This is Fantasy Sleepers Week 7! Writing a Sleepers Article is oftentimes a fruitless endeavor, as players who are not rostered in a high percentage of leagues are often widely available for a reason. Week 6, however, was a fun one. Two of my QBs recommendations, Desmond Ridder and Gardner Minshew, passed for over 300 yards each and finished as QB6 and QB18, respectively. Chuba Hubbard scored 16 PPR points at the RB position. Curtis Samuel and Josh Downs both caught TD passes, and Kendrick Bourne finished as WR10 overall on the week.
This week will be way more challenging with six teams on bye.
Unless noted, every player listed is available in 25% or less of Yahoo leagues.
Quarterbacks
Desmond Ridder | Atlanta (13%)
Ridder has now passed for 300 yards in back-to-back weeks. He has had 30 or more pass attempts in all but one game this season, including a season-high 47 last week. Ridder has talented young playmakers, including Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts, along with Jonnu Smith (TE9 Overall). The Buccaneers’ defense is strong, but we will continue to use Ridder when in a spot.
Joshua Dobbs | Arizona (16%)
Dobbs is QB19 on the season and has benefited from strong rushing production. In last week’s loss to LA, he rushed for 47 yards which is the fourth time Dobbs has gone over 41 yards on the ground. This week’s matchup is difficult, but Arizona should be in a positive game script on the road in Seattle for much of the game.
Tyrod Taylor | New York Giants (2%)
Taylor was unimpressive last week with only 200 passing yards and 24 rushing yards. But what is impressive is his matchup against Washington. The Commanders have now conceded five straight 300-yard passing performances.
They have been the leaky wheel that we can target QB streamers against all season. Taylor is not exciting, but he will finish inside the QB2 line if Daniel Jones misses another week. Superflex managers should take note.
Running Backs
Latavius Murray | Buffalo (20%)
Murray should get the short yardage and red zone opportunities this week as Buffalo is a road favorite in New England. I also had Murray in my Waiver Wire column, and I am anticipating more weekly opportunities with Damien Harris out for an extended amount of time with a neck injury. Last week, Murray even had 13 routes run to James Cook‘s 15. The Buffalo Bills are third in the NFL with 28.8 PPG, and Murray is a safe bet for touches every week.
Craig Reynolds | Detroit (18%)
Jahmyr Gibbs looks set to return and should see the Lions share (see what I did there?) of the touches. Reynolds- who is questionable to play- would see goal-line and short-yardage opportunities this week if he can suit up.
Keaontay Ingram | Arizona (25%)
Ingram led all Arizona RBs in rushing yards last week with 40 and added two receptions. He dominated the RB touches when most analysts anticipated a great deal of work for Emari Demercado.
Ingram is not exciting. However, in Week 7 we are not looking for excitement, but touches. He could see 12-15 touches this week.
DEEPER OPTIONS
Myles Gaskin | Los Angeles Rams (2%)
The Rams lost Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers this past week to injury. Fantasy managers aggressively added seventh-round rookie RB Zach Evans this week, but his usage is not a given. Royce Freeman has been on the practice squad, but Gaskin is intriguing. After playing in Minnesota under Kevin O’Connell, a former Sean McVay assistant, we know he is familiar with the Rams system. Gaskin caught 49 passes in 2021, which could be a sneaky play for managers in a hole at RB. This is more likely a player to stash than a player to use.
Darrynton Evans | Chicago Bears (0%)
Evans is a break glass in case of an emergency option, and unlike Gaskin, there is not a hope of touches but more of an expectation. Evans had nine carries and caught two passes. He should see a similar workload this week against Las Vegas, as Roschon Johnson is set to miss another week with a concussion.
Wide Receivers
Kendrick Bourne | New England (23%)
Bourne is now up to 44 targets on the season. Despite his 10 catch-89-yard performance in Week 6, fantasy managers largely ignored him on this week’s waiver wire. This makes him a free add in 77 percent of Yahoo leagues.
It is difficult to start skill position players from the Patriots right now, but Bourne has been their most consistent pass catcher all season long. He has no target competition (no other Patriot had more than three targets last week) and should remain a floor play bye-week fill-in.
Wan’Dale Robinson | New York Giants (23%)
Robinson has caught 18 passes the past three weeks and is a floor play option against a leaky Washington secondary this week. Much like Taylor, Robinson sees a matchup boost in this one. Even if you do not use him, consider adding Robinson. His eight targets last week could be an uptick trend.
Michael Wilson | Arizona (19%)
Wilson is coming off of a 62-yard performance in Week 6 and had 162 combined yards in Weeks 3 and 4. The rookie is the No. 2 target to Hollywood Brown and could see more work as Arizona will be in a positive game script in a tough spot at Seattle. Wilson should also see a boost when Kyler Murray returns to action.
Jayden Reed | Green Bay (17%)
Reed is one to stash in case Green Bay did some self-scouting during their bye week and has plans to get him more involved.
Darius Slayton, Jalin Hyatt | New York Giants (4%,5%)
Hyatt and Slayton are more swing-fence types than Robinson. The matchup quality could boost one of these players to a long catch. Slayton has had more targets and fantasy success this season but has failed to do anything substantial and has zero TD catches.
Hyatt saw an uptick in usage last week and has speed to burn. Neither player is safe, but if you feel spicy, attack Washington’s secondary with one of these two and hope for a smash game. There is an argument for adding Hyatt to see if last week’s usage increase is an upward trend.
Tight Ends
Luke Musgrave | Green Bay (26%)
Musgrave is on this list every week. I believe in his talent and profile, and he is coming off of a seven-target, six-catch performance in Week 5. Musgrave gets a significant matchup boost, with Green Bay set to face off against the Denver Broncos- a bottom three pass defense and the worst defense against the TE position all season.
Michael Mayer | Las Vegas (20%)
Mayer was a popular waiver wire addition after his five-catch, 75-yard breakout performance. He was on the field in 57 out of Vegas’ 70 snaps and dominated routes run against fellow tight end Austin Hooper.
The second-round draft pick should see advantageous weekly matchups as defenses key in on the WR pair of Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers and have to account for high-volume RB Josh Jacobs. Chicago is the No. 9 worst defense in the league vs opposing TEs.
Trey McBride | Arizona (2%)
McBride had his best game of the season, finishing with four catches for 62 yards. The 2021 second-round pick has played behind Zach Ertz this season but out-snapped and outproduced him in Week 6. This could be a trend. I want to roster McBride where I can and see where this usage allocation goes.
