Fantasy Football 2024: One player I’m fading/starting in Week 7 for each position

Week 7 of the NFL season has arrived. It’s a big week, headlined by another of those two-game Monday night slates that I have complicated feelings about. I guess it technically means there’s more football to watch since there’s a 45-minute gap between the start of the Ravens/Bucs game and the Chargers/Cardinals game, so that’s good?

That Ravens and Buccaneers game should be a fun one. The teams sit top three in points scored on the season, with the Buccaneers putting up 178 points and the Ravens 177 points. Expect fireworks.

Let’s look at one player to fade and one player to start in fantasy football for Week 7 of the 2024 NFL season.

Week 7 quarterbacks to fade and start

Fade: Jared Goff - Detroit Lions

Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions take on a tough Minnesota Vikings defense in Week 7 that leads the NFL with 11 interceptions so far this season. Meanwhile, Goff is throwing interceptions on 2.7 percent of his throws this season, his highest rate since his rookie campaign back in 2016.

Other than that, Goff’s actually having a pretty strong year, including a career-high 71.1 percent completion rate and an NFL-best 8.9 passing yards per attempt.

Still, I struggle to trust a quarterback against the Vikings. The only time the team has allowed over 300 net passing yards was against the Packers when Jordan Love threw for 389 yards and four touchdowns, but even that showing was marred a bit as Love was picked off three times.

Start: Kirk Cousins - Atlanta Falcons

Kirk Cousins had a huge Week 5, throwing for 509 yards and four touchdowns in an overtime win over the Buccaneers. He was in a good spot last week against the Panthers to continue the good times, but disappointed a bit, going 19-for-30 for 225 yards and a touchdown. He finished as the QB23 for the week.

I’m back on team Cousins in Week 7 though as he plays at home against the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle hasn’t done a good job forcing quarterbacks to make mistakes this season, picking off just two passes. The team held its first three opponents of the year under 200 net passing yards, but has slipped a bit lately, allowing 245 or more net passing yards in three consecutive games.

Week 7 running backs to fade and start

Fade: James Conner - Arizona Cardinals

James Conner runs into the brick wall that is the Chargers run defense this weekend. Opposing running backs are averaging the third-fewest fantasy points per game against this defense and the position has just one rushing score against LA.

Meanwhile, James Conner is coming off a poor Week 6 showing. In a 34-13 loss to Green Bay, Conner had a season-low seven carries for 24 yards, though he added four catches for 22 yards to keep his day from being a total loss.

Concerningly, Conner played just 28 percent of offensive snaps as he dealt with an ankle issue during the game. He also lost a fumble. It was a forgettable day…but it also might not be forgettable in the sense that it might signal the start of a change at running back in Arizona.

Start: Kareem Hunt - Kansas City Chiefs

Kareem Hunt has instantly made an impact since joining the Chiefs. The injury-riddled team signed Hunt before its game against the Chargers and Hunt produced 14 carries for 69 yards against a really good run defense.

Then against the Saints, Hunt took over, carrying the ba;ll 27 times for 102 yards and a touchdown and also catching a 15-yard pass.

Now look: Patrick Mahomes is still the NFL’s best quarterback in a vacuum, but the Chiefs are so banged up at wide receiver that JuJu Smith-Schuster is currently their No. 1. Until they make a trade to bring in someone else, the team has to lean on the run game, and that means leaning on Hunt against the 49ers this weekend.

Week 7 wide receivers to fade and start

Fade: Jaylen Waddle - Miami Dolphins

With Tua Tagovailoa out, Jaylen Waddle has been virtually unplayable in fantasy.

Tua last played in Week 2 against Buffalo. Waddle was the overall WR16 in the full game that Tagovailoa played and the WR39 in the game where he was injured. Since then? WR60, WR57 and WR47.

With Tyreek Hill commanding targets on the other side, the Dolphins need to have at least competent quarterback play to support Waddle as well. With Skylar Thompson and Tyler Huntley under center, that hasn’t happened.

Tagovailoa still has all two of the passing touchdowns that Miami has scored this season, which…yeah, we’re heading into Week 7 and the Dolphins have two touchdowns through the air. It’s been a disaster. Fade Waddle until Tua is back.

Start: Diontae Johnson - Carolina Panthers

Assuming Diontae Johnson is good to go after dealing with an ankle issue in practice, he’s locked in as a WR1 play this weekend against the Washington Commanders.

Since Andy Dalton took over as the starting quarterback in Carolina, Johnson has three WR1 finishes, with double-digit targets in all three of those contests. His only bad game in that span came against a pretty good Bears defense.

Johnson doesn’t face a good defense in Week 7. He takes on the Washington Commanders, who have been solid at preventing passing yards, ranking 14th in yards allowed per game, but have been horrendous at keeping teams out of the end zone, allowing the second-most passing touchdowns this season behind only the Jaguars.

Week 7 tight ends to fade and start

Fade: Dalton Kincaid - Buffalo Bills

No team has done a better job shutting down the tight end position this season than the Tennessee Titans have in 2024. The team has allowed just 14 catches for 120 yards and no touchdowns to the position this year, giving up the fewest fantasy points per game to tight ends.

Dalton Kincaid has been pretty good this year, finishing as a fantasy TE1 in half of the games so far, and his targets have increased lately as well. Still, this matchup is a tough one for any tight end. Green Bay’s Tucker Kraft, for example, was held to two catches for 24 yards against them.

Start: Brock Bowers - Las Vegas Raiders

So, you should obviously start Brock Bowers every week at this point.  He’s gone over 50 receiving yards in four of six games so far as the rookie has transitioned fairly effortlessly into the NFL.

The importance of Bowers to this Vegas team only goes up now that Davante Adams has been traded. Adams had already missed the team’s last three games with a hamstring injury. While Bowers wasn’t a huge factor in the first of those games, he has a combined 22 targets and 17 receptions over the last two games.

This week, Bowers faces the Rams, who have allowed three touchdowns to tight ends already this season as well as the eighth-most receiving yards to the position. This is a good spot for Bowers to excel.