Sometimes, the "wins" in fantasy football are bittersweet. Take last week, for example: I suggested you sit Garrett Wilson in fantasy. It was the right call as he caught just three passes for 13 yards on a day where Jets quarterback Justin Fields was just getting absolutely nothing going, but Wilson also suffered a knee injury during the game. Maybe if he'd been available late, he'd have proved my prediction wrong?
That's the thing: Getting the "sit 'em" picks right just doesn't feel as good when it's because of something outside of our control. Let's hope that we don't see a repeat this week. Good luck to all the players listed below, especially the Week 7 bust picks. May you play poorly of your own accord and not because of injury.
Here's who to start and who to sit in Week 7 fantasy football.
Start: QB Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
The New Orleans Saints have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks this season, and the 14 passing touchdowns they've surrendered rank only behind the Cowboys.
That sounds like good news for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who has thrown for over 200 yards in each game this season. He's led Chicago to three consecutive wins and has been intercepted just once in that span. Fire him up this week.
(I'd also like to note that I spent a long time while drafting his article with Dillon Gabriel's name in this spot. I love the matchup for him and think this might be his breakout week. At the same time, playing him in a one-quarterback league is probably a bit too risky still, right? In a Superflex format, though, I'd be pumped to have Gabriel as my QB2 in Week 7.)
Sit: QB Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts
Daniel Jones has been a revelation this season, but a lot of people keep waiting for him to revert back to his old self. I don't think we're going to see a full-scale regression from Jones when zooming out and looking at the season as a whole, but I do think there will be some weeks where a poor matchup causes him to look closer to the Giants version of himself than the current Colts version. This might be one of those weeks.
The Chargers have allowed fewer passing touchdowns to quarterbacks than they have interceptions against quarterbacks. That's translated to the eighth-fewest fantasy points allowed per game to the position, a number that would be lower if not for allowing 207 rushing yards and two rushing scores to quarterbacks. Jones has four rushing touchdowns this year so that might be a factor, but I think the strength of this pass defense will be a problem.
Start: RB Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns
As mentioned above, I like the rookie quarterback for the Browns this week. I also like the rookie running back.
Quinshon Judkins faces a Dolphins defense that allows the fifth-most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. He's coming off a disappointing effort against the Steelers last week, where he had a career-low 36 rushing yards, but Judkins had averaged 95.3 yards per game in the preceding three contests. I'm fairly confident that last week was a blip on the radar and that Judkins will be back to his normal self in this matchup.
Sit: RB Tony Pollard, Tennessee Titans
With Tyjae Spears back, the Titans' backfield is trending away from Tony Pollard. After playing 86 percent or more of the team's snaps in each of the team's first four games, that number slipped to 73.1 percent in Spears' first game back. Not that bad, right? Well, then came last week, when that number dipped all the way down to 42.6 percent. Pollard had five more carries than Spears, but Spears had two more targets and played 36 snaps to Pollard's 26.
That's obviously a concern, as is the matchup against the Patriots. New England has allowed the fifth-fewest fantasy points per game to running backs, as well as the third-fewest rushing yards to the position. Factor in a game script where the Pats will likely be playing from behind and you probably get a repeat of last week, when Pollard rushed for a season-low 34 yards.
Start: WR Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders
Start wide receivers against the Cowboys. Every week. Just do it. The Dallas defense has allowed a league-high 12 touchdown receptions to wide receivers and is one of only two teams to already allow 1,000 receiving yards to the position.
This week, that means firing up both Deebo Samuel and Terry McLaurin, assuming McLaurin plays. He's practicing this week, but there's no guarantee that he's back on the field. If he is, though, then I like his profile in this matchup a little more than Samuel's.
If McLaurin is out, you can probably fire up Chris Moore in a deep league. He's coming off his best game of the season. Whatever the situation is, just play your Commanders. This Cowboys defense has problems.
Sit: WR Jakobi Meyers, Las Vegas Raiders
I want to steer clear of the Jakobi Meyers situation this weekend. Trade rumors have swirled around Meyers and he was out of practice on Wednesday, which felt like it might have more to do with those rumors than with the listed reason of "knee/toe."
If Meyers does play against the Chiefs, I'd still sit him. Kansas City allows the fifth-fewest fantasy points per game to wide receivers and I'd imagine that the team would want to play it safe with Meyers to make sure he's healthy ahead of a potential deal in the coming weeks. That likely means fewer targets for him and more for Tre Tucker.
Start: TE Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers
This Cardinals-Packers game might be fantasy gold for tight ends, with Trey McBride going against Tucker Kraft in a spot where both could easily finish as top-five players at the position. I'm highlighting Kraft because there's not a single person in the world who needs to be told to play McBride this week; it should go without saying that he's the overall TE1 this week.
As for Kraft, it was fair to wonder if Green Bay's plethora of pass-catching options would impact his upside this year, but he's found a way to succeed, catching three touchdowns this season. His targets have been slightly lower than you might like, but he should have a chance to thrive against a Cardinals defense that's allowed the second-most receiving yards to opposing tight ends this season.
Sit: TE Hunter Henry, New England Patriots
Hunter Henry's numbers look solid this season, but so much of that came from the team's game against the Steelers, when he was targeted 11 times, catching eight passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns.
Henry had 22 targets over the first three games of the season, but just nine total over the past three games. As quarterback Drake Maye becomes more and more comfortable at the helm of this New England offense, the ball is going to the wide receivers more often, which is taking away needed opportunities for Henry. Add in that this week's matchup against the Titans might end up with a run-heavy game script for the Pats and that Tennessee allows the seventh-fewest fantasy points per game to tight ends, and you get a situation where you could start Henry if you had to, but you probably won't feel good about it.