Fantasy Football Must Starts Week 7

By James Collier

It’s already Week 7 and that means in a few days time we’ll be halfway through the fantasy regular season… I’m not crying, you’re crying. Anyway, our start/sit decisions matter that little bit more the later in the season we get. Thankfully we are here to help out again with four Must Start players for this week. 

A reminder of what we are looking for in a “Must Start”. We are trying to find you players that are undervalued in DFS or are being ranked too low by (Expert Consensus Rankings) ECR. So, while there will be some contrarian picks, there will also be some “good chalk”. 

Review of Last Week

We had a pretty good week last week, with two of our four picks cracking the top six Wide Receivers in PPR scoring (Terry McLaurin and Zay Flowers). Plus Tom’s pick of Diontae Johnson finished at his exact ECR ranking (WR12) and Kev’s pick of Jalen Tolbert finished just below his (WR44 from a ranking of WR40). 

I’m definitely biased but my personal highlight was McLaurin’s first multi touchdown game since Week 4 of 2021 and only his third top 12 fantasy finish in the last two seasons. 

Chase Brown @ Cleveland Browns

On paper a matchup with the Browns isn’t great for running backs, as they’ve allowed just one top 12 finish so far this season. But they have proven to be prone to giving up explosive runs and Chase Brown is the kind of back that can pay off in one play. 

After averaging around a third of the snaps heading into last week, Brown was on the field for over 60% against the Giants on Monday night. That was the first time this season he’s out-snapped team mate Zack Moss and he made it count with a 30 yard touchdown run at the end of the game. 

He has four touchdowns in his last three games and in a game that I expect the Bengals to win with ease, I’m comfortable plugging in the running back that’s going to lead the backfield. 

ECR Rank (PPR): RB20

Tank Dell @ Green Bay Packers (Kev White)

Kev (@TheDynastyMind)’s Must Start this week is Texans receiver Tank Dell. After recovering from a broken leg and being shot in the offseason, Dell’s touchdown was one of the feel good moments of last week. 

“Coming off his best fantasy game of the season, Dell looks to continue his great form against a Packers side who give up the 13th most points to wide receivers. It is no coincidence Dell’s best game came with the absence of star player Nico Collins, who will also be missing this contest. Projected as one of the highest over-under points totals on the slate, this is an ideal game environment for Dell, where he will avoid the shadow coverage of Packers’ elite cornerback Jaire Alexander and is an excellent arbitrage play on the popular Stefon Diggs.

Dell can be used in a number of ways this week: in lineup leagues as a comfortable starter at wide receiver and in DFS as a stand alone option, part of a stack with quarterback CJ Stroud or as a bring back option to an offensive weapon on the Packers’ side.”

ECR Rank (PPR): WR22

Andy Dalton @ Washington Commanders (Lewis Wood)

Although I do not like what Lewis (@ff_pancake) has to say about my Commanders, it’s hard to fault his logic with his selection of Panthers QB Andy Dalton. 

“The Commanders are absolute garbage on defense. They’ve only had two weeks so far that they haven’t allowed a top 10 QB performance – and one of those was Deshaun Watson, so that doesn’t really count. This matchup has the highest over/under on the slate, and with some good weapons around him, there’s a good chance Dalton can revert back to his week 3 QB8 finish in a matchup where both teams are going to be incredibly pass happy.”

ECR Rank: QB20

Tony Pollard @ Buffalo Bills (Tom Strachan)

And rounding us off again is Tom (@NFL_TStrack) with his pick of Titans running back Tony Pollard. 

“A running back with a potentially fruitful matchup is Tony Pollard who faces a Buffalo Bills defense allowing the second-most running back fantasy points after giving up big days to Breece Hall (RB6), Derrick Henry (RB1), Justice Hill (RB8), Devon Achane (RB2) and James Conner (RB8). Pollard for his part has been one of the few bright spots in this Titans offense, averaging 15.2 PPR points and having scored a third of the team’s touchdowns. Tyjae Spears is dealing with a hamstring issue and was described as week-to-week by Head coach Brian Callahan, which will potentially allow Pollard to see even more volume than the 18.8 touches he’s been averaging.”

ECR Ranking (PPR): RB10

Feature image credit: Sarah Stier/Getty Images

JAMES COLLIER

Lead Fantasy Football Analyst

A Washington fan since the early 2010’s, James had no choice but to turn to fantasy football in search of happiness – and it wasn’t long until it became an obsession. You can follow him on Twitter @jamesc294.

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