Week 7: Transactions Aplenty in the NFL - 9 comments

The Raiders have a new quarterback, the Rams have a new No. 1 receiver, the Jaguars have their old No. 1 receiver and the Lions thought they had a new fill-in running back before it was discovered the old backup running back had a brain tumor. After a crazy week of NFL transactions, it’s time to get ready for some football. Are you ready? The Cafe Start/Sit for Week 7 is below.

Thanks to c0megets0me and tclangham for joining me in ranking this week.

Rank	Quarterbacks	Team	Opponent	Average
1	Aaron Rodgers	GB	at MIN	93.75
2	Drew Brees	NO	vs. IND	91.25
3	Matthew Stafford	DET	vs. ATL	87.25
4	Tony Romo	DAL	vs. STL	86.00
5	Cam Newton	CAR	vs. WAS	78.75
6	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	at ARI	77.50
7	Tim Tebow	DEN	at MIA	76.75
8	Matt Schaub	HOU	at TEN	75.50
9	Philip Rivers	SD	at NYJ	74.50
10	Josh Freeman	TB	vs. CHI	69.00
11	Matt Hasselbeck	TEN	vs. HOU	66.00
12	Joe Flacco	BAL	at JAC	65.00
13	Matt Ryan	ATL	at DET	63.50
14	Jay Cutler	CHI	at TB	62.75
15	Matt Cassel	KC	at OAK	62.00
16	Mark Sanchez	NYJ	vs. SD	60.00
17	Colt McCoy	CLE	vs. SEA	59.50
18	Carson Palmer	OAK	vs. KC	57.00
19	Curtis Painter	IND	at NO	53.25
20	Matt Moore	MIA	vs. DEN	51.75
21	John Beck	WAS	at CAR	51.50
22	Sam Bradford	STL	at DAL	50.85
23	Kevin Kolb	ARI	vs. PIT	49.25
24	Christian Ponder	MIN	vs. GB	48.25
25	Charlie Whitehurst	SEA	at CLE	47.00
26	Blaine Gabbert	JAC	vs. BAL	41.00
27	A.J. Feeley	STL	at DAL	27.00
28	Kyle Boller	OAK	vs. KC	26.00
29	Tarvaris Jackson	SEA	at CLE	23.50

Start: Tim Tebow. He gives fantasy owners an exciting mix of ground game potential to go along with his mediocre arm. You may trash him as an NFL quarterback, but if he averages just 40 yards and a rushing TD each week (and his numbers to date say that’s totally possible), he’s adding a double-digit number to his passing total every week. He’s locked in as a QB1 even without Brandon Lloyd and Josh McDaniels around.

Sit: Kevin Kolb. The Arizona quarterback hasn’t looked anything like a franchise QB in his first few games with Arizona, and now he’s facing what has been the toughest defense for fantasy quarterbacks in the league. The Steelers are sure to take Larry Fitzgerald out of this game for the most part, and unless Early Doucet plays out of his mind, Kolb isn’t going to have anywhere to go with the ball. Look elsewhere for a fill-in QB this week.

Rank	Running Backs	Team	Opponent	Average
1	Darren McFadden	OAK	vs. KC	95.25
2	Arian Foster	HOU	at TEN	89.75
3	Ray Rice	BAL	at JAC	89.75
4	Matt Forte	CHI	at TB	86.75
5	Adrian Peterson	MIN	vs. GB	86.25
6	Ryan Mathews	SD	at NYJ	85.75
7	Chris Johnson	TEN	vs. HOU	80.00
8	Beanie Wells	ARI	vs. PIT	79.00
9	Michael Turner	ATL	at DET	78.50
10	Rashard Mendenhall	PIT	at ARI	77.00
11	Darren Sproles	NO	vs. IND	75.75
12	Maurice Jones-Drew	JAC	vs. BAL	74.25
13	Ryan Torain	WAS	at CAR	73.75
14	Earnest Graham	TB	vs. CHI	70.75
15	Steven Jackson	STL	at DAL	70.75
16	Jackie Battle	KC	at OAK	69.25
17	Daniel Thomas	MIA	vs. DEN	69.25
18	Montario Hardesty	CLE	vs. SEA	68.00
19	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	at CLE	67.50
20	Willis McGahee	DEN	at MIA	66.75
21	DeMarco Murray	DAL	vs. STL	66.25
22	Maurice Morris	DET	vs. ATL	64.25
23	James Starks	GB	at MIN	62.50
24	Mark Ingram	NO	vs. IND	61.00
25	Mike Tolbert	SD	at NYJ	59.75
26	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	vs. WAS	58.25
27	Tashard Choice	DAL	vs. STL	58.25
28	DeAngelo Williams	CAR	vs. WAS	58.25
29	Michael Bush	OAK	vs. KC	57.75
30	Shonn Greene	NYJ	vs. SD	56.75
31	Ryan Grant	GB	at MIN	56.25
32	Tim Hightower	WAS	at CAR	55.25
33	Roy Helu	WAS	at CAR	54.25
34	LaDainian Tomlinson	NYJ	vs. SD	51.00
35	Dexter McCluster	KC	at OAK	50.50
36	Reggie Bush	MIA	vs. DEN	50.50
37	Isaac Redman	PIT	at ARI	50.25
38	Delone Carter	IND	at NO	50.00
39	Ben Tate	HOU	at TEN	50.00
40	Donald Brown	IND	at NO	48.00
41	Knowshon Moreno	DEN	at MIA	38.75
42	Peyton Hillis	CLE	vs. SEA	37.25
43	Keiland Williams	DET	vs. ATL	36.50
44	Marion Barber	CHI	at TB	30.50
45	Pierre Thomas	NO	vs. IND	29.85
46	Ricky Williams	BAL	at JAC	25.00
47	Thomas Jones	KC	at OAK	22.38
48	Deji Karim	JAC	vs. BAL	16.00

Start: Ryan Torain. The on-again-off-again back blew a big chance to cement his RB1 status when he came up short against the Eagles, but I think the Redskins are willing to chalk that up as a bad week overall and not pin any shortcomings on Torain in particular. He gets another chance to rough up an easy rushing defense this week when he faces the Panthers, and I expect him to take advantage of it this time around.

Sit: Peyton Hillis. Our rating here assumes he has a worse than average chance of playing this week, but even if he does go, I would expect his snaps to be extremely limited while he deals with an injury. In fact, even if active there seems no reason for the Browns to give him more carries than Montario Hardesty, who has been prepping for the starting role in practice this week. With the big bye it’s tough to sit a top RB, but I think you have to with Hillis.

Rank	Wide Receivers	Team	Opponent	Average
1	Calvin Johnson	DET	vs. ATL	93.50
2	Mike Wallace	PIT	at ARI	92.50
3	Miles Austin	DAL	vs. STL	92.00
4	Greg Jennings	GB	at MIN	87.75
5	Dez Bryant	DAL	vs. STL	86.00
6	Steve Smith	CAR	vs. WAS	82.25
7	Dwayne Bowe	KC	at OAK	80.75
8	Roddy White	ATL	at DET	78.00
9	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	vs. PIT	78.00
10	Pierre Garcon	IND	at NO	73.25
11	Vincent Jackson	SD	at NYJ	72.75
12	Percy Harvin	MIN	vs. GB	70.50
13	Nate Washington	TEN	vs. HOU	70.25
14	Marques Colston	NO	vs. IND	69.25
15	Brandon Marshall	MIA	vs. DEN	68.00
16	Anquan Boldin	BAL	at JAC	66.75
17	Eric Decker	DEN	at MIA	65.75
18	Santana Moss	WAS	at CAR	65.50
19	Jordy Nelson	GB	at MIN	64.50
20	Darrius Heyward-Bay	OAK	vs. KC	64.50
21	Santonio Holmes	NYJ	vs. SD	63.25
22	Reggie Wayne	IND	at NO	62.50
23	Brandon Lloyd	STL	at DAL	61.50
24	Mike Williams	TB	vs. CHI	60.75
25	Greg Little	CLE	vs. SEA	60.00
26	Devin Hester	CHI	at TB	59.25
27	Antonio Brown	PIT	at ARI	58.00
28	Sidney Rice	SEA	at CLE	57.75
29	Hines Ward	PIT	at ARI	55.00
30	Kevin Walter	HOU	at TEN	54.75
31	Mohamed Massaquoi	CLE	vs. SEA	54.50
32	Early Doucet	ARI	vs. PIT	54.25
33	Nate Burleson	DET	vs. ATL	53.25
34	Mike Thomas	JAC	vs. BAL	52.25
35	Johnny Knox	CHI	at TB	50.25
36	Damian Williams	TEN	vs. HOU	49.25
37	Danario Alexander	STL	at DAL	49.00
38	James Jones	GB	at MIN	49.00
39	Steve Breaston	KC	at OAK	48.75
40	Torrey Smith	BAL	at JAC	48.25
41	Lance Moore	NO	vs. IND	48.25
42	Jacoby Jones	HOU	at TEN	47.50
43	Denarius Moore	OAK	vs. KC	47.25
44	Greg Salas	STL	at DAL	47.00
45	Doug Baldwin	SEA	at CLE	46.50
46	Robert Meachem	NO	vs. IND	46.00
47	Dane Sanzenbacher	CHI	at TB	45.75
48	Jacoby Ford	OAK	vs. KC	44.75
49	Josh Cribbs	CLE	vs. SEA	44.00
50	Eddie Royal	DEN	at MIA	43.50
51	Jabar Gaffney	WAS	at CAR	43.50
52	Emmanuel Sanders	PIT	at ARI	43.00
53	Malcom Floyd	SD	at NYJ	42.00
54	Arrelious Benn	TB	vs. CHI	41.75
55	Laurent Robinson	DAL	vs. STL	41.25
56	Plaxico Burress	NYJ	vs. SD	40.50
57	Harry Douglas	ATL	at DET	40.25
58	Michael Jenkins	MIN	vs. GB	40.25
59	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	at MIA	40.00
60	Donald Driver	GB	at MIN	39.00
61	Preston Parker	TB	vs. CHI	38.50
62	Mike Williams	SEA	at CLE	36.75
63	Davone Bess	MIA	vs. DEN	36.50
64	Legedu Naanee	CAR	vs. WAS	36.00
65	Brian Hartline	MIA	vs. DEN	35.50
66	Randall Cobb	GB	at MIN	34.50
67	Titus Young	DET	vs. ATL	34.25
68	Roy Williams	CHI	at TB	33.00
69	Bernard Berrian	MIN	vs. GB	31.25
70	Devery Henderson	NO	vs. IND	31.25
71	Austin Collie	IND	at NO	30.25
72	Ben Obomanu	SEA	at CLE	29.50
73	Anthony Armstrong	WAS	at CAR	28.50
74	Derrick Mason	HOU	at TEN	28.00
75	Sammie Stroughter	TB	vs. CHI	27.75

Start: Eric Decker. The ascension of Tim Tebow to QB1 logically sinks the value of the rest of the Bronco passing game, as Tebow is more likely to run the ball into the end zone than any other quarterback. However, there’s still a lot to like about Eric Decker. He’s proven to be a goal-line weapon already this year, and while defenses key on stopping Tebow on the ground, that could leave the new Denver WR1 with favorable matchups. He’s a lock for at least one TD this week.

Sit: Lance Moore. Moore was plenty valuable early in the season when Marques Colston was out and Jimmy Graham wasn’t on fire. However, neither of those are the case right now, and when you consider how many targets Darren Sproles gets out of the backfield, that makes Moore no better than fourth on the team in the passing game. He’s worth holding as a Colston handcuff, but you shouldn’t be starting him right now.

Rank	Tight Ends	Team	Opponent	Average
1	Jimmy Graham	NO	vs. IND	89.75
2	Jason Witten	DAL	vs. STL	83.50
3	Tony Gonzalez	ATL	at DET	83.00
4	Jermichael Finley	GB	at MIN	82.00
5	Owen Daniels	HOU	at TEN	80.50
6	Brandon Pettigrew	DET	vs. ATL	76.00
7	Fred Davis	WAS	at CAR	74.50
8	Kellen Winslow	TB	vs. CHI	72.25
9	Greg Olsen	CAR	vs. WAS	72.25
10	Dustin Keller	NYJ	vs. SD	70.50
11	Antonio Gates	SD	at NYJ	65.50
12	Ed Dickson	BAL	at JAC	61.75
13	Dallas Clark	IND	at NO	60.75
14	Ben Watson	CLE	vs. SEA	58.75
15	Kevin Boss	OAK	vs. KC	57.50
16	Jared Cook	TEN	vs. HOU	57.50
17	Heath Miller	PIT	at ARI	55.50
18	Jeremy Shockey	CAR	vs. WAS	53.25
19	Visanthe Shiancoe	MIN	vs. GB	50.50
20	Evan Moore	CLE	vs. SEA	48.75
21	Todd Heap	ARI	vs. PIT	46.75
22	Lance Kendricks	STL	at DAL	44.50
23	Anthony Fasano	MIA	vs. DEN	43.00
24	Daniel Fells	DEN	at MIA	39.75
25	Marcedes Lewis	JAC	vs. BAL	38.50

Start: Fred Davis. Davis exploded on to the fantasy scene in his first two games of 2011, and now that Chris Cooley is dealing with an injury, Davis should see all the targets from the TE position. John Beck figures to look to Davis frequently in his first start as someone that can move the chains, so do be surprised if the Washington TE winds up with 10-plus catches.

Sit: Dallas Clark. It’s pretty sad when Clark can’t crack our top 12 on a week with six bye teams, but such is life for him in 2011. He’s been thoroughly outplayed by the other elite talents at his position thanks to the Colts’ weakness at QB this year, and he’s essentially off the fantasy radar and even worthy of being dropped in some formats.

Rank	Kickers	Team	Opponent	Average
1	Sebastian Janikowski	OAK	vs. KC	84.25
2	Jason Hanson	DET	vs. ATL	79.50
3	Neil Rackers	HOU	at TEN	76.00
4	John Kasay	NO	vs. IND	75.75
5	Billy Cundiff	BAL	at JAC	72.00
6	Mason Crosby	GB	at MIN	72.00
7	Dan Carpenter	MIA	vs. DEN	71.25
8	Dan Bailey	DAL	vs. STL	70.50
9	Robbie Gould	CHI	at TB	67.00
10	Nick Folk	NYJ	vs. SD	64.75
11	Nick Novak	SD	at NYJ	63.00
12	Ryan Longwell	MIN	vs. GB	62.25
13	Graham Gano	WAS	at CAR	61.00
14	Rob Bironas	TEN	vs. HOU	60.75
15	Adam Vinatieri	IND	at NO	60.00
16	Matt Bryant	ATL	at DET	58.75
17	Phil Dawson	CLE	vs. SEA	57.75
18	Josh Brown	STL	at DAL	56.25
19	Shaun Suisham	PIT	at ARI	54.25
20	Steven Hauschka	SEA	at CLE	54.00
21	Connor Barth	TB	vs. CHI	54.00
22	Olindo Mare	CAR	vs. WAS	53.50
23	Matt Prater	DEN	at MIA	53.25
24	Ryan Succop	KC	at OAK	52.50
25	Josh Scobee	JAC	vs. BAL	51.25
26	Jay Feely	ARI	vs. PIT	49.00

Start: Nick Novak. He’s coming off a bye so there’s a chance he’s available in your league, and his fantasy total is lower than it should be due to him not joining the Chargers till Week 2. Still, he’s been excellent this year and makes for a great K1 the rest of the way.

Sit: Matt Prater. A fantasy find last year, Prater’s upside has been capped this year by Denver’s terrible defense. He’s making just one field goal and two extra points per game, numbers that rank him near the bottom of the league. Don’t count on him until he gives you a reason to do so.

Rank	Team Defense	Team	Opponent	Average
1	Baltimore Ravens	BAL	at JAC	85.00
2	Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT	at ARI	72.13
3	New York Jets	NYJ	vs. SD	70.25
4	Dallas Cowboys	DAL	vs. STL	68.50
5	Cleveland Browns	CLE	vs. SEA	66.75
6	Detroit Lions	DET	vs. ATL	66.60
7	Denver Broncos	DEN	at MIA	66.00
8	Washington Redskins	WAS	at CAR	62.75
9	Green Bay Packers	GB	at MIN	62.25
10	San Diego Chargers	SD	at NYJ	61.13
11	New Orleans Saints	NO	vs. IND	61.03
12	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	TB	vs. CHI	60.88
13	Seattle Seahawks	SEA	at CLE	58.43
14	Chicago Bears	CHI	at TB	57.13
15	Jacksonville Jaguars	JAC	vs. BAL	55.38
16	Oakland Raiders	OAK	vs. KC	55.23
17	St. Louis Rams	STL	at DAL	54.85
18	Tennessee Titans	TEN	vs. HOU	54.25
19	Arizona Cardinals	ARI	vs. PIT	52.53
20	Atlanta Falcons	ATL	at DET	52.50
21	Houston Texans	HOU	at TEN	52.00
22	Carolina Panthers	CAR	vs. WAS	50.75
23	Miami Dolphins	MIA	vs. DEN	48.50
24	Kansas City Chiefs	KC	at OAK	48.18
25	Indianapolis Colts	IND	at NO	46.70
26	Minnesota Vikings	MIN	vs. GB	45.45

Start: Cleveland Browns. The Seahawks are giving up four sacks per game, making them one of the best matchups for fantasy defenses in 2011 so far. The Browns aren’t a particularly good fantasy bet right now, struggling despite a pretty easy schedule, but the matchup makes them a solid play as a fill-in.

Sit: Houston Texans. This group just isn’t the same without Mario Williams, and the quality play of the Tennessee defense makes them one of the worst matchups in the league for scoring fantasy points. Use your head and go with a better matchup this week, leaving the Texans to languish on the wire.

R.J. White is the head editor at the Cafe, writes for FanDuel and Razzball and has previously written for FanHouse. Catch up with him in the forums under the name daullaz. Follow him on Twitter; don't follow him in real life.

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9 Responses to “Week 7: Transactions Aplenty in the NFL”

Youngsir620 says:

October 21, 2011 at 11:15 am

Who should I start as my RB2 Maurice Morris, Tim Hightower, Jonathan Stewart, or Demarco Murray?
Reply
joejlitz says:

October 21, 2011 at 12:46 pm

BAL defense scares me so I am sitting MJD this week for Jackie Battle. Other than that, I wonder how long before Roddy White works his way out of a perpetual top-10 ranking? I hope it doesn’t happen, because I have him on my team, too. I love where you have Nate Washington. HOU’s defense has been porous to WR1s.
Reply
latsprewell20002000 says:

October 21, 2011 at 4:20 pm

McGahee at 20 is way to low IMO. But thats why its my opinion i guess. Great work as always guys.
Reply
daullaz says:

October 21, 2011 at 7:50 pm

@Youngsir620: I’d go with Murray/
Reply
DraftDodger says:

October 22, 2011 at 12:35 am

If you think the Steelers are going to take Fitz out of the game, why do you have him ranked #9, which is a WR1?
Reply
daullaz says:

October 22, 2011 at 9:38 am

@DraftDodger: Because (a) it’s an average of several ratings (not just mine), and (b) I’m still not benching Fitzgerald in any matchup, because he shouldn’t be benched in any matchup. Not feeling good about his prospects this week though.

Also, it’s a pretty sparse week — all you have to do is look at the 11-20 WRs to realize that. I’d hate starting Antonio Brown, Massaquoi, Mike Thomas, etc., but those guys are WR3s this week.
Reply
Rene Obaya says:

October 22, 2011 at 9:32 pm

santana moss, even though the whole quarterback controversy
Reply
Hino07 says:

October 23, 2011 at 9:59 am

Who should I start as a flex? Daniel Thomas, Pierre Garcon, Percy Harvin, Jackie Battle, or DeMarco Murray??
Reply
daullaz says:

October 23, 2011 at 11:16 am

@Hino07: I’d go with Battle or Garcon there, and I’m leaning Battle.
Reply