After Germie Bernard popped off for 25.70 PPR points in last week’s game against the Buccaneers, it’s safe to say we’re riding high entering Week 7. This week presents another challenging set of bye weeks (Bills, Jaguars, Chargers, Commanders), but fortunately, there are some solid streaming options at our disposal with some key RBs and WRs out.
As we near the midway point of the fantasy season, let’s take a look at some recent performances that stood out heading into this week.
Ranking and evaluating all of Week 7’s top plays at quarterback, running back, receiver, tight end, kicker and defense.
▶ Running Backs
🟢 Kendre Miller (NO) vs. Giants
A few weeks ago I mentioned Kendre Miller as a potential stash following the injury to Travis Etienne. Now, for two-straight weeks, the Saints have committed to giving Miller more opportunities than Alvin Kamara. After seeing 10 touches in Week 5 against the Vikings, where he posted a 10-30-1 rushing line, Miller emerged last week against the Giants to rush 20 times for 70 yards and catch another two passes.
Miller has totaled 100 yards from scrimmage on his last 30 touches. While it’s not an overly efficient total (3.0 YPT), sometimes volume is all you need to become a potentially reliable fantasy asset. His 30 touches since Week 5 are more than double what Kamara (14) has seen over that span, and when down inside the opponent’s 10-yard line, Miller has seen six opportunities to Kamara’s zero.
Kamara lucked into a 31-yard receiving touchdown last week, but Miller is the only Saints running back seeing enough looks to warrant fantasy consideration in Week 7 against the Steelers.
🔴 Cam Skattebo (NYG) vs. Saints
Cam Skattebo was the highest drafted running back on the Giants’ roster all offseason. In fact, it wasn’t even close. Now, after a zero-touch performance despite being active in Week 6 against the Saints, it’s fair to question whether or not Skattebo’s future as the Giants’ lead back is in question.
His Week 5 fumble against the Commanders with the Giants in position for a game-winning field goal likely played a significant role in John Harbaugh’s decision to not play him last week, but there was already precedent for reducing Skattebo’s workload.
Among 26 running backs with at least 80 opportunities this season, Skattebo ranks 12th in yards after contact per attempt (2.91), 18th in yards per touch (4.1), and has forced a missed tackle on just 16 percent of his runs — a noticeable drop from his 21.8 percent missed tackles forced rate (MTF%) from last season.
Skattebo has only one 15-plus-yard run this season and has managed just 79 scoreless yards on his 10 receptions. It goes without saying that Skattebo is nearly impossible to trust in Week 7 against the Texans given what we saw last week, but fantasy managers hoping for a bounce back in the weeks ahead may need to consider moving off the second-year back altogether.
Denny Carter breaks down the best and worst slot and boundary matchups headed into Week 7.
▶ Wide Receivers
🟢 Kendrick Bourne (ARI) vs. Rams
With Marvin Harrison now in Houston, Kendrick Bourne has stepped into a meaningful role for the Cardinals’ passing attack. Bourne’s 59 routes run since Week 5 are good for the second-most of any Cardinals receiver, while his 16 targets and 27.1 percent targets per route rate (TPRR) lead all players on the team — including Trey McBride (22.6 percent TPRR).
Bourne has turned his 16 targets into 10 receptions for 117 scoreless yards. As far as fantasy leagues are concerned, he has finished as the PPR WR26 and the WR39 in his last two games, while his 28.5 expected fantasy points are good for 15th-most among all receivers.
Tied to an offense that currently ranks third in early down pass rate (56.7 percent) and is expected to be without Jeremiyah Love (ankle) for at least one more week, Bourne could be on the fantasy radar as a fringe WR3/WR4 play even against a stout Broncos defense.
🔴 Courtland Sutton (DEN) vs. Seahawks
Few offenses in the league have been more disappointing than the Denver Broncos through the first six weeks of the season. While Jaylen Waddle may eventually find himself in this portion of a future article, Courtland Sutton is getting the honor this week. Waddle, who is the unquestioned WR1 in the Broncos’ broken offensive system, remains a risky start every week, but Sutton is proving to be a full fade.
The 31-year-old receiver has yet to top 46 receiving yards in any game this season and has been targeted five or fewer times in four of his six games. Now coming off back-to-back three-target games, Sutton has totaled just four receptions for 37 yards and one touchdown since Week 5 and is the WR72 in expected fantasy points (10.5). He gets a decent matchup against a Cardinals defense that has allowed the 10th most fantasy points to opposing receivers this season, but he’s a risky player to trust in any matchup until he and the Broncos offense can turn a corner.
▶ Tight Ends
🟢 Chig Okonkwo (WSH) vs. 49ers
With the Commanders on bye in Week 7, adding Chig Okonkwo won’t immediately help your roster. However, with Terry McLaurin (knee) now out for the season, Okonkwo could turn into a reliable target for Jayden Daniels if last week’s game against the Niners is any indication. Okonkwo turned in his best performance as a Commander last week, catching all seven of his targets for 69 scoreless yards while working primarily in the short and intermediate parts of the field.
Okonkwo has now gone for 60-plus yards in back-to-back weeks and has seen 13 targets over that span. While it’s only a two-week sample size, it’s worth noting that since Week 5 Okonkwo has run the ninth-most routes (65) and seen the seventh-most targets of any player at his position while ranking fourth in YAC/REC (6.3) among tight ends with at least 10 targets. It’s too early to say if Okonkwo is a lock to see more targets with McLaurin out, but all seven of his targets last week came after McLaurin exited the game.
Tight end production is hard to come by, but with back-to-back serviceable PPR weeks, Okonkwo could be worth a stash where available in hopes of this continuing in the weeks ahead.
🔴 Harold Fannin (CLE) vs. Ravens
As somebody who drafted a ton of Harold Fannin this offseason, it pains me to say that he has reached a new low entering Week 7. After catching one pass for four yards in Week 5 against the Jets, Fannin followed that performance with a one-catch, nine-yard performance in last week’s win over the Ravens. Fannin is stuck in a bad offense that has legit receivers it would prefer to target. It’s about as horrible a combination as a tight end could be facing, and he is quickly trending toward being more of a boom-or-bust TE2 if something doesn’t change.
We probably should have seen this coming sooner. Fannin’s expected point totals in PPR leagues have been largely underwhelming in five of his first six games.
Overall, Fannin ranks as the TE15 in expected fantasy points per game, but that’s not what fantasy managers were planning for when they drafted him earlier this offseason. Among 14 tight ends with at least 30 targets this season, Fannin’s 188 routes run is good for third-most in the league, but his 16.0 percent TPRR ranks dead last in the group, and his 30 targets are tied for 13th most among tight ends with Colston Loveland, who has also been a massive disappointment for fantasy managers this season.
Fanning was the unquestioned No. 1 target in the Browns’ passing game last year, racking up 107 targets on 24.7 percent TPRR that led all Browns players and ranked 15th among all receivers and tight ends last season (min. 80 targets). While there’s always hope for a bounce back, Fannin is not the elite target earner he was last year. Fantasy managers considering a pivot ahead of Week 7’s game against the Titans are more than justified in doing so.
NOTE: Stats and information courtesy of PFF.com, RotoViz.com, ProFootballReference.com, NextGenStats.NFL.com, 4For4.com, FantasyPoints.com and RBSDM.com. All scoring is based on full-PPR leagues.