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Should I start Tre Tucker, Cooper Kupp, Sterling Shepard for Week 7? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
It's Week 7, Rotoballers, time to fire up your spreadsheets, peruse the Rotoballer site, and make lineup decisions for your fantasy football matchups. This week presents particularly challenging choices at the wide receiver position, where injuries across the league have pushed backup options into prominent roles.
In this article, we'll analyze whether you should start Tre Tucker, Cooper Kupp, and Sterling Shepard in fantasy for Week 7. All three wide receivers represent different challenges: emerging boom-or-bust options, fading veterans seeking relevance, and injury replacements stepping into opportunity.
So, should fantasy managers start Tucker, Kupp, and Shepard in Week 7? Let's dive in and find out.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
- Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
- Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
- Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
- FLEX fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
Should I Start Tre Tucker for Fantasy Football?
The Raiders' speedster keeps flashing explosive playmaking ability, but consistency remains elusive. His monster Week 3 performance—145 yards and three touchdowns for over 40 fantasy points—proved he can win you a week single-handedly.
Week 7 brings a trip to Kansas City to face the Chiefs, who have been solid against perimeter wide receivers. Kansas City allows the 12th-fewest PPR points per target to outside receivers, making this a tougher matchup than Tucker has faced recently.
However, the game script could work in his favor. The Raiders will likely be playing from behind throughout this contest, forcing QB Geno Smith to throw early and often.
#Raiders QB Geno Smith on what’s contributing to WR Tre Tuckers break out year.
“His speed, quickness, his hands, plays bigger than his size…He’s a problem out there.” pic.twitter.com/cfpxRUDZdt
— Around The Shield (@aroundtheshield) October 15, 2025
Verdict: FLEX (with boom potential) Tucker should be in fantasy lineups as a high-upside flex play in Week 7. He's a classic boom-or-bust option—you're either getting 20-plus points or under 10—but the ceiling is worth the risk if you need a spark.
Should I Start Cooper Kupp for Fantasy Football?
The Cooper Kupp experience in Seattle has been disappointing for fantasy managers who drafted him expecting WR2 production. The veteran receiver has clearly lost the explosiveness that made him elite. Over his last three games, he's averaging just 6.2 fantasy points despite catching 12 of 17 targets for 125 yards and a score.
Week 7 brings a tricky Monday night matchup against the Houston Texans, who possess the fifth-ranked pass defense, allowing just 175.2 yards per game. With Kupp playing second fiddle to Smith-Njigba, there's little reason to believe he'll be the one to break through against Houston's stout secondary.
Verdict: SIT (drop candidate in shallow leagues) In leagues of 12 teams or fewer, Kupp is actually a drop candidate. That bench spot is better used on a higher-upside stash or emerging player.
Should I Start Sterling Shepard for Fantasy Football?
Sterling Shepard has become one of the top waiver wire priorities heading into Week 7, and for good reason. The veteran Tampa Bay receiver finds himself thrust into a massive opportunity thanks to an avalanche of injuries that has decimated the Buccaneers' receiving corps.
Tampa Bay's injury report reads like a fantasy manager's nightmare: Mike Evans (hamstring), Chris Godwin Jr. (fibula), Emeka Egbuka (hamstring), and Jalen McMillan (neck) are all either out or questionable, leaving Shepard as the most proven and experienced option in Baker Mayfield's passing attack.
I wrote about Unc Shepard, the #Bucs secret weapon and one of the most underrated depth pieces in the entire NFL.
No WR5 out there doing the starter-quality stuff Shepard is doing in this Film Room. Baller.https://t.co/RzzoxPmVno pic.twitter.com/j8bu5Dlu9H
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) September 22, 2025
Week 7 features a Monday Night Football showcase against the Detroit Lions, projected to be the highest-scoring game of the week. The over/under sits at a massive 53.5 points, with Tampa Bay's implied team total solid despite being on the road.
Verdict: START (as WR3/Flex) Shepard should be in most fantasy lineups in Week 7 as a low-end WR2/flex play. He's the safest bet among Tampa Bay's depleted receiving options and represents one of the better streaming plays available given the game environment.
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the 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 Tre Tucker, Cooper Kupp, and Sterling Shepard. 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 - Tre Tucker, Cooper Kupp, and Sterling Shepard. 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 Tre Tucker, Cooper Kupp, and Sterling Shepard compared to others:
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