Week 7 Fantasy Football Busts? Players Who May Disappoint (2025)

October 19, 2025

Who should I start or sit for fantasy football in Week 7 of the 2025 season? Andrew's potential fantasy football busts to avoid in Week 7 fantasy football lineups.

Two more teams take their bye in Week 7, bringing our total to eight. Be prepared, though, the Week 8 bye-pocalypse is coming.

Six teams will take the week off next weekend, so it's important to both prepare your roster for Week 8 and secure a win in Week 7 while your roster is (hopefully) at full strength.

Below, we sort through the stats and find 10 fantasy football busts, or players that may disappoint, for Week 7 of the 2025 NFL season. Good luck, RotoBallers!

David Montgomery (RB, DET) vs. Tampa Bay (MNF)

In a weird twist, Jahmyr Gibbs played the David Montgomery role against Kansas City (17 carries, including many up the middle, and just one catch). Montgomery did his damage through the air, akin to Gibbs, with two catches for 37 yards.

With Gibbs taking the bulk of the early-down work, Montgomery saw just four of Detroit's 21 running back carries. Excluding games he left with an injury, that's the worst carry share of his NFL career.

Week 6's role reversal should be an anomaly, especially since Detroit lost the game. Gibbs' skill set favors him over Montgomery in the matchup against the Buccaneers.

Through six games, Tampa Bay has given up the fifth-fewest rushing yards (392) to running backs. Defensive tackle Vita Vea leads the run-stuffing brigade. But, wow, are they beatable when running backs catch balls out of the backfield. They're allowing just 61 fewer receiving than rushing yards (that's 331 for those who don't want to do the math), good for the third-worst mark.

This game is expected to be a high-scoring affair. The 52.5 over/under is only bested by the Dallas and Washington matchup. But, we're in touchdown-or-bust territory for Montgomery. Every other Tampa Bay and Detroit skill position player is worth, at worst, a flex play this week.

Nick Chubb (RB, HOU) at Seattle (MNF)

Nick Chubb appeared to be losing his grasp on the starting job in Houston entering Week 5. Then, the pendulum swung back in his favor, and the veteran got 11 carries to Woody Marks' seven. He rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown.

THE ART OF THE TUDDDYYYY

📺 : @nfloncbs / @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/ArVacwrmEt

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 5, 2025

Following the game, reports emerged that Houston's coaching staff still views Marks as a pass-catching back. Ergo, Chubb will command the early-down touches.

Against Baltimore's Swiss cheese run defense, Chubb was the running back to roster. The matchup against Seattle should favor Marks.

The Seahawks have the second-best run defense against running backs, allowing 61.8 yards per game and 3.1 yards per carry. They're one of a handful of teams that have given up two rushing touchdowns through six games. Conversely, Seattle has allowed the most running back receptions (43) by a wide margin. Dallas is next on the list at 35. The Seahawks, unsurprisingly, are second in receiving yards allowed to the position.

Does that mean I'm starting Marks with confidence? No. He's still ranked outside the top 30. But if I had my choice between the two, Marks' upside is much higher.

Kenneth Walker III (RB, SEA) vs. Houston (MNF)

Which player has the fantasy community crying more over their usage: Kenneth Walker or TreVeyon Henderson?

Both running backs, selected in the third or fourth rounds in redraft leagues, have not lived up to the draft capital. Walker, an already established veteran, makes less sense than a rookie finding his footing.

NFL reporters expect the split between Walker and Zach Charbonnet to continue, despite the widening gap in their efficiency. Walker has just five more touches in the duo's five games together. He has totaled 189 more yards than Charbonnet (375 versus 186). While Walker's big bugaboo is his random rushes for negative three or four yards, Charbonnet runs for zero or negative yardage on nearly a third of his attempts.

#Seahawks Week 6 RB Usage

- Zach Charbonnet: 61% snaps, 12 carries, 13 routes, 1 target (37 yds)
- Kenneth Walker: 33% snaps, 10 carries, 8 routes, 1 target (37 yds)

Both scored 4.7 fantasy pts. In 5 games both played, Walker has scored more than Charbonnet once

— Michael F. Florio (@MichaelFFlorio) October 12, 2025

More importantly for fantasy football, Walker isn't getting many looks in the passing game. The 24-year-old has exactly one reception in each of the last five games. It's not to say Charbonnet is doing any better. He's not. Sam Darnold simply isn't targeting running backs, and doesn't need to with Jaxon Smith-Njigba separating from defenders with ease.

I don't expect that to change when the Seahawks host the Houston Texans on the second game of Monday night's doubleheader. Houston is one of the best teams at limiting receiving work for running backs. Backfields are averaging 3.2 catches for 20.6 yards through five games.

Overall, the Texans are a top-10 unit against fantasy football running backs. They've played five teams that more or less rely on one running back. Divide whatever is given to Seattle by two, and you have a backfield that can't be trusted in Week 7.

Tetairoa McMillan (WR, CAR) at New York Jets

In Week 6, Tetairoa McMillan further confirmed what we already knew: Start everyone against the Dallas Cowboys defense.

The rookie's 17.9 PPR points were his best effort to date, thanks to his first and second career touchdowns against the leaky Dallas secondary. The target volume (five), however, was down from the 8.6 average in his first five games. Dallas couldn't stop the running game either, so there was little reason for Carolina to go away from Rico Dowdle.

Thanks to Dowdle's effort, Bryce Young is on his second two-game win streak in his NFL career. How do they keep winning? Well, another weak run defense is on the docket.

The Jets aren't as porous as Miami or Dallas, but they do allow the 10th-most rush yards per game. New York also rosters All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner, who has limited George Pickens and Courtland Sutton to a combined three receptions in the last two games. He'll play opposite McMillan far more often than not.

Courtland Sutton got lost in the “Sauce”

Lined up against Sauce Gardner on 86% of his routes and allowed an avg of 1.8 target separation & one catch for 17 yards.

Bo only looked Sutton way twice.. 🫠

Cc: @SpittinSPEEDZ Rams could use him

— LaQuan Jones (@RealDealFantasy) October 12, 2025

Carolina also expects a healthy Jalen Coker back in the lineup on Sunday, who could take a target or two away from McMillan's share.

Michael Pittman Jr. (WR, IND) at Los Angeles Chargers

Michael Pittman Jr. is fresh off his worst game of the 2025 season (four PPR points), and he's been sneakily descending since Week 3. Sneaky, in the sense that he scored in Weeks 3, 4, and 5, so fantasy managers weren't burned by starting him.

Josh Downs was the Indianapolis receiver who scored in Week 6. That was the second game of the season in which Daniel Jones threw for more than one score. He's also been under 230 passing yards in three of the last four games.

I bring up what Jones is accomplishing, in tandem with Pittman's production, because of what the Chargers' defense is doing against the pass versus the run. They're middle-of-the-pack on the ground. However, no quarterback has thrown for over 200 yards against the secondary since Week 1. The unit is allowing the third-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers.

Receivers don't fall into the touchdown-or-bust category as often as running backs, but this may be one of the rare cases.

Note: If Downs (concussion) does not play on Sunday, Pittman is a good WR3.

A.J. Brown (WR, PHI) at Minnesota

The trust is slowly, very slowly, being rebuilt between fantasy managers and A.J. Brown. The Eagles' WR1 scored 14 PPR fantasy points, his second-best total of the 2025 season. Will Week 7 undo everything that's been built?

Saquon Barkley had six and 12 carries in the last two games, respectively, which were his two lowest attempt tallies of the year. Whether coincidence or not, the Eagles dropped both of those games and are riding a losing streak for the first time since the 2023 season.

The matchup against Minnesota presents an opportune time for Philadelphia to reestablish its identity. The Vikings own the second-best pass defense (157.6 yards and the fewest fantasy points to wide receivers per game). The run defense ranks inside the bottom third (132.2 yards per game).

The Vikings also give up the third-fewest completions of 20+ yards and just one over 40 yards. Even if that opportunity presents itself, do we trust Jalen Hurts to connect on that deep ball?

Giants defense has gone with zone coverage on every 3rd down so far outside of the end of half drive. Man coverage here after playing man on that drive to close the 2nd Q. Ends up in a coverage bust and an opportunity for PHI https://t.co/u8irzzCuL1 pic.twitter.com/OYBIrvlXLY

— Shawn Syed (@SyedSchemes) October 10, 2025

The same concerns apply to DeVonta Smith, who has been (almost) as disappointing as Brown.

Jaxson Dart (QB, NYG) at Denver

Jaxson Dart has exceeded nearly every expectation, especially in the fantasy football realm, in his first three professional starts. The rushing baseline (55.6 yards per game) has put Dart in QB1 territory. But the Broncos are here to break up the darty.

Denver has been outstanding against opposing quarterbacks, allowing 11.6 points per game, good for the second-lowest mark. Usually, the rushing efforts can toss those statistics out the window, and of course, the Broncos are great in that department, as well. Four mobile quarterbacks - Daniel Jones, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts, and Justin Fields - average a combined 29.5 rushing yards per game. Together, they've averaged 10.5 yards in the four games against Denver.

The Denver Broncos have a 10 (!!!) sack lead on the rest of the NFL right now.

They are averaging 5 (!!!) sacks per game.

The team is on pace for 85 (!!!) sacks, which would shatter the existing sack record of 72, held by the 1984 Bears. pic.twitter.com/JB22aeBtyB

— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) October 13, 2025

Dart may still be without Darius Slayton (hamstring) this week, making his wide receiver corps, once again, Wan'Dale Robinson and practice-squad-level players. A lack of downfield threats will catch up to this offense eventually, and Denver will take full advantage of it.

Matthew Stafford (QB, LAR) at Jacksonville (London)

Matthew Stafford's inclusion on the busts list boils down to one thing. It's not the defensive matchup. It's not the game being played overseas (although that certainly seems to keep scores down).

It's the (assumed) absence of Puka Nacua. In five games without the Pro Bowl receiver last season, Stafford averaged 215 passing yards, 0.4 touchdowns, and 0.6 interceptions. He had zero games inside the top 20.

That's compared to averages of 244 passing yards, 1.6 touchdowns, and 0.3 interceptions with Nacua on the field. That trend continued in Week 6 when Nacua left the game. Stafford threw for 181 yards (the lowest of his season) and failed to throw multiple touchdowns for just the second time.

Stafford also has shaky home/road splits: 336 yards per game and a 7:0 touchdown-to-interception ratio versus 225 and 5:2. He should only be started in 2QB and Superflex leagues this week.

Darren Waller (TE, MIA) at Cleveland

Darren Waller is an interesting study when it comes to analyzing matchups. He's a tight end, but, with the injury to Tyreek Hill, he's played 71 of his 88 offensive snaps in the slot or out wide. For all intents and purposes, he can be considered a wide receiver.

So, let's look at both positional analyses. The Browns are a middle-of-the-pack unit against fantasy football tight ends, so that may look like the best way to attack one of the league's best defenses. However, the data is skewed due to short touchdowns by reserve or part-time tight ends. Noah Fant, John FitzPatrick, Josh Oliver, and Connor Heyward have all scored against the Browns. The fantasy-relevant names haven't fared as well.

Cleveland is also average against wide receivers, but fares notably better against a team's second option versus their alpha wideout.

Las Vegas oddsmakers don't anticipate this being a high-scoring affair. In fact, it's the lowest over/under on the Week 7 slate, and, with Cleveland favored, it leaves Miami with an implied total of just 18 points.

Travis Kelce (TE, KC) vs. Las Vegas

Kansas City's top four projected pass-catchers, Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Marquise Brown, and Travis Kelce, have yet to play a single snap together. That is about to change.

Your first look at Chiefs WR Rashee Rice back on the practice field. pic.twitter.com/qAzGRaR4VI

— Matt Derrick (@mattderrick) October 15, 2025

Rice will return from his six-game suspension this week, and projects to slot in as the WR1 on the pass-happy Kansas City offense. In the three full games that Rice and Kelce played together last year, Kelce averaged five PPR points (TE24) with a not-so-healthy four targets per game.

That was while Worthy was still developing into a full-time wide receiver. He was securing just two passes per game. Brown was sidelined with an injury.

With all of the receiving options, Patrick Mahomes (the current QB1) should continue to be one of the best value picks in fantasy football. For Kelce, it almost certainly means a decrease in his target average.

Fantasy managers don't need to be too concerned about the Las Vegas matchup, although the Raiders are in the top 10 for fewest points per game to tight ends.

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