Have you looked at your starting lineups this week for your leagues? If you haven’t, please stop reading and check those out immediately. It is getting tight out there right now with bye weeks and injuries devastating the fantasy options for Week 7. Some of these options may be able to help you with this and future tough weeks in your fantasy season to lock up those first-round byes or even just make it to the playoffs at all.
Quarterback
Russell Wilson (QB – DEN)
Despite Denver’s struggles this season, Russ is not to blame. He has played good football from both a fantasy and a real football perspective. There are already rumors that this will be the last year for him as the Broncos’ starting quarterback. Due to this, you may be able to buy him at a discount. Even if he is out of Denver next season, I cannot see Wilson not starting somewhere next season. If the manager with Wilson is a contender this may be tough to make happen but that is often the case with veteran additions in Dynasty.
Gardner Minshew (QB – IND)
With Anthony Richardson getting surgery on his shoulder and ending his season, Minshew-Mania is back again. This is an excellent week to buy Minshew after a poor performance and a tough matchup against Cleveland this week. His fantasy regular season schedule is a bit tough, but he has playoff matchups against the Falcons and then the Raiders at home that could be helpful if your QB room goes through some injuries.
Running Back
Saquon Barkley (RB – NYG)
Making this move will largely depend on how much your league mate values the name, Saquon Barkley. It’s worth asking the price just in case they are ready to move off of Barkley due to the frustration of all the injuries. He was poorly efficient most of the game against Buffalo but did come alive late in the game with back-to-back big runs. Barkley is an asset you may get caught holding the bag when his value drops again, but his schedule in the next few weeks looks quite promising to help your team get through some bye weeks.
Aaron Jones (RB – GB)
There is some risk that he will never return to form, but the upside is worth it. We saw in Week 1 what Aaron Jones is still capable of doing in the passing game. The Packers are an organization that likes to bring players back slowly to reduce the risk of further injury. This is likely the cheapest price Jones has had at any point of his career, and we have seen him put up some monster games in the past. This week he has a nice juicy matchup against the Denver Broncos after a bye week to get some extra recovery in. His price goes up quickly if he has a 20-plus point fantasy day against a defense that has been gotten in the running game this season.
Rico Dowdle (RB – DAL)
Once again I am suggesting you grab a handcuff regardless of whether or not you roster Tony Pollard. While we never root for injuries, it would be foolish of us to ignore them happening altogether. Grabbing Dowdle as a throw-in on a trade is fantastic form and could prove extremely useful in one week. There is a chance that Pollard does not miss any time and Dowdle sits on your bench the whole time, but if we look at it as upside versus cost, Dowdle is a great asset to have on the back end of our benches.
Wide Receivers
Justin Jefferson (WR – MIN)
I list Jefferson as a value here because this is likely the only chance the window is even open for you to trade for him. It takes a specific combination of circumstances but is worth looking into in all of your leagues. The other manager needs to be a contender but one that needs points now. So a team right near the playoff cutoff line that feels like they can make it. You will still need to pay up and it will need to be someone generating points right now. For this move to make sense you either need a team that is rebuilding, has a ton of extra value on your roster, or be okay with taking some losses for a couple of weeks. You may not get him back this season if the Vikings shut him down due to a lost season, but on the bright side, you’ll have Justin Jefferson next season.
D.J. Moore (WR – CHI)
Despite a tough game last week, Moore has shown some upside in this offense. Some people might be scared off by Tyson Bagent at quarterback, but this could lead the Bears offense to design stuff near the line of scrimmage to D.J. Moore to get the ball out of the rookie quarterback. His upcoming schedule isn’t hard and with Arizona and Atlanta both at home for your fantasy playoffs as well.
Michael Pittman Jr. (WR – IND)
Michael Pittman Jr. is having a decent season quietly again. Pittman has received double-digit targets in four out of six games this season and has scored double-digit points in all but one game this season. At this stage of their careers, Minshew is likely better for a WR’s fantasy value than Anthony Richardson so the change at quarterback does not worry me as much. I probably prefer to trade a player instead of a draft pick for Pittman. Perhaps trading Zay Flowers for Pittman plus would be a move I could get behind.
Courtland Sutton (WR – DEN)
With trade rumors for Jerry Jeudy showing up on our Sleeper app lately, Sutton could have a boost in volume. That being said, Sutton has out-targeted Jeudy in games that have both played 32 to 29. He has been the one receiving the high-upside red zone targets and has converted them into 4 TDs already this season. The Broncos are also a team that likely projects to play from behind so we should get some good game scripts for fantasy success for Sutton. His schedule is also really friendly in weeks 14-17. The weeks you are trying to win your championship.
Tight End
Tyler Conklin (TE – NYJ)
Can I just say that I hate tight end more this year than ever before? It is a complete mess and they are all completely terrible. Similar to the last edition of this piece, I am just trying to find someone for cheap. Tyler Conklin fits the bill. He has also averaged 5.2 targets per game since Week 2 and appears to be a safety net for Zach Wilson. He has been unlucky in the touchdown department, but that could easily change one week. Conklin will not help you this week due to a bye but he could prove quite serviceable and could get done with a 4th round pick if the manager that rosters him is not competing.
Bye weeks and trade deadlines make these moves critical to make now as opposed to later. Take advantage of the value these players offer and win your league this year. Either that or just go out and buy Justin Jefferson in any league you can and it makes sense too.
Thanks so much for reading, If you want to discuss more reach me on Twitter, find me @DougHarrelson on there. Also don’t forget to sign up for our Dynasty Football Factory Membership to get all things Dynasty, DFS, Sports Betting, and Devy. Annual Subscribers also get access to our discord server where you can get access to our entire staff!
