Week 7 Start/Sit

                        Week 7 Start/Sit

    I had some hits on my start/sit article last week. Had some misses too but that's usually how it goes. This week unfortunately featured some mid week injury updates that change the landscape for RB a bit. Mixon is out. That makes Gio a strong RB2 start in full PPR formats. Aaron Jones is a gametime decision heading in to what was a great matchup. If Jones misses I'd put Jamaal Williams up in the RB2 range as well. Then there's the Raiders situation where Josh Jacobs will be playing behind an OL what hasn't practiced all week or a group of backups. I've dropped him down a few spots but he's still an RB1 based on his volume alone. 

   Without further adue this week's start sits starting with Running Backs.

Running Backs

Start✅

Justin Jackson The Jaguars are getting gashed on the round. Based on the first game without Ekeler he looks to be the lead back in the offense. Kelly should be involved but I think there's enough to go around for both backs to be productive. 

Latavius Murray I've listed Murray as a start in the past and it's worked out. I think he's set up beautifully the week. Yes Kamara is the man in this offense but Murray is thier pounder on the ground. With Thomas out again and now Emmanuel Sanders out I think the Saints will keep things on the ground most of the day.

Antonio Gibson Dallas is atrocious on defense and Gibson is always a threat for a big play. If Kyle Allen can get him the ball in space he could boom this week.

D'Andre Swift Some think this past week was an outlier due to all the RB carries being out of the normal for Detroit. While that may be true I think the bye week helped Detroit get Swift more involved. In this matchup against Atlanta who allow the most catches to RBs Swift could pile up points regardless of game script. 

Sit❌

Melvin Gordon You'll probably be forced to start Gordon but if you can sit him for a weekly filler like Gio or Jamaal Williams I'd pull the trigger. Lindsay looked good last week and should command a healthy role now. 10-15 touches for Gordon in this offense doesn't excite me.

Devin Singletary The Bills aren't good at running the ball. Wait... I should rephrase that. They aren't good at running the ball with thier running backs. Now with Moss getting healthy and the preferred option at the goalline Singletary's upside is severely capped. 

David Montgomery I get it. He probably needs to be started. He gets the volume. This is just a horrible matchup and he hasn't looked good. He's going to need the passing game work to save his day. 

Wide Receivers

Start ✅

Terry McLaurin I'm seeing managers with McLaurin on their benches. He has tremendous upside in this matchup. Find a way to get him in your starting lineup.

DJ Moore The Saints are easier to beat through the air than on the ground. Moore has seen his targets rise recently and I think he's set up for a solid outing in New Orleans.

Tee Higgins Without Mixon this week Joe Burrow might throw the ball 60+ times. Cleveland is also a pass funnel defense and hasn't been creating that much pressure dispite Myles Garrett's great half season. Higgins gets the redzone targets and looks great. He should smash in this matchup.

Tre'Quan Smith This is a situation of addition by subtraction. No MT, no Emmanuel Sanders. I think they will run a ton against the worst run defense in football but they should throw at least a few times. 

Cole Beasley John Brown was ruled out and diggs should see double coverage. That should leave Beasley free to work the underneath. He has a crazy high floor in full PPR this week.

Christian Kirk I'm going back to the well on Kirk. He came through last week and I think in this projected shootout he should see an uptick in his targets. He has the juice to make the most of them. 

Keelan Cole I'm back on Cole again too. He solidified himself as the #2 in this offense and that he's better when Chark is out there as well. Hopefully this week Minshew isn't terrible in the beginning of the game and we can get 4 quarters of production out of him this time.

Sit❌

JuJu Smith-Schuster I think this might come back to bite me. Juju not getting targeted has been on front pages and is creating buzz. Ben might force feed him in a "squeaky wheel" narritave. Juju hasn't been voicing his dismay publicly and has handled it in the classiest way possible which is all the more reason for Ben to get him going this week. 

Julian Edelman For a guy who has been one of the most consistent WRs in history he's been wildly inconsistent. This is a run first offense in New England and Julian dosen't have the separation skills he once had. 

AJ Green I know he had a good game last week and looked a bit better in more of a possession WR role. I still can't trust him. He's been woefully inefficient with the targets and redzone looks he's gotten he should be a top 5 WR. At some point they need to direct the higher quality targets elsewhere.

Jarvis Landry Dealing with fractured ribs apparently for a bit. I don't want to trust him here at all hopefully you have better options.

Tight Ends

Start✅

Rob Gronkowski Add: Recommending Gronk as a start in fantasy. To my list of things I didn't see happening in 2020. The list is long and this one is actually near the top. He's Been playing himself into game shape and looks as healthy as he has in years. 

Noah Fant The Broncos will probably need to throw a ton to keep up with the Chiefs. Fant was a featured part of this offense before he got Injured and I see no reason that would change.

Jimmy Graham First Gronk now Graham? Cue the jumanji "What year is it?" Meme. Graham has reprised his dominant Redzone role he once held in New Orleans. He has weekly 2TD potential and I'm not being hyperbolic. 

Sit❌

Eric Ebron I'm struggling to find sits at the TE position because they are all so bad behind the top 5-6 you're just trying to throw darts at a TD. Not that I don't think Ebron is in a bad matchup. It's more that out of all the players in that offense being heavily targeted and then having success on the ground. I just see it as less likely to happen. 

Evan Engram was my most glaring sit this week for me at TE on Thursday night. Kittle has a horrendous matchup but you can't sit him by any means just temper expectations. 

Quarterbacks

Start✅

Matthew Stafford Here I go again. Picking on the Falcons. Stafford is a great option this week. He was in a similar situation last week and busted. Why is that good? Because it wasn't that he played badly. They jumped out to a big lead and scored most of their TDs on the ground. That almost definitely won't happen again. Best part is people are now down on him after that game and dropped him. So if you need a QB scoop him off waivers and start him. 

Matt Ryan Same game other side. With a 55+ point over/under this should be a complete track meet. Ryan was shaky without Julio but now his BFF is back and looked healthy. Start Ryan with confidence in this pass heavy offense.

Ben Roethlisberger With Dionte Johnson coming back Ben has all his weapons locked and loaded for a matchup with a mediocre Titans secondary. I think we're going to see a QB deul between Ben and Tanny in this one. Steelers stuff RBs and while Henry is one of the best I think the Titans will use more play action than actual runs. 

Ryan Tannehill Tannehill's efficiency since taking over as the Titans QB is absolutely insane. At this point he had to just be considered a must start now that the offense is playing at a faster pace. The matchup isn't good but that doesn't even matter anymore. 

Sit❌

Andy Dalton I don't think he'll have as bad an outing as he did last week but this Washington front 4 is going to get after him and Dalton has always had difficulty with pressure. 

Drew Brees No Michael Thomas. No Emmanuel Sanders. I'd want no part of Brees this week. Carolina is much better against the pass than they are against the run as well. 

Jared Goff The matchup is horrible and Goff hasn't been good even in plus matchups. The Rams are one of the heaviest run offenses in neutral game scripts. 

    I apologise if the QB sits aren't exactly surprising. Most of the higher end QBs should be putting up nice statlines this week. Even if a QB falls outside the top 12 I still think most will have statlines close to what the top 12 scored. And this again is why we don't draft QBs early.

    Thanks for reading this week's start sits. I'll be available tomorrow to answer any more specific questions as far as start sit is concerned on Twitter @Chris_Cianci