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The Pittsburgh Steelers will face off against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football, and early start and sit decisions need to be made for fantasy managers.
The Steelers have a pair of running backs, Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell, who might be interesting for fantasy managers to put into their lineups. And the Bengals WR2, Tee Higgins, is also worth consideration.
Intra-divisional battles like this one can often be unpredictable, as teams that face each other twice per year have well-established rivalries that can lead to surprising results. But should you start Warren, Gainwell, and Higgins this week?
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Should I Start Jaylen Warren for Fantasy Football?
The Steelers' offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, has a history of limiting running backs from the roles they deserve to run his committee-style approach to a backfield. We saw plenty of this when he was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in 2023 with rookie RB Bijan Robinson.
Unfortunately, the same thing is happening in Pittsburgh. They ran a very ugly three-way committee split, with Warren handling the plurality of the work. But that amounted to just 11 carries for 52 yards and two receptions for 11 yards.
Jaylen Warren is one of the biggest reasons the Steelers are 4-1. Does so much.
Stuns MYLES GARRETT in pass protection, rides him past Rodgers, then leaks out in scramble drill and makes a diving catch on 3rd-and-3 to move the chains pic.twitter.com/AOKl3lwrLa
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) October 13, 2025
Warren is excellent at blocking. But he took just half of the team's offensive running back snaps. Second and third-string RBs Kenneth Gainwell and Kaleb Johnson split the rest of the snaps, with Johnson handling six carries and Gainwell rushing six times as well as catching all six of his targets.
Warren having half the rushing work and Gainwell taking most of the receiving work is pretty, pretty bad. Smith is at it again -- making his running backs significantly less valuable than they could be. That said, Warren is a decent flex play if you need a fill-in for injuries. But his upside is very limited.
Should I Start Kenneth Gainwell for Fantasy Football?
Gainwell's production fell back down to earth in Week 6 after his 31.4 PPR point detonation in Week 4. It doesn't look like we'll see a performance like that again as long as Warren is healthy. Gainwell scored 9.6 PPR fantasy points last week, which led all Steelers running backs.
But six of those points came on receptions. He had a bonafide PPR scam day, as he only gained 14 yards on his six catches. He was very inefficient, and though the Steelers have an easy matchup against the soft Bengals defense, it's hard to trust such low-volume, inefficient players in starting lineups.
Gotta give it to Kenneth Gainwell he played an amazing game #steelers pic.twitter.com/PV4zNs9AXx
— Matthew Luciow (@matthewluciow92) September 29, 2025
Gainwell played very well against the Vikings, but when stuck in this committee, he's better off on the bench. It's hard to rely on another PPR-scam type performance.
Should I Start Tee Higgins for Fantasy Football?
Higgins got a quarterback upgrade when the Cincinnati Bengals traded for quarterback Joe Flacco, especially so in terms of fantasy football. The Bengals' backup QB, Jake Browning, couldn't even make anything happen in garbage time, which was devastating for the fantasy value of Cincy's receivers.
Yet Flacco got the offense into gear for some meaningless drives and scores last week, and Higgins was more consistently involved in the offense. He finished his day with five receptions on eight targets for 62 yards, his highest receiving total of the season.
This Tee Higgins TD did not count. We’re all still confused. 🫤 pic.twitter.com/PHW2XSXIcF
— Wincy (@WincinnatiPod) March 11, 2023
Higgins is still a highly talented receiver, and the Steelers defense presents an easy matchup for him, at least on paper. The Steelers run a high rate of man coverage, and Higgins excels against those defensive looks, demanding a much higher target rate.
The Bengals have had a tough schedule so far, but things are lightening up, and Higgins is a worthy start for Week 7. The rest of his season should look better than the start as long as Flacco can stay healthy, and he's not dealing with any known aliments at this time. I strongly recommend against benching Higgins.
Who Should I Start Tool
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 7 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, Tee Higgins. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 7. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 7 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 7 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, Tee Higgins. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 7.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool, but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our Who Should I Start? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 7 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 7 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 7 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 7 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, Tee Higgins compared to others:
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