Fantasy Football MOP Rankings from Week 7

I would never say that the thought process behind the creation of MOP rankings is an exact science, far from it. Having said that, I could not have been more pleased to see the performance from Chris Olave last week. I have repeatedly beaten the drum for Olave over the past few weeks. His actual fantasy performance relative to his weekly place among the MOP leaderboard screamed to me that he was a buy-low candidate. If you were able to acquire him on the cheap or if you remained patient with him, you were handsomely rewarded last week. Olave posted top-five fantasy numbers among wide receivers last week. Even if this was Olave’s best game of the year, I still believe he is a weekly starting fantasy wideout.

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Olave is undoubtedly not the only player who may be a target going forward for savvy fantasy football managers. Here are the Week 7 MOP rankings along with some quick thoughts on each position group. Please note that these are less fun to calculate when the last Monday night game ends at 1:30 AM. Hopefully, my math is correct.

Quarterback Takeaways

There were some downright ugly performances from several quarterbacks last week. The most notable among fantasy-relevant quarterbacks was Justin Fields. When Fields is good, he can be great, at least from a fantasy perspective. But when it goes downhill, it does so in a hurry. Fields has three weekly top-12 MOP finishes and three games where he has finished outside the top 25. The Jets mercifully benched Fields for Tyrod Taylor in the second half last week. Even if Fields regains the starting job, he cannot be relied upon for fantasy purposes at this juncture. Other disappointments last week included Baker Mayfield and Caleb Williams. Both of those quarterbacks will be fine going forward.

Running Back Takeaways

Many fantasy football managers (myself included) were curious as to how Carolina’s backfield would shake out last week. Before the return of Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdle had gone on a two-game run replicated by only a few in NFL history. With Hubbard back in the fold, the duo split work evenly. Hubbard was on the field for 38 snaps compared to Dowdle, who lined up on 33 offensive plays. Dowdle had 18 touches to Hubbard’s 16. If you go by Half-PPR fantasy points, Dowdle was the RB21 and Hubbard was the RB29. However, using MOP rankings, you will see that Dowdle was the RB15 and Hubbard was the RB35. This discrepancy indicates to me that Dowdle had the much better game overall. I would suspect that he may earn most of the opportunities next week against the Buffalo Bills. I am probably benching Hubbard where I have better options.

A pair of rookie running backs had notable performances last week. And no, I am not talking about Quinshon Judkins and Cam Skattebo. They were excellent, of course. But instead, I am referring to a couple of seventh-round draft picks – Kyle Monangai of the Chicago Bears and Brashard Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs. Both players finished inside the top-20 overall for the week and top-15 in the MOP rankings. The question becomes whether fantasy managers can trust either player going forward as a potential Flex option.

Monangai popped for 94 total yards and a touchdown in Chicago’s victory versus New Orleans. The rookie earned 15 touches and certainly impressed when called upon. I do wonder if that volume is sustainable going forward, though. D’Andre Swift is not going anywhere. I suspect Monangai’s increased involvement was due more to game script and poor weather conditions than earning a much more significant role. I believe he will continue to linger in that 6-8 touch range every week. The same logic largely applies to Smith, who had 19 touches last week. That was more than he had earned all season. Most of that was aided by the injury to Kareem Hunt. Assuming Hunt is cleared for next week’s game, Smith will struggle to earn enough touches to warrant fantasy consideration.

Steelers running back Kenneth Gainwell was the overall RB1 in MOP rankings back in Week 4 with Jaylen Warren absent. With Warren returning last week, both players finished inside the top-24. Last week, however, Warren seemed to reclaim the lion’s share of the workload in the Pittsburgh backfield. Warren earned 20 touches to Gainwell’s five, and is the overall RB5 in the Week 7 MOP rankings. Granted, he will not face the Cincinnati Bengals and their abysmal defense each week. But he should be entrenched as Pittsburgh’s featured back until further notice. Gainwell can still be helpful as a bye-week fill-in, but the floor can be awfully low, as evidenced last week.

Wide Receiver Takeaways

New York Giants wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson has many of the same characteristics as Chris Olave from a MOP standpoint. Robinson has posted consecutive top-20 MOP finishes. This is significant, of course, because the team has virtually no options at the position with Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton out. Robinson earned a massive 36.4 percent target share last week and was the only wide receiver to touch the ball in New York’s loss in Denver. Denver is the stingiest defense in the NFL when it comes to wide receiver production. That made Robinson’s performance even more encouraging. Even when Slayton returns, Robinson should continue to produce, especially in PPR leagues.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered yet another wide receiver injury when Mike Evans left Monday night’s game. Early indications are that it could be a long-term absence for the veteran wideout. With him and Chris Godwin out, we saw some interesting results from Tampa’s wide receivers. Tez Johnson was the overall WR17 in Half-PPR leagues. Emeka Egbuka was the WR34, while Sterling Shepard was the WR50. However, all three bunched together in the Week 7 MOP rankings. Egbuka did see a dozen targets and is easily the top choice going forward. Among the remaining options, Johnson has the higher ceiling and Shepard has the higher floor. I do not expect to see Godwin until Week 10 when the Buccaneers return from the bye. At that point, he will likely be the team’s second option behind Egbuka.

Tight End Takeaways

Not only did Chargers tight end Oronde Gadsden II finish as the overall TE1 for the week, but he also finished as the TE1 in the MOP rankings. So, here is where I am going to sound like a jerk. I am not telling you not to buy into Gadsden to some extent. However, the Los Angeles Chargers are not going to drop back to pass 60 times very often. Gadsden’s weekly finishes both in Half-PPR formats and MOP points are all over the map. He is absolutely worth adding if he is on the waiver wire and you have a clear drop. But I think there are too many mouths to feed in the Chargers’ passing game to rely on Gadsden to post consistent fantasy totals. He is more of a matchup play in my view than a must-start.

The Pittsburgh Steelers had three different tight ends catch touchdown passes last week. Because of that, all three finished as top-18 options in Half-PPR leagues. If you go by MOP rankings, Pat Freiermuth is the only one who remained a top-18 play. Even that feels a bit out of place, though, as Freiermuth scored twice. Before last week, Freiermuth had not scored as many as five fantasy points in any game. Jonnu Smith is the safer choice among the Steelers’ tight ends, and he carries a fair amount of risk as well. On the flip side, Kyle Pitts Sr. and T.J. Hockenson were among those who got a boost in the Week 7 MOP rankings. They continue to be two of the most targeted tight ends in the NFL, making them borderline TE1 candidates in 12-team leagues.

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