Welcome to Week 7 of my weekly article series for In-Between Media (IBT), giving you my takes on the fantasy football “winners and losers” after each week of action. This will be a fun topic to cover, and I will include my reasoning behind the judgments, along with actionable analysis when possible.
Now, let’s break down Week 7 of the NFL season.
Fantasy Football Winners & Losers: Week 7
Fantasy Football Winners
Darren Waller (TE, New York Giants)
Darren Waller is a fantasy football winner for Week 7 because he finally put up the dominant fantasy day everyone was hoping for earlier in the season.
Through six weeks, Waller’s season, as well as the entire Giants’ offense, had been a disappointment. A lot of fantasy managers saw (or hoped for) a big season for the former Raider, including me. Waller’s Average Draft Position (ADP) in redraft leagues was TE5 (via Sleeper), and he was my TE3. He entered Week 6 as the TE11 in Point Per Reception (PPR) leagues, with only two of six games scoring double-digit fantasy points and zero TDs.
Not only did he find the endzone against the Commanders, but his target share was just under 30% (29.6%), and he led the team in targets (eight) and routes run (29). And since six teams were on a bye, many were (fortunately) forced to start him.
Jahmyr Gibbs (RB, Detroit Lions)
David Montgomery missed Week 7 with an injury. This gave Jahmyr Gibbs his second opportunity of the season to serve as the Lions’ lead RB (Montgomery also missed Week 3). Gibbs turned the first opportunity into 17 rushes for 80 yards against one of the stingiest fantasy RB matchups in the NFL (Falcons). But he only saw two targets.
Gibbs is a Week 7 winner because he put up the type of dual-threat RB1 day we’ve all been impatiently waiting for. The rookie saw 21 of the Lions’ 25 RB opportunities for an RB opportunity share of 84%. Gibbs rushed 11 times for 68 yards and the Lions’ only TD. Even better, in a lopsided negative game script, Gibbs caught nine passes for 58 yards on 10 targets, which equated to a 20.4% target share, an elite market share number for an RB. Gibbs did most of his damage in the second half with the Lions down big, but he showed us what hopefully becomes known as a “Gibbs game” with the balance of rushing and receiving output.
D’Onta Foreman (RB, Chicago Bears)
I am one of many who is guilty of having given up on D’Onta Foreman this year. Maybe I had my rookie blinders on for Roschon Johnson, and I wasn’t anticipating both Khalil Herbert and Johnson to miss so much time due to injury. Admittedly, I fell victim to my own “take-lock” in Week 7, as I was still fading Foreman, even with him being the only RB standing for the Bears in a great matchup against the Raiders. I don’t have Foreman rostered anywhere, so I did not have to watch his performance on my bench, and I didn’t explicitly tell anyone to sit him. But I ignored him, with six teams on bye and the RB landscape in shambles.
Foreman is a fantasy football winner in Week 7 because he proved me wrong. Not only did he have 89 rushing yards and two on 16 carries, good for 5.6 Yards Per Carry (YPC). Foreman, who has averaged 0.8 targets per game in 45 career games, caught three of five targets for 31 yards and a third TD. His five targets were second on the team (D.J. Moore earned nine) and led to a 17.9% target share, the highest of his career by far.
Josh Downs (WR, Indianapolis Colts)
This one felt good, as I have been high on Josh Downs since before he was drafted by the Colts. As a third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Downs has flown mostly under the rookie WR hype cloud comprised of the higher-drafted WRs of his class. Downs was the PPR WR47 entering Week 7 but had put up double-digit fantasy points in three of six games.
Downs is a Week 7 winner after leading the Colts with six targets (27.2% target share) and catching five of them for 125 yards and a score. And while the Browns have been giving up points to slot WRs, they are the toughest matchups for fantasy WRs according to my adjusted fantasy points allowed rankings. He and Gardner Minshew look to have great chemistry, even with Downs being a rookie. With Anthony Richardson now set to miss the entire season, Downs’ breakout likely continues.
Fantasy Football Losers
Calvin Ridley (WR, Jacksonville Jaguars)
Some managers may have been fortunate enough to sit Calvin Ridley in Week 7, but with only 26 of 32 teams playing, it was much tougher to get away from him. Ridley is a Week 7 loser because he put up yet another disappointing fantasy day, and he did it during “Thursday Night Football,” so all of us who started him got to sit with it for the rest of the weekend.
After Ridley’s huge Week 1, he failed to surpass 40 receiving yards over the next three games. Things were looking up a bit in Week 5 (122 yards on eight targets) and Week 6 (eight targets again). Then, in Week 7, he was out-targeted by Jamal Agnew (six to four) and finished with one fewer reception than Tim Jones. Ridley’s 1.5 PPR points put his fantasy managers in catch-up mode right out of the gate.
Jordan Love (QB, Green Bay Packers)
Jordan Love has been a polarizing QB in the fantasy world ever since Aaron Rodgers left Green Bay for the Jets. Comparisons were drawn to the last time the Packers selected a QB in the first round and sat him behind a future Hall of Famer for multiple seasons. Rodgers sat behind Brett Favre. Love sat behind Rodgers. But there is a major difference with the current situation. Love is not, in any way, Aaron Rodgers. It’s starting to look like Love might just not be a very good NFL QB.
Things looked good early in the season. After the first month, Love was the overall QB3. But there were already signs of concern. Love has been below a 60% completion rate in all but one game, and he relied heavily on TD passes, throwing six in the first two games and eight over the first four games. Since then, he’s scored eight and 15.3 fantasy points, with the 15.3 coming in Week 7 against the Broncos, one of the better fantasy QB opponents.
Love is a Week 7 fantasy football loser because his poor play is bringing some of his weapons down with him. A QB scoring 15.3 points isn’t the worst thing in the world. Perhaps the most indicative representation of Love being a Week 7 loser (besides actually losing and the low scores for Christian Watson, Aaron Jones and Luke Musgrave) is who led the team in receiving yards. No, it wasn’t Romeo Doubs or Jayden Reed. Renowned pass-catcher AJ Dillon (sarcasm) caught both of his targets for a team-leading 34 receiving yards. Enough said.
Austin Ekeler (RB, Los Angeles Chargers)
Whether it’s poor decision-making by Justin Herbert or the different passing attack implemented by Kellen Moore (or both), Austin Ekeler’s ceiling was hamstrung in Week 7. In a high-powered rivalry game with the Chiefs, Ekeler saw only two targets. Ekeler finished the game with 45 yards on 14 carries and only one catch for one yard with those two targets.
The Chargers’ offense looks a bit out of sync. And, as a handful of smart analysts warned against during the offseason, Kellen Moore’s offense is known to try and push the ball downfield more often than the previous offensive coordinator. For some reference, the Chargers have led the NFL in RB target share for multiple seasons. But so far, in 2023, they are dead last in targeting their RBs. Ekeler’s multi-game injury did not help. You’re starting Ekeler every week that he’s healthy. But repeating as the overall PPR RB1 doesn’t currently look to be in his range of outcomes unless something changes and they start maximizing Ekeler’s skill set.
Not What It Seems: Fantasy Football Panic Meter
The following players were fantasy disappointments in Week 7, but my concern is low moving forward:
- Chris Olave (WR, New Orleans Saints)
- Josh Jacobs (RB, Las Vegas Raiders)
- Cooper Kupp (WR, Los Angeles Rams)
- Bijan Robinson (RB, Atlanta Falcons)
- Raheem Mostert (RB, Miami Dolphins)
The following players were disappointments in Week 7, and I am concerned about moving forward:
- Davante Adams (WR, Las Vegas Raiders)
- Marquise Brown (WR, Arizona Cardinals)
- Hunter Henry (TE, New England Patriots)
- Deshaun Watson (QB, Cleveland Browns)
Thanks for reading my Week 7 fantasy football winners and losers. As always, find me on Twitter, talking fantasy football, joking around, posting GIFs and lending my support where it’s needed @MunderDifflinFF.
*Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta – USA TODAY Sports*