Fantasy Football Landmines to Avoid for Week 7 - Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, Kyle Pitts Sr., more

October 24, 2026

Aidin looks at fantasy football landmines, busts, and avoids for Week 7 of 2026. Given these Week 7 fantasy situations, consider benching these players.

Week 7 is here, folks! We saw a battle between two of the NFL's biggest rising stars on Thursday Night Football, as Caleb Williams and Drake Maye both had outstanding performances. It was Williams who came out on top in the end, moving the Bears to a 5-2 record.

In this weekly series, I'll highlight five players who could disappoint due to several factors, such as their matchup, team situation, or whether their current run of form is unsustainable. Benching these star names will be tough, but you have to take risks to win. Last week was a return to normalcy for this series, but as always, there was one massive exception. Omarion Hampton, Garrett Wilson, and Jake Ferguson all had terrible outings; Ferguson wasn't even the highest-scoring TE on his own team! Emeka Egbuka had a good fantasy game but a very poor football game, recording just 3.0 yards per target. The big exception was Trevor Lawrence, who had an outstanding game against the now-inexplicably terrible Texans defense, but he failed to improve his poor record against Houston. Let's ride this wave and go for some big wins this week!

Without further ado, let's look at five fantasy football landmines you should bench ahead of Week 7 of the 2026 NFL season.

Patrick Mahomes, QB, at Seattle Seahawks

It's time for one of the most anticipated games of the season!

Mahomes to Kelce down the sideline!

LACvsKC on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/ihrJljHm8y

— NFL (@NFL) October 18, 2026

The reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks have gotten off to a very slow 3-3 start, while the "dynasty of old" Kansas City Chiefs have started the season undefeated, just one win away from matching their 2025 win total.

However, most of their problems can be attributed to their offense, and the "Dark Side" defense is still dominant.

They rank first in the fewest passing yards allowed, and second in the fewest net passing yards allowed. Opposing QBs have averaged a disgustingly low 4.3 net yards per attempt so far against Seattle.

Their rushing defense, while still top-10 in the league, is a few levels behind. The rejuvenated Chiefs can take advantage of that by feeding Kenneth Walker III against his former team.

On Friday, ESPN's Nate Taylor and Brady Henderson reported the Seahawks "decision-makers had reservations about [Walker's] availability," and were "only willing to go as high as roughly $10 million per season to re-sign him in March."

Such a report coming back mere days before the game is sure to fire Walker up, and the Chiefs could be even more reliant on him than they have been in previous weeks.

With Seattle's elite passing defense and Walker's quest for revenge, the legendary Mahomes could be in for a pedestrian performance this week.

Xavier Worthy, WR, at Seattle Seahawks

Sticking with the Chiefs, I was one of the last Xavier Worthy believers heading into this season, but I was forced to hop off the sinking ship following just 63 yards in his first three games. However, it seems like Worthy might be turning a corner.

After Rashee Rice went down early against the Raiders in Week 4, Worthy has put up back-to-back 70-yard games, doing so for the first time in his NFL career. Worthy's fantasy owners finally have some hope for the first time in a long time.

But for all the reasons mentioned in the Mahomes section, Worthy's pending breakout might hit a major roadblock this week. The Seahawks have allowed just 23.4 PPR points per game to fantasy WRs, the third-lowest mark in the league.

They've also allowed the third-fewest PPR points to opposing TEs, but I trust Travis Kelce to be the top option in Kansas City's passing game (which I predict to struggle regardless) over Worthy.

Baker Mayfield, QB, at Carolina Panthers

I have made my stance on Baker Mayfield clear in the past: I wouldn't have anyone else as the quarterback of my football team despite his drawbacks. I even once compared someone I love to Mayfield for that same reason!

Coach Todd Bowles made it official that Baker Mayfield will play Sunday. He was a full participant all three days. Bowles called it a “normal practice week” for him.

— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) October 23, 2026

Sure, other QBs might be better at protecting the football, and he has plenty of frustrating flaws, but there's a certain electricity in the air when Mayfield plays.

Unfortunately, this electricity has been harder to notice than ever this season. Mayfield was poor in the first three weeks before dislocating his right thumb.

Undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels tried his best, even beating the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football thanks to an elite Bucky Irving performance. But his limitations were clear, and they were brutally exposed in the second half of the Buccaneers/Steelers game.

With the Bucs at 1-5, Mayfield is rushing back to try his best to "save the season."

Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reported Mayfield will wear a "Frankensteined" glove on his throwing hand made by a Tampa Bay Rays home clubhouse attendant who took a receiver’s glove and ripped off the thumb.

I don't know about you, but that does not instill confidence in me, especially with the news that the Bucs' WR1, Egbuka, was ruled out for the game.

Carolina's defense has allowed the 12th-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks, and they are without their star CB duo, Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson.

However, Mayfield won't have an easy time with his injury and without his top weapon. He's also generally poor in revenge games, with plenty of stinkers against the Rams, Browns, and Panthers on his resume.

Alvin Kamara, RB, vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

The Saints were the perfect fit to be the first-ever team to play in France, and they'll take on the Steelers at the Stade de France this week.

Alvin Kamara has experienced a mini-renaissance so far this season, and he'll be one of the most recognizable stars for the French audience in that game.

Kamara has put up 133 yards and three touchdowns from scrimmage in his last three games, finishing as the PPR RB17 during that span. However, the Steelers' defense is coming alive at just the right time, and they've been especially good at stopping running backs.

Since Week 4, no running back has rushed for over 55 yards against them, which is quite impressive as they've played the likes of Jonathan Taylor and Irving. Kamara will always have upside in PPR leagues, but he'll be a risky start this week.

Kyle Pitts Sr., TE, vs. San Francisco 49ers

We're rounding off this NFC South trio with Kyle Pitts. The 2025 PPR TE2 had an extremely slow start to the season due to the Falcons' QB injuries, catching just two passes for 20 yards in the first three weeks of the year.

KP TD!

FOX | NFL+ https://t.co/3sLXxtGbX6

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 18, 2026

However, Pitts has come alive with Michael Penix Jr. under center in the last three weeks, finishing as the PPR TE3 during that span. Despite his resurgence, he'll have a hard time against arguably the most in-form team in the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers have allowed the fourth-fewest PPR points per game to tight ends so far this season, and the last time a tight end found the endzone against them in the regular season was Colston Loveland in Week 17 of 2025.

This will be Pitts' hardest matchup of the season yet, especially as they'll face former head coach and current 49ers DC Raheem Morris, a man familiar with Pitts' and Penix's every move.

You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.

Week 7 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players -- Patrick Mahomes, Xavier Worthy, Baker Mayfield, Alvin Kamara, Kyle Pitts Sr. 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 name. In the second box, search for the second player 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, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare, with 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 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 (2026)? 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 searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 7 for Patrick Mahomes, Xavier Worthy, Baker Mayfield, Alvin Kamara, Kyle Pitts Sr.: