It’s time to celebrate! We’re into Week 7 of the NFL Season and it’s one of my personal favorite weeks of the year. I might be crazy, but my love for Week 7 is not random; it’s because my birthday was this week! So, I’m going from setting up the physical streamers on the wall to setting you up with some start/sit “Shore Thing Sleepers” and fantasy streamers.
We got the gifts going early last week, because I was six-for-six in my article! There were some small margins of victory, like Brashard Smith (+0.9), Jared Goff (+1.0) and Justice Hill (+1.3), but we all need small gifts. Heck, nowadays I’m thankful for gift cards and socks, and that’s what those felt like. The gifts kept on giving, because it might not have been a trip to California, but it was definitely a trip towards a potential victory with Jake Tonges (+3.6) and Kendrick Bourne (+8.5) from San Francisco. The night ended with a Hollywood performance, because Marquise “Hollywood” Brown scored 10.9 points over the projection, bringing the grand total to 26.2 points over the projection!
I already ate some cake, but I have to go back for seconds, so let’s do it again!
Fantasy Football Start/Sit Consideration: Week 7 Sleepers (2025)
Quarterback
Sam Darnold (Seattle Seahawks)
Another year older, and that must mean I’m getting “darn old.” Do you know what else I am thinking is getting “darn old?” The fact that Sam Darnold is out here being underappreciated. The Seahawks quarterback has quietly been providing solid fantasy numbers, as he’s currently sitting at QB11. He started off the season on a shaky note, but from Week 2 to now, he is QB6. He is averaging 278.2 passing yards, 2.2 passing touchdowns, 0.6 interceptions and 19.8 fantasy points per game since Week 2. And in four of the five games, he had 218+ passing yards, multiple passing touchdowns and 16.7+ fantasy points.
The matchup does look scary on paper, but like I’ve always said, look closer at the stats. Yes, the Texans have held a quarterback to under 231 scrimmage yards, no touchdowns and under nine fantasy points in the past three games. That becomes much less concerning when you look at those quarterbacks: Trevor Lawrence, who was struggling to find the Jaguars’ rhythm at the beginning of the season, the struggling Cam Ward-led Titans’ offense and Ravens backup quarterback Cooper Rush. Not that scary, and that’s when I looked at the games against the NFC for the Texans. Oddly enough, those are very similar to Darnold’s numbers; NFC quarterbacks averaged 230 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns and 16.7 fantasy points against the Texans this season. It also helps when you have a lot of weapons on your side, and Sam Darnold has plenty of big-name weapons, most importantly, Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Running Back
Isiah Pacheco (Kansas City Chiefs)
Why stop now? It’s been helping us for the past two weeks with positive outcomes. The Chiefs’ running game and Isiah Pacheco have found their footing in their last two games. After going the first four weeks without any backs rushing for over 45 yards, the Chiefs’ running back room has gone back-to-back games with 49+ rushing yards, and Pacheco now holds the season-high with 51 from Sunday Night’s victory. Was that 6.1 point performance a disappointment? Yes, but not everything has to be so bleak. Let’s look at the positives.
Besides this season-high 51 rushing yards, Isiah Pacheco also had his season-high in carries with 12. That number will come into play in just a bit. While Patrick Mahomes will get his full arsenal back with Rashee Rice returning from suspension, I think everybody is rushing to look at the passing attack against the Raiders. The Chiefs will want to use their returning star wideout, but they won’t entirely abandon the run game. The Raiders have only allowed two running backs this season to score 16+ fantasy points. What do they have in common? First, both of those games were in the last three weeks. Secondly, and this is where the number 12 comes into play, both of them were the only running backs to have 12+ carries against the Raiders this season. The averages? 52 rushing yards, 21 receiving yards, two rushing touchdowns and 22.8 fantasy points. If Pacheco can get around this, even just with one touchdown, I think it’s smooth sailing from there.
Tyrone Tracy Jr. (New York Giants)
Oh boo-hoo, he lost his job to Cam Skattebo. While he’s not getting that job back anytime soon, I would like to see Tyrone Tracy‘s passing game come back to life. I know there are rumors of the Giants trading for a wide receiver, but it hasn’t happened yet and there’s no way they’d know the playbook well enough to get a full amount of snaps in on Sunday.
I think the Giants will need the former wide receiver turned running back to be a huge help in the passing game against the Broncos, especially when Patrick Surtain is on the other side. But what do I know, it’s not like the Broncos have allowed the ninth most receiving yards to the running back position this season! Wait, they have? Yes, they have, with 236 yards allowed. In fact, the Jets are the only team this season to not have a running back gain 29+ receiving yards against the Broncos this season. It gets even better, as in three of the last five games, there’s been a running back with 50+ receiving yards and two of them also had a receiving touchdown.
Malik Nabers is out for the season, Darius Slayton is missing a fourth consecutive practice with a hamstring injury and Jalin Hyatt is limited with an ankle injury. The Giants will likely need the running back to turn the page back to his former self and be a wide receiver, at least from the backfield.
Wide Receiver
Travis Hunter (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Travis Hunter has slightly improved his production from the first three weeks of the season to Weeks 4-6. Hunter averaged more targets in Weeks 1-3 with 5.3, but his low average of 3.3 receptions for 25.3 yards and 5.8 fantasy points was disgusting. Now, he’s averaging 3.3 receptions on five targets, but now up a bit to 40.3 yards and 7.3 fantasy points. While that’s not enough, it’s definitely an improvement and there’s always room for even more improvement!
That’s when I looked at the matchup and it looks to be fairly decent for the 2024 Heisman winner. This season, the Rams have played in four games where a wide receiver duo has been targeted at least five times. The WR2s, in this case, are averaging 4.7 receptions for 44.7 yards and 0.5 touchdowns, equating to 12.2 fantasy points, and all of them have scored at least 6.4 points. The Jaguars are well accustomed to playing in London by now, as they have hosted a game there every year since 2013, except for the 2020 COVID-19 season. In the last London four games, a Jaguars wide receiver has scored at least 16.4 fantasy points, and in two of those four games, a receiver duo scored 11.8+.
Home-field advantage can be huge and even the difference-maker in some games, especially when it’s an international home game like London. I think it’ll benefit the rookie and we’ll see a big day from Travis Hunter.
Jordan Whittington (Los Angeles Rams)
Al Michaels may have mistakenly called him Jordan Whittingham earlier this season, but I think Jordan Whittington has a chance to go “Whitting-ham” this week. Puka Nacua is confirmed to be out this week. I could’ve added Tutu Atwell on here, but he’s coming back from his own injury, and honestly, looking at the stats, I like Whittington better.
Last week, Jordan Whittington had the most snaps out of any Rams wide receiver with 49. That’s more than Atwell had in any game this season. That being said, with Davante Adams and Nacua, Whittington has seen 3+ targets and 5.3+ fantasy points in back-to-back games. Now, that’s a little scary, but flashback to last year when Stafford was down Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. Do you want to know who averaged 5.3 receptions on seven targets for 59.6 yards and 11.3 fantasy points? You guessed it! Mr. Whittington, himself. Don’t worry too much about Atwell, either, as the Jaguars have allowed a wide receiver duo to have 40+ receiving yards and 11.1+ fantasy points in back-to-back games.
Realistically, let’s use our wits, and you’re looking at a likely one-week plug-and-play player. My wits are telling me to play Jordan Whittington if you need to.
Tight End
Dalton Schultz (Houston Texans)
If there’s one thing that Dalton Schultz has been doing, it’s being consistent. I’m not joking, either. He’s gone three straight games with five receptions on six targets, having at least 30 receiving yards and eight fantasy points in those outcomes.
Consistency is key. Do you know what’s also been pretty much consistent when facing the Seahawks this season? The fact that good things happen when teams target their tight end. In three of the last four games against the Seahawks, when a tight end has been targeted five or more times, they have at least 51 receiving yards and 11.1 fantasy points. It averages out to 5.6 receptions for 61.3 yards and 11.8 fantasy points. That’s coming through with no touchdowns either. So, keep up with the consistency, both for good, like Dalton Schultz, and for bad, like the Seahawks against tight ends!
Thanks for reading this week’s “Shore Thing Sleepers.” If you’re looking for more fantasy content like this or need help with the last-minute fantasy football start/sit decisions for your roster, you can find me on Facebook at “Fantasy Sports Start or Sit’Em Questions,” Twitter/X @FSSOSEQ or on BlueSky!
*Photo Credit: Morgan Tencza – USA TODAY Sports*
