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Week of the 2020 NFL season brought unexpected fantasy football surprises and busts. Mike Riggall analyzes overreactions to D.J. Chark, D.J. Moore, Richard Rodgers and more.
In Week 6 scoring was a little down and Deshaun Watson led the way with 32 fantasy points. That was not the case in Week 7 as Justin Herbert, Kyler Murray, Tom Brady, Joe Burrow and Russell Wilson all accounted for at least three touchdowns and exceeded 32 fantasy points in the process. Week 7 was a high scoring week for quarterbacks and the main surprises were guys like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen who didn't exactly light the world on fire with their performances. Tight end was rough as usual, with just 11 tight ends finding the end-zone and just four of them exceeding 60 yards. Harrison Bryant, Rob Gronkowski, Darren Waller and T.J. Hockenson were the top-four tight ends on the week.
The Cardinals made an effort to slow down D.K. Metcalf and as a result, Tyler Lockett hauled in 15 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns to finish as the No. 1 wide receiver on the week. As expected, DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk each posted more than 20 fantasy points against the Seahawks Defense who has been giving up the most fantasy points to wide receivers so far this season. The main surprise within the top-15 was Cole Beasley who finished with 22.2 fantasy points. Teams appear to be taking away the deep ball from Josh Allen, and as long as that continues, Beasley will see targets.
Jeff Wilson Jr. finished as the No. 1 running back on the week because the 49ers decided they were going to rest Jerick McKinnon which was a big surprise to most. Chase Edmonds finished inside the top-five and he will likely see an increased workload with Kenyan Drake expected to miss significant time with his ankle injury, but other than that, there weren't many surprises at running back this week. Now that Week 7 is behind us, let's take a look at some of these unexpected performances and evaluate whether these guys will continue to produce moving forward.
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Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Week 7 Stats: 15-of-23 passing, 200 yards, 1 TD
The Broncos Defense applied a lot of pressure to Patrick Mahomes throughout the game which somewhat limited his production early and they actually sacked him three times. On top of that, the Chiefs Defense scored two defensive touchdowns on their way to a 43-16 victory, which meant Mahomes only need to throw the ball 23 times. Mahomes actually didn't even play the entire game as Chad Henne played final drive of the game.
Bottom Line: Patrick Mahomes is currently QB-2 on the season behind only Kyler Murray but his last two performances have been a little underwhelming statistically. If a manager in your league starts to get cold feet with Mahomes, you may want to buy-low.
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Week 7 Stats: 30-of-43 passing, 307 yards, 0 TD, 11 carries, 61 yards
The Bills offense was able to move the ball with ease against the Jets Defense in Week 7 and actually didn't punt the ball once. While Josh Allen accounted for 368 yards of total offense, he and the entire Bills offense failed to score a single touchdown, scoring all 18 of their points with field goals.
Bottom Line: Hold steady if you have Josh Allen on your roster, he will be fine, and if you don't have him, consider buying low.
Rashard Higgins, Cleveland Browns
Week 7 Stats: 6 targets, 6 catches, 110 yards
Odell Beckham Jr. was injured while trying to tackle Darius Phillips after he intercepted a throw from Baker Mayfield in the first quarter and missed the remainder of the game. In Beckham's absence, Rashard Higgins played 84.6% of the Browns offensive snaps and showed well.
Bottom Line: Odell Beckham Jr. will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. In his absence, Higgins will have some serious appeal for the remainder of the season and if you need help at wide receiver, he should be one of your top targets on the waiver wire.
D.J. Moore, Carolina Panthers
Week 7 Stats: 5 targets, 4 catches, 93 yards, 2 TD
D.J. Moore scored twice in Week 7, with one of his touchdowns coming on a 74-yard connection from Teddy Bridgewater where Moore got behind the entire Saints Defense. While Moore was WR-6 on the week, Robby Anderson was the most-targeted Panthers wide receiver on the week.
Bottom Line: Both D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson are viable for fantasy purposes, but trying to figure out which receiver will come through for fantasy purposes will clearly be a week-to-week thing. You either need to ride the ups and downs associated with Moore and Anderson, or trade them after they have a big game.
D.J. Chark, Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 7 Stats: 7 targets, 1 catch, 26 yards
D.J. Chark is now WR-36 on the season which is not what people were expecting when they drafted him in August and September. While Chark did not come through on the stat-sheet, he routinely beat his defender and had separation from Chargers defensive backs in Week 7. After certain plays Chark's body language was extremely poor, seemingly because Gardner Minshew was missing him on some throws.
Bottom Line: Chark is fine, but his quarterback situation is shaky. You either need to ride this out or trade Chark the next time he has a big performance.
Jeff Wilson Jr., San Francisco 49ers
Week 7 Stats: 17 carries, 112 yards, 3 TD, 2 targets, 2 catches, 8 yards
Jeff Wilson Jr. was questionable leading up to Week 7 and ended up playing very well in Raheem Mostert's absence. While Wilson was RB-1 on the week, he will miss some time because he suffered a high-ankle sprain late in the contest.
Bottom Line: Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. are now banged up and will miss the next few weeks. Moving forward, it will be difficult to forecast whether Jerick McKinnon, JaMycal Hasty or even Tevin Coleman will be the lead running back for the 49ers any given week. You would be best served not using 49ers running backs until Mostert returns unless you need help because of injury or bye weeks.
Leonard Fournette, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 7 Stats: 11 carries, 50 yards, 7 targets, 6 catches, 47 yards
Leonard Fournette played 55.6% of the snaps in Week 7, compared to 43.1% for Ronald Jones and 0% for Ke'Shawn Vaughn. Fournette looked good, but he was running against a Raiders defense that gives up 4.6 yards-per-carry which is ninth-worst in the NFL.
Bottom Line: One of three things happened in Week 7. Either this is the start of a committee brewing in Tampa Bay, this was the start of the Leonard Fournette era, or the Buccaneers were resting their starter, Ronald Jones, in a game they controlled from the start. If you have any of these guys on your roster, hold steady, but it's going to be difficult trusting any of them until we get some more clarity in upcoming weeks. If you only have one of Jones or Fournette on your roster, you may want to consider shopping them to the Jones and/or Fournette manager in your league.
Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
Week 7 Stats: 10 carries, 17 yards, 4 targets, 3 catches, 14 yards
The Raiders found themselves behind early against the Buccaneers and more or less abandoned the running game.
Bottom Line: Jacobs was in for an uphill battle regardless of the game-flow in Week 7 because the Buccaneers Defense gives up an NFL-best 3.0 yards-per-carry. Josh Jacobs will be fine moving forward, and you should consider him a buy-low candidate.
Harrison Bryant, Cleveland Browns
Week 7 Stats: 5 targets, 4 catches, 56 yards, 2 TD
In Austin Hooper's absence, Harrison Bryant got the start and played 76.9% of the Browns offensive snaps. Bryant looked great in Week 7 and was able to get open with ease against the Bengals. If you are in a dynasty league, Bryant is a guy you need to acquire.
Bottom Line: With Odell Beckham Jr. out for the season, there will be some targets to go around. Bryant should see an increased role even after Hooper comes back.
Richard Rodgers, Philadelphia Eagles
Week 7 Stats: 8 targets, 6 catches, 85 yards
Carson Wentz loves throwing to his tight ends and Richard Rodgers benefited from that in Week 7. Rodgers played 85.2% of the Eagles offensive snaps in Week 7 compared to just 11.1% for Jason Croom, so he's the guy as long as Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert remain out of the lineup.
Bottom Line: Don't get too crazy going after Richard Rodgers on the waiver wire because Dallas Goedert is set to return soon and when he does, Rodgers' production will take a big hit.
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