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Week 7 Fantasy Football Quarterback Preview
Top Fantasy QBs for Week 7
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New England Patriots vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (in London)
Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars
Lawrence hasn’t met expectations, but he has been consistent as a high end QB2 throughout the season. With WR Brian Thomas Jr. coming on and RB Travis Etienne hurt, this could be a decent match-up for Lawrence. The Patriots defense has been volatile giving up middle of the pack numbers to fantasy QBs. Consider Lawrence a solid QB2.
Drake Maye, Patriots
Maye threw 3 TDs but also turned the ball over three times in his starting debut. It was a major improvement for the offense and he ended with a QB1 week. The Jaguars defense has been carved up before, but they have solid pass rushers who can disrupt Maye. There is upside, especially if he uses his legs, but the turnover and sack potential keep Maye as a lower end QB2.
Seattle Seahawks at Atlanta Falcons
Geno Smith, Seahawks
Smith has been a QB1 in four of six games this year. The Seahawks run up tempo and are third in plays per game. With OC Ryan Grubb loving to throw the ball, Smith will always have the volume to be a top fantasy QB. The Falcons allow the most rushing yards per game to QB, so we could see some rushing here too. Smith is a rock solid QB1.
Kirk Cousins, Falcons
Cousins has had some spike weeks and this could be another as the Seahawks have allowed three straight QB1 weeks. In one of the highest game totals of the week, Cousins is a fine spot-start option.
Tennessee Titans at Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen, Bills
Allen has either been a top-5 QB or a QB2 in his performances this year. With Amari Cooper now in tow and Allen still rushing, the QB1 overall potential is always there. The Titans haven’t faced a great QB yet this season, so Allen could surprise them and have a huge day.
Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns
Joe Burrow, Bengals
Burrow's hit 2+ passing TDs in four of his past five outings. S Grant Delpit might return for Cleveland, but this remains a fine matchup. The Browns sit 25th in PFF’s coverage grades; 20th in pass defense DVOA.
Deshaun Watson, Browns
Watson gets a small boost against a beatable Bengals pass D. They’re bottom-eight in fantasy points allowed while sitting in the same range in sack and pressure rate. But how can you trust Watson – especially without Amari Cooper? Through six games, he’s the QB23 in total fantasy points. He’s hit 18 fantasy points only once.
Houston Texans at Green Bay Packers
Jordan Love, Packers
Longtime NFL analyst Greg Cosell this week called Love “a top 3-4 quarterback in this league.” Love trails only Baker Mayfield in TD passes so far this season, despite missing two games. He also trails only Mayfield and Lamar Jackson in fantasy points per game (depending on your format). Love’s an easy weekly starter with a high ceiling.
C.J. Stroud, Texans
Stroud boosted his Week 6 fantasy line with 3 TD passes against the Pariots. But he also threw for a season-low 192 yards at a season-low 6.2 yards per attempt in the first full game without WR Nico Collins. Green Bay presents a tougher matchup, ranking 13th in pass-defense DVOA compared with New England at No. 27. Stroud hits Week 7 as more of a fringe starting option than sure starter.
Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts
Anthony Richardson, Colts
Richardson has practiced in full leading up to the Miami matchup. The Dolphins have faced only 25.8 pass attempts per game, lowering their fantasy points allowed total. But from a personnel perspective, this remains a highly favorable matchup. Richardson’s play is simply volatile, while he’s dealing with injuries to his top WRs (Michael Pittman, back and Josh Downs, toe). Both guys are expected to play.
Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings
Sam Darnold, Vikings
Darnold gets a Lions squad that ranks fifth in pass defense DVOA and ninth in adjusted fantasy points allowed to QBs. But they just lost top pass-rusher Aidan Hutchinson. Detroit is also a pass-funnel defense, sitting second in pass rate over expected against and third in pass attempts against. Expect elevated volume from Darnold in this likely shootout. The game sports a 50.5-point over/under, and Minnesota's 26.25-point implied total is fourth highest on the week.
Jared Goff, Lions
Goff is hot, completing 82% of his passes at 12.2 yards per attempt with 7 TDs vs. 1 INT over his last three games. But he runs into a Vikings defense on Sunday that ranks first in pass defense DVOA and eighth in adjusted fantasy points allowed to QBs. The Lions are 1.5-point underdogs in a game with a 50.5-point over/under, though, so Goff could see enough passing volume to post a nice fantasy outing.
Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
Jalen Hurts, Eagles
The Giants haven’t been a pushover on defense this season. In fact, they lead the league in sacks through six weeks. But they also sit just 22nd in pass-defense DVOA and mid-pack in adjusted fantasy points allowed to the position. The past two games have seen the Giants allow 72 rushing yards to Geno Smith and 55 (mostly a long TD run) to Joe Burrow. Hurts can certainly exploit that area. And this will be just his third game of the season with WR A.J. Brown.
Daniel Jones, Giants
Jones followed up a shockingly good outing at Seattle with a classic Daniel Jones primetime outing in the loss to Cincinnati. He has tossed 0 TD passes and 4 INTs across three home games this season, compared with 6 TDs and 0 INTs in three road contests. There shouldn’t be any reason Jones plays so much worse at home, and Philly brings a soft pass defense to town. But Jones has given us at least as much reason to disbelieve as to trust him. He’s a high-risk, modest-reward option.
Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Rams
Matthew Stafford, Rams
Stafford hasn’t had a QB1 week yet this season, but he may get Cooper Kupp back this week to be a step there. The Raiders are middle of the pack as a pass defense, so Stafford is a solid QB2 with upside this week.
Carolina Panthers at Washington Commanders
Jayden Daniels, Commanders
Daniels has finished as a top-12 QB in all but one game. He's been top-eight three times. Carolina turns up a positive scoring matchup, and that's shown in Washington's implied team total (29.75).
Andy Dalton, Panthers
Dalton draws an excellent matchup with Washington. Not only should the Commanders put up points and force extra attempts from Dalton, but they’ve also struggled stopping the pass. They’ve allowed 8.0 yards per attempt and a completion rate of 70%.
Kansas City Chiefs at San Francisco 49ers
Brock Purdy, 49ers
The Chiefs’ defense ranks second in rush DVOA vs. 12th in pass DVOA. Combine that with Jordan Mason’s shoulder injury, and we might just see a bit more passing lean from the 49ers this week. Purdy has hit 8.0 yards per attempt or better in five of six outings this season and comes off his second-best passer rating so far this season (129.3).
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
Mahomes heads to San Francisco with as many INTs as TD passes this season. He faces a defense that has allowed just one QB to throw more than 1 TD pass in a game so far. And JuJu Smith-Schuster’s Thursday hamstring injury adds a challenge. Mahomes will always be in play because he’s Patrick Mahomes. But he’s not an attractive Week 7 play.
New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers
Aaron Rodgers, Jets
Davante Adams will suit up against Pittsburgh, boosting Rodgers’ ceiling. His baseline projection remains unexciting, though, given the tough matchup. The Steelers own a strong pass rush – particularly with the potential return of LB Alex Highsmith. They’ve also surrendered only 7 total passing scores on nearly 32 attempts per game.
Baltimore Ravens at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Lamar Jackson, Ravens
Jackson leads QBs in fantasy points and now has had two straight 300-yard passing games. Add in his rushing and there is no better QB you can have in your lineup. Play Jackson with confidence.
Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers
Mayfield has been a QB1 in five of his six games this season and the Ravens defense provides the opportunity for another great game as the second defense in giving up passing fantasy points. Lock him in for another QB1 day.
Los Angeles Chargers at Arizona Cardinals
Kyler Murray, Cardinals
Murray has finished QB18 or worse in 3 of his last 4 games. He hasn’t topped 214 passing yards or thrown more than one TD outside of the Rams game. Murray will be tough to trust as a starter in 1-QB leagues on Monday night against the Chargers, especially if WR Marvin Harrison Jr. misses with his concussion. The Chargers rank fourth in pass defense DVOA and 11th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to QBs.
Justin Herbert, Chargers
Herbert's 34 pass attempts last week were a season high, and the Chargers registered a positive pass rate over expected for the first time all year. We'll see if that's the start of a trend, but we wouldn't bank on it considering HC Jim Harbaugh and OC Greg Roman's histories. Despite Monday night's plus matchup vs. the Cardinals' 24th-ranked QB defense, Herbert is only an option in 2-QB and superflex leagues.
Week 7 Preview
On the latest Draft Sharks podcast, Matt Schauf and Jared Smola discuss the Week 8 slate: