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Matt's quarterback (QB) fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 7 of 2025. His QB lineups advice for Week 7 fantasy football start/sit decisions.
The NFL season is full of pivotal moments. Week 7 is another one of those moments for fantasy managers as their seasonal outcome could hang in the balance. As teams in your league jostle for playoff positioning, the difference between 4-3 and 3-4 can not be understated.
In Week 6, we had some of the usual suspects inside the top 12 for fantasy, but Jacoby Brissett, Jaxson Dart, and Bryce Young also made appearances, proving that sometimes matchups are just as important as talent.
With that out of the way, which quarterbacks should fantasy managers trust as we enter Week 7 of the NFL season? Here are your Week 7 starts and sits for the quarterback position.
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Week 7 - Fantasy Football Booms
Baker Mayfield - QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions
Baker Mayfield enters Week 7 of the NFL season as a legitimate favorite to take home the NFL MVP award. Despite playing much of the season without Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, or Bucky Irving, it's Mayfield who currently resides in the top five in passing yards (1,539), passing touchdowns (12), and fantasy points (21.1 per contest). Those 12 touchdown passes are accompanied by just a single interception, giving Mayfield one of the best touchdown-to-interception ratios in the league.
Even with Emeka Egbuka (hamstring) missing much of last week's contest, Mayfield still completed 17 of 23 passing attempts for 256 yards and a pair of scores, finishing as a top 10 fantasy option at the quarterback position. In Egbuka's absence, Mayfield spread the ball around, connecting with Kameron Johnson, Tez Johnson, and former Sooner teammate Sterling Shepard. All in all, Mayfield has the Buccaneers atop the NFC South with a 5-1 record.
BEAST MODE BAKER
SFvsTB on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/Bb1mV8ktZu
— NFL (@NFL) October 12, 2025
As banged up as the Buccaneers are regarding their pass catchers, the Detroit Lions' secondary may be their equals. Detroit's secondary is as follows: D.J. Reed (IR), Terrion Arnold (shoulder), Kerby Joseph (knee), Avonte Maddox (hamstring), and after the Chiefs game, Brian Branch, who had been dealing with a foot injury, could face league discipline.
A depleting secondary is less than ideal for a team that just saw Patrick Mahomes drop 31.5 fantasy points on National television after throwing for 257 yards, rushing for 32 yards, and totaling four touchdowns. This season, Detroit allows 18.93 fantasy points per game (sixth-most), yielding 13 touchdown passes (fourth-most) and 1,402 passing yards.
Jared Goff - QB, Detroit Lions vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sticking with the Buccaneers and Lions showdown, Jared Goff looks to add to the fireworks as he enters the contest leading the league with 14 passing touchdowns and a 75.9% completion percentage. Goff hasn't produced at Mayfield's level for fantasy, but 1,390 passing yards and 18.2 fantasy points per game are nothing to turn a blind eye to either.
Against the Chiefs, Goff produced 16.8 fantasy points; however, if not for a controversial call on a fourth-quarter touchdown reception, Goff could have been looking at a top-5 fantasy performance last week against a Chiefs defense that sits sixth in fantasy quarterback futility over the previous four weeks, having allowed 13.99 fantasy points per game to the position. You know Andy Reid is putting that play design in the back of his mind for a date to be determined.
Goff will get a chance this week to redeem himself as the Buccaneers have allowed nine passing touchdowns (fourth-most) and 875 passing yards over the last four weeks, which has equated to 19.18 fantasy points per game over that span, the eighth-most. Of those nine passing touchdowns, six have come in the last two weeks, where the fantasy points per game jump to 22.52. Only the Baltimore Ravens have allowed more production to the quarterback position.
Bryce Young - QB, Carolina Panthers at New York Jets
Don't look now, but Bryce Young has the Carolina Panthers sitting at 3-3 and is coming into this week's contest on the heels of his second-best fantasy outing of the season. In a favorable matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, Young completed 17 of 25 passing, tossing three touchdowns and earning 19.5 fantasy points.
Tet McMillan's first career TD!
DALvsCAR on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/NfZMzn8i5f
— NFL (@NFL) October 12, 2025
Helping Young's value has been Rico Dowdle and the Panthers' rushing attack. Since Chuba Hubbard went down, Dowdle has racked up 389 yards on the ground on 53 carries. That's 7.34 yards per rushing attempt. Dowdle has also had a prominent role in the passing game, thanks to his seven receptions for 84 receiving yards and a touchdown, as he got a little revenge last week against the Cowboys.
Young isn't doing more than what is being asked of him. Against Dallas, he was an impressive 10 for 10 for 125 passing yards and three touchdowns when trailing and was eight of nine when targeting beyond the sticks. New York will likely focus on Dowdle this week, which could be a big mistake considering the 18.92 fantasy points per game they allow to the quarterback position this season (eighth-most). Young may not throw for 350 yards, but he won't have to, as the Jets have allowed 12 passing touchdowns this season, the fifth-most heading into Week 7.
Young averages 14.5 fantasy points per game this season, and while you aren't dropping him in your lineup with any consistency, he does offer value during the bye weeks as a matchup-based starter moving forward.
Week 7 - Fantasy Football Busts
Sam Darnold - QB, Seattle Seahawks vs Houston Texans
It's shaping up to be the season of castaway quarterbacks. We have Mayfield playing at an MVP level, Daniel Jones proving coaching matters, and Sam Darnold proving to the world that last season was not an outlier.
In Darnold's last four contests, the Seahawks signal caller has completed 72.1% of his passes while producing a passer rating of 130.6. Aiding that impressive rating is that his nine-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio is among the elite. No quarterback has more than 100+ passer rating games than Darnold, 17, dating back to the start of the 2024 season. So, why sit him?
Houston's pass defense is among the best the league has to offer. Coming off their bye week, the Texans have had an additional week to prepare for Darnold and company. Considering no team is allowing fewer fantasy points per game than the 9.39 that Houston has allowed to the position, Darnold is a proceed with caution play at best this week.
The Texans have allowed 969 passing yards and three passing touchdowns in five contests this season. This is obviously not great, but further complicating matters is the fact that the Texans have also recorded five interceptions, producing double-digit DST performance in the two weeks before their bye week.
Houston averages 2.4 sacks per game, led by Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr., who have combined for seven sacks, while Derek Stingley Jr., Jalen Pitre, and Kamari Lassiter keep the back end in check with five interceptions in as many games.
Jalen Hurts - QB, Philadelphia Eagles at Minnesota Vikings
Jalen Hurts has 19 or more fantasy points in all but one contest this season and enters Week 7 averaging 20.9 fantasy points per game, the fourth-most. As well-documented as his struggles have been as a passer this season, he's as good as it gets in fantasy at the quarterback position. There may not be a team that gets tackled at the one-yard line with more frequency than the Philadelphia Eagles.
Hurts must be at his best this week as the Eagles head to Minnesota to take on a Vikings defense that is among the best at defending the quarterback position. This season, the Vikings have allowed just five touchdown passes and a rushing score to the quarterback position, which has yielded 12.86 fantasy points per game, the third fewest.
Only the Bills and the Falcons had averaged fewer passing yards allowed per game heading into Monday Night Football than the Vikings' 157.6. However, Minnesota has allowed 132.2 rushing yards per game and 21.72 fantasy points to running backs per contest, which could lead us to more Saquon Barkley and less Hurts this week.
Brian Flores' defenses love bringing the heat, and in five games, the Vikings have registered 13 sacks and forced seven turnovers.
Trevor Lawrence - QB, Jacksonville Jaguars vs Los Angeles Rams
Speaking of sacks and turnovers, few teams do it better than the Los Angeles Rams have this season. The 10 turnovers (four interceptions and six fumbles) are tied for the second-most in the league behind only the Jacksonville Jaguars. Considering Trevor Lawrence is fifth in interceptions this season, that could be a key to this game. The Rams are also fourth in the NFL in sacks with 19, led by Byron Young's 7.5.
From a fantasy perspective, better options are likely available than a mid-tier quarterback facing a top-six fantasy defense this week. Los Angeles has allowed 1,333 passing yards this season and seven touchdown passes, but they also have four interceptions.
When you add that up, it averages out to 14.27 fantasy points per game, and with Week 7 being as crucial as it is, it's not worth the risk.
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