor. Second, this game shouldn’t be remotely closed, so the volume of passes will decrease early. Lastly, there are too many mouths to feed in Arizona, and Ertz will likely produce here and there, but not consistently, as Maxx Williams did.
Tyler Higbee, Rams vs. Lions (Iyer). They don’t really need Higbee to attack this passing defense, which is actually better on the inside than on the outside.
Evan Engram, Giants vs. Panthers (Lutovsky). At this point, very few fantasy owners might be starting Engram, but it has some name value and the Giants WR keep getting hurt so we know the temptation is there. Don’t let it be like that. It hasn’t come close to producing, even with relatively decent lenses, and New York has enough other options that there’s always someone else to pitch to. Engram will get a random TD at some point, but don’t try to guess when it will happen.
Week 7 Fantasy Busts: Defenses
Las Vegas Raiders vs. Eagles (Sparks). The Raiders defense has improved a lot, but while the Eagles’ offense seems lifeless at times, they are garbage weather gurus. Even if the game starts out great for the Las Vegas defense, it will give up a lot of yards. Additionally, Philadelphia is in the top half of the league in touchdowns scored and has delivered the ball only five times this year (tied for second-lowest).
Baltimore Ravens vs. Bengals (Iyer). They played much better last week against Justin Herbert, but Joe Burrow and the division rivals will play a cleaner offense this week.
San Francisco 49ers vs. Colts (Lutovsky). The 49ers are rested and at home, and Carson Wentz is always prone to careless turnovers. Good recipe for a starter D / ST, right? Well, Wentz has only thrown one INT in one game this year, and Indianapolis is actually allowing the third-fewest fantasy points per game to defenses. It’s a tough week for the D / STs, but there are a lot better starting options than San Francisco.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.