Fantasy Football 2018: 10 RB sleepers to target for Week 7

Chris Thompson, Washington Redskins vs. Dallas Cowboys

Knee and rib injuries kept Chris Thompson out of Washington’s ugly Week 6 game against the Carolina Panthers, and he was sorely missed. Kapri Bibbs failed to make much of an impact in Thompson’s absence, and fans will hope that Thompson can play against the rival Dallas Cowboys in Week 7.

The Cowboys embarrassed the Jacksonville Jaguars in shocking fashion last week, running all over the Jaguars defense and making Blake Bortles look like a second-rate quarterback. Alex Smith will need to lean on Thompson against a suddenly-tough Cowboys defense, led by elite defensive back Byron Jones.

Thompson is one of the game’s most dangerous pass-catching backs, and he could have a field day against a Cowboys defense that allows 41 receptions on 51 targets to running backs this season. To be fair, Dallas’s linebackers and safeties do a great job of closing down running backs in space, but running backs tend to rack up receptions against the Cowboys defense due to Dallas’ improvements against typically higher-yielding pass-catchers.

This season, Thompson has caught 26 passes for 200 yards, averaging 50 receiving yards per game. If he played in all 16 games this season and didn’t struggle with injuries, he’d be on pace for 800 receiving yards. That’s excellent at the running back position, but it’s no surprise that Smith has come to rely on the talented change-of-pace back as a dink-and-dunk artist at quarterback.