Last week sure was fun wasn’t it? It is always important to remember that anything is possible in fantasy football. Four of the top ten scorers this past weekend hadn’t been anywhere close to the top ten yet this season (Mark Ingram, Adrian Peterson, Derrick Henry, Demaryius Thomas). Those four guys averaged 30.25 fantasy points.
Meanwhile, four other guys who are top ten in scoring at their respective positions for the season (Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Devonta Freeman, T.Y. Hilton) COMBINED to score only 22 points for their fantasy owners. Needless to say there were some extremely angry owners and some completely surprised ones.
As far as how we fared last week, we had pretty good luck as far as sleepers are concerned. Let’s take a look:
THE GOOD
Carson Palmer – 21 fantasy points, 283 yards passing, 3TD
Trevor Siemian – 15 points, 376 yards passing and a TD
Samaje Perine – 13 points, 47 total yards and a TD
Taylor Gabriel – 7 points, 4 catches for 39 yards
Austin Seferian-Jenkins – 17 points, 8 catches for 46 yards and a TD
Zach Miller- 10 points, 2 catches for 25 yards and a TD
THE BAD
Andre Ellington – 0 points as it proved to be the Adrian Peterson show
Kendall Wright – 5 points, only 2 catches for 36 yards
We were 6 out of 8 on our picks last week, which puts us at a total of 43 out of 68 for the season. Let’s see if we can keep the momentum going. Here are the 3 sleepers at each position for week 7:
QUARTERBACKS
Carson Palmer, Arizona
Adrian Peterson’s presence clearly made a huge difference for the Cardinals offense last week, and allowed Palmer to have arguably his best game of the season. Teams won’t want to get carved up on the ground by Adrian Peterson each week, so that should give Palmer and his receivers much more room to operate. The Rams have a solid defense, especially at home, but momentum is on the Cardinals side.
Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo
Taylor has yet to have a big game this season as the receiving talent around him just isn’t there. With that being said, if you take away his clunker against the Bengals, Taylor is still averaging 14 fantasy points per game. Hosting a Buccaneers team giving up the fifth most points per game to quarterbacks, Taylor should have a solid fantasy floor this week.
Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams
Although he has had a quiet last two weeks with 16 total fantasy points, he averaged 17.5 fantasy points per contest in the four games before that. This weekend, he will be playing at home against an Arizona team that is being shredded by opposing quarterbacks this season. This is the perfect recipe for a bounce back game.
RUNNING BACKS
Derrick Henry, Tennessee
The Titans said they were going to make an effort to get him more involved, and they kept their promise. Henry finished with 20 total touches and his best game of the season. More importantly, he out-touched and out-played DeMarco Murray. The Titans said this week that Henry will most likely be on the field more when they have a lead and are trying to put games away. Tennessee should be in front in this one as they go against a bad Cleveland team. The touches should be there for a productive day.
Orleans Darkwa, New York Giants
Clearly the most talented runner on the Giants, Darkwa is starting to emerge as the lead guy in their crowded backfield. Last week, he carved up an amazing Denver defense to the tune of 22 touches for 130 total yards. The Giants are desperate for talent on offense, and should continue to look more to their run game to keep the game close. Darkwa has solid potential this week.
Alex Collins, Baltimore
He has increased his number of rushes by three in each of the last three weeks and looks to be winning the feature back role for the Ravens as his talent is shining through. The problem is that they still favor Javorius Allen in the passing game, and they have been trailing in most games. It is only a matter of time before Collins has a breakout game. It is worth the gamble if you need a running back and the two guys above aren’t available.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Sterling Shepard, New York Giants
If he plays, he is the clear #1 target in the Giants passing game. Along the same lines as Orleans Darkwa, the Giants are desperate for talent and Shepard is talented. He should see a high volume of targets which should give him a high floor most weeks.
Nelson Agholor, Philadelphia
In the last three games, Agholor has 11 receptions for 206 yards and two touchdowns. On pace for 11 total touchdowns for the season, Agholor has become a trusted deep threat for Carson Wentz and a pass happy Eagles offense. The Washington secondary is banged up and may be without top corner Josh Norman. Agholor looks to be developing a consistently solid fantasy floor, which is making him a pretty safe play most weeks.
Jamison Crowder, Washington
Jay Gruden has come out and said that they need to get Crowder more involved on offense. With Crowder looking to finally be healthy for the first time this season, a meeting with an Eagle defense giving up the second most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers makes Crowder a perfect candidate for a breakout game.
TIGHT ENDS
Hunter Henry, Los Angeles Chargers
Henry has seen his production go up in each of the last three weeks as the Chargers are finally starting to look his way. The Broncos defense is great against the run and limiting opposing wide receivers, forcing teams to look to their tight ends. Denver hasn’t been as strong there as they are giving up the fifth most fantasy points to the position. Henry may see an increase in targets by default.
Jack Doyle, Indianapolis
When healthy, Doyle has been pretty solid despite poor quarterback play. As the #2 receiving target on a team that is usually trailing in most games, the opportunity is almost always there. It should definitely be there this week against a Jacksonville squad giving up the 12th most points to opposing tight ends.
Austin Hooper, Atlanta
Even though Hooper is seventh among tight ends in average fantasy points per game, he is still only owned in 20.5% of ESPN fantasy leagues. If he is available, he should be picked up and started this week as Atlanta will facing off in a Super Bowl rematch against the New England Patriots. It should be a high scoring game and the Patriots are giving up the third most fantasy points to opposing tight ends.
Need more tips for your fantasy team? You can find Blake for advice on Twitter @blakegibbs.
