Matchups Start/Sit

With P.J. Walker at QB, D.J. Moore saw a renaissance, with the most receptions and yards he has had all season in Week 7. Prior to Week 7, Moore was already seeing a 100-percent (No. 1) Route Participation and 97.2-percent (No. 3) Snap Share. Now with a positive trend after getting a new QB throwing to him, Moore can convert that usage into fantasy points.

Taylor Heinicke isn’t that much better than Carson Wentz, with 44 (No. 2) interceptable passes and 6.9 (No. 21) Yards Per Attempt last season. The Commanders also ran the ball more than passing it last week with Heinicke starting, so don’t expect a high pass volume to help McLaurin. A TD-dependent play this week, it is best to avoid McLaurin if you have other options.

Gus Edwards returned to the Ravens lineup just as J.K. Dobbins exited. He immediately made his presence felt with an RB1 performance.

I would exercise caution in all directions here. On one hand, Edwards’ production was much better than his role. Edwards played just 36-percent of snaps and ceded a significant portion of work in all situations, including short yardage and goal line, to both Justice Hill and Kenyan Drake. He received a carry on 70-percent of his snaps.

Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs surprised many in the NFL and fantasy world this week, naming seventh-round rookie Isiah Pacheco as their starting running back. Thus, supplanting 2020 first-rounder Clyde Edwards-Helaire. After fantasy managers spent the following days getting Pacheco onto rosters and starting lineups, on Sunday, despite the Chiefs putting up 44 points, Pacheco laid an egg: eight rushes for 43 yards, no scores, and no targets.

The Bears pass defense has looked good on paper because their rush defense is a sieve. The Bears’ defense ranks last in the league in Rushing Attempts (157) and Rushing Yards Allowed (737). Their lofty 21.2 Fantasy Points Allowed is No. 5 worst.

The Bears have been giving to opposing D/STs, allowing top 7 performances in three of their past four games. The Patriots rank No. 10 in Sack Rate (7.3-percent) and have recorded fantasy finishes of No. 5 or better in three straight weeks.

When you thought things couldn’t get worse for Terry McLaurin at the QB position, it did. Carson Wentz isn’t giving McLaurin the love his previous QBs were. McLaurin’s 16.4-percent target share ranks No. 57 among wide receivers. His 15.5-percent target rate ranks No. 83. Even the targets he is getting aren’t moving the needle. McLaurin’s target quality rating ranks No. 27 at receiver, and his 7.4 target accuracy is No. 50. But Carson Wentz injured a finger on his throwing hand and will miss 4-6 weeks. Enter Taylor Heinicke. Is Taylor Heinicke good? Not really! I thought Wentz was going to be an upgrade entering this season.

Each passing week of the NFL season means that we have more information about teams, players, and strengths and weaknesses of defenses.

Terry McLaurin has been predictable the past three weeks. He struggled against a top corner in Week 4 when he faced Trevon Diggs, put up top-30 numbers against a porous Titans secondary in Week 5, and finished with another bad performance against Jaylon Johnson and the strong Bears pass defense in Week 6.

The Saint’s 2022 QB Carousel has been frustrating for fantasy gamers, and the picture isn’t getting any clearer this week. On another short weeks rest, head coach Dennis Allen states that he wants to get Jameis Winston “…fully healthy and go from there,” and appeared pleased with Andy Dalton’s performances. The likely event is that Winston is active again as an “emergency quarterback” and Dalton gets the start. The human Red Panda is an effective real-life game manager but not an effective fantasy quarterback. He’s posted a season-high 13 fantasy points, so it’s best to look for other options even in 2QB leagues.

Pollard averaged 6.3 (No. 4) yards per touch through Week 5 and added 52 yards on 13 touches in Week 6. While he has just three top-30 fantasy finishes this season, Pollard is a threat for big plays any week as he chips away at Elliott’s workload. He’ll get a good shot at exploding Week 7 against the Lions.

Denver’s offense has often sputtered this season. Courtland Sutton has been a serviceable fantasy asset while Jerry Jeudy has been on-and-off. Russell Wilson has disappointed, leading to shaky fantasy output from Denver weapons. Facing a good secondary and a defense that has been riding high the last few games, Denver WRs are unlikely to produce a big output for fantasy.

Welcome in to the Week 7 edition of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to RB! This is the place where we talk all things running back streaming. Each week we discuss running back usage, matchups, and waiver opportunities to convert the least amount of capital into a playable running back position on your fantasy teams.

Justin Fields displayed great promise to end his 2021 rookie season. He posted QB1 scores in four of his last five games on the strength of great rushing metrics, a 15.5 (No. 3) Production Premium, and solid Deep Ball and Red Zone Accuracy Ratings. His 2022 QB16 ADP showed we expected him to take the next step this year. That clearly hasn’t happened, though. This is highlighted by his 13.0 Fantasy Points Per Game. This ranks him No. 27 in that category.