Week 7 Fantasy Football Sneaky Starts

Welcome to the Sneaky Starts for Week 7! After seeing two top-5 receivers get injured amongst a slew of other players, this might be our most important week yet.

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Unfortunately, Week 6 wasn’t the best for the Sneaky Starts, as we only hit on 1-of-3. We won’t count Chris Godwin, though, as he was a late-week scratch after the article was published.

Of those that did play, though, Jake Tonges was our only hit. He continued his strong showing in George Kittle’s absence. So long as Kittle is out, Tonges is a decent play.

We missed on both Chase Brown and Tyquan Thornton.

Brown looked decent with Flacco under center, but the production still wasn’t there. He should get more passing opportunities moving forward, but the offensive line is still going to significantly hinder him on the ground. His 42 rushing yards were somehow his third-highest total of the season, and he still hasn’t cracked 50 in any game.

Tyquan Thornton rewarded our trust with a full-blown zero. Zero targets, zero receptions, zero yards. Yikes. He can still be a lottery ticket on any week, but when Mahomes finishes as the QB1 and this is his output, it will be hard to ever trust him.

Sneaky Starts Season Tally: 12-10

While Week 6 wasn’t what we were hoping for, I have a feeling that better days are coming for our Week 7 Sneaky Starts.

Week 7 Sneaky Starts

Jerry Jeudy, Cleveland Browns WR vs. Miami Dolphins

Any managers who drafted Jeudy after last year’s end-of-season dominance are probably rolling their eyes right now. His best game this season was a 66-yard output in Week 1 with Joe Flacco under center. He’s also yet to find the endzone.

If you’re one to look for silver linings, on the other hand, Jeudy is worth a glance. He received 13 targets in Week 6 against the Steelers. He wasn’t able to do much with them, but it still showed that he’s the top dog in Cleveland.

Dillon Gabriel hasn’t looked great so far, but he did throw for two cores in Week 5, which shows he might have a little juice to him. David Njoku is also likely to miss this week, as well as Cedric Tillman, who’s on IR, which should consolidate the team’s targets.

There’s also the fact that they get to play the Dolphins, who are allowing the 12th most passing yards and 9th most passing touchdowns per game. While Dillon is throwing almost everything at or near the line of scrimmage, he should be able to do it consistently, as Miami also allows for the highest quarterback completion percentage in the league.

Jeudy should have a very safe floor this week, and for once could even have a decent ceiling.

Jordan Whittington, Los Angeles Rams WR @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Puka Nacua is expected to miss a few weeks, and fantasy managers who can accurately predict the receiver to play in his absence should be handsomely rewarded.

Obviously, Davante Adams is the favorite to operate as the first read; there’s a chance he’s already locked into his role. I feel the same way about Tutu Atwell, who should still operate in his mainly downfield role.

Jordan Whittington, on the other hand, seems to be the most likely to take over Puka’s spot on the field. He did so last year when Puka missed time, and now he’s had another year to absorb the playbook and grow in the system.

Of course, he’s not going to be a perfect replacement, and odds are that the targets get spread around a bit more than when Puka plays, but the upside for Whittington is there.

Jordan Mason, Minnesota Vikings RB vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles’ defense has been surprisingly bad against the run this year, currently giving up the 6th-most rushing yards per game. Since he’s been the full-time starter, Mason has averaged 15 rushing attempts and 2 receptions per game. He’s also scored 3 times in as many games.

It’s unclear who will be under center for the Vikings this week, but regardless, the team is going to rely heavily on the run.

Mason is one of those bruising-type backs who seems to get stronger as the game wears. As long as the team continues to feed him, it’s hard not to see him finding success. Cam Skattebo did the same thing against Philly last week, and scored 3 times and just missed the 100-yard mark. The Eagles are better against the pass and still find success pressuring quarterbacks, so some easy dump-offs to Mason should also be on the menu.

It’s easy to overlook a mid-tier guy coming off a bye week, but in this case, fire him right back into your lineup.

Check out all of our Week 7 Rankings: Flex Rankings | QB Rankings | RB Rankings | WR Rankings | TE Rankings

Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers TE @ Detroit Lions

I already made the mistake of putting Otton in this article back in Week 4, and that didn’t work out so well. In the two weeks since then, he’s been surprisingly playable, going for 4-for-81 and 5-for-51 respectively.

The Bucs are now even more banged up and will be without Emeka Egbuka, Bucky Irving, and Chris Godwin for certain. Mike Evans is also up in the air.

Despite who he’s shared the field with, Baker has been able to make it work and is playing at an MVP level. Going against the Lions this week, he’ll need to keep that up if they hope to win.

Otton isn’t going to win any foot races to the endzone or shake many tackles, but he should get peppered with short-yardage throws when needed. He’s also a big target when the team gets into the red zone.

He strung together plenty of huge games last season when the team needed him. The team needs him now. There’s no reason he can’t do it again.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 7 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!