Week 7 Studs and Duds
Week 7 was an up-and-down week. Several huge fantasy players sustained injuries. DK Metcalf and David Njoku seemingly avoided long-term injuries. Breece Hall seems to have torn an ACL, a devastating injury to a rookie running back who was making explosive plays for a stagnant Jets offense every week. It was national tight ends day, so naturally, only one tight end went over 20 PPR points. Some of the perennial studs had huge games Sunday, and some surprise players blew up. As always, we had some big-time duds too.
Quarterback Studs
Joe Burrow completed 34 of 42 passes for 481 yards and three touchdowns, adding 20 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground. Burrow exploded versus a sub-par Atlanta secondary, and Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd, and Tee Higgins all benefited.
Andy Dalton completed 30 of 47 passes for 361 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. The red rocket tossed two consecutive pick-sixes with 1:50 and 0:46 remaining in the second quarter. This sparked a come-from-behind effort for the Saints, leading to Dalton finishing as QB2 on the week entering Monday.
Daniel Jones completed 19 of 30 passes for 202 yards and one touchdown. He added 107 rushing yards on 11 carries and one touchdown. Good for a QB4 finish, Jones ran all over the field in week 8.
Running Back Studs
Austin Ekeler ran nine times for 31 yards and one touchdown, catching all 12 of his targets for 96 yards and one touchdown. Ekeler saw 60 percent of Los Angeles’ rushing volume on top of a 23.5 percent target share. The definition of a workhorse back on an elite offense, Ekeler is a top 5 running back rest of the season.
Josh Jacobs ran 20 times for 143 yards and three touchdowns, catching three of four targets for 12 yards. Jacobs is quietly the running back four in PPR fantasy leagues seven weeks into the season. He has gone for 30-plus points in three consecutive contests. Jacobs has come a long way since starting in the hall of fame game this preseason.
Kenneth Walker III ran the balls 23 times for 168 yards and two touchdowns. He was the workhorse offense for a Seahawks offense that mostly struggled to get going. Walker has scored in back-to-back starts and has finished as a top-eight running back.
Wide Receiver Studs
Ja’Marr Chase caught eight of 11 targets for 130 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday. Joe Burrow exploded and took his long-time running mate with him. Chase is one of the best receivers in the league and is always on the verge of a blow-up game.
Tyler Boyd caught eight of nine targets for 155 yards and one touchdown. Another beneficiary of Joe Cool’s big game; Boyd went off for 29.5 PPR points. One of the very best wide receiver threes in the league, Boyd should be owned across all formats.
Mecole Hardman caught all four targets for 32 yards and one touchdown. He added 28 rushing yards and two scores on two rushing attempts. Patrick Mahomes was on fire Sunday, carrying his team to a huge performance.
Ju-Ju Smith Schuster caught seven of eight targets for 124 yards and one touchdown. Pacing the team with eight targets (tying Travis Kelce) JuJu put up his second 100-plus-yard performance in a row.
Tight End Studs
George Kittle caught six of nine targets for 98 yards and one touchdown on Sunday. Christian McCaffrey’s addition seemed to open the field up for the offense overall. Kittle led the way for the 49ers with 98 receiving yards in the come-from-behind effort.
Juwan Johnson caught all five of his targets for 32 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson entered Thursday night with three career touchdowns. Don't go chasing fantasy points (that's how the song went right?).
Duds of the Week
QB: Lamar Jackson entered the week as the ECR QB1. He was supposed to destroy a bottom-end Cleveland defense that gave up 25 points to Bailey Zappe last week and 38 points to Joe Flacco in week 2. Lamar disappointed for the 4th week in a row, putting up just 11.9 points.
RB: Leonard Fournette put up just 26 scrimmage yards on 11 opportunities. Entering the game as RB six in fantasy points per game in PPR leagues, Fournette was a huge letdown for fantasy managers.
WR: Courtland Sutton managed just 23 yards in Sunday's loss. Russel Wilson has been disappointing so far this season, but Sutton needs him to return to action for his fantasy outlook's sake.
TE: Kyle Pitts Going with the low-hanging fruit here, Pitts managed just nine yards on three catches. Mariotta threw the ball just thirteen times. Pass catchers have next to no value for Atlanta, despite the extreme talent that both Kyle Pitts and Drake London possess.