Week 7 Daily Fantasy Football Preview: Sleepers, Busts and More

You know we’re headed for a crazy week in daily fantasy football when early on Sunday the first things we hear about are Odell Beckham Jr. being in significant pain, LeSean McCoy slated to play and Jamaal Charles potentially barely being healthy enough to maintain the limited role he’s enjoyed recently.

Yeah, it could get tricky in week seven.

For the early birds, we’d still plug Beckhm in your regular season lineups and assuming all of our week 7 NFL DFS contests are not ones that include the London game, we’d stick with the Giants stud in the few contests he’s available. The potential for a big play is just to great to pass up.

That said, it may be a good idea overall to fade the London game and then bypass Shady and Charles. Mike Gillislee still stands out as a sneaky running back sleeper, as the Bills expect Shady to be limited to start and he could also further injure his ailing hamstring.

That just gets us started, folks. let’s dive into our week 7 daily fantasy football preview by taking a look at out favorite sleepers, busts, contrarian and chalk plays at DraftKings:

Sleepers to Target

• Sam Bradford, QB, Vikings ($5.1k)
• Mike Gillislee, RB, Bills ($3k)
• Justin Hunter, WR, Bills ($3k)
• Jack Doyle, TE, Colts ($2.5k)
• Raiders Defense ($2.4k)

The revenge narrative is alive and well here for Bradford, who has a tough matchup by the numbers, but also has a chance to repay the Eagles, the team that traded him away earlier this summer.

Bradford has yet to throw a pick on the year and knows this defense very well. In fact, the matchup might not even be as bad as it looks, as the Eagles are just a middling unit over their last two games (both losses).

Gillislee is without a doubt the top daily fantasy football running back sleeper going into week 7, as he’s dirt cheap and should see a good amount of touches with LeSean McCoy banged up. Shady is set to play this week, but he should be pretty limited. Gillislee is worth firing up at this price.

Sticking with the Bills may not be a crazy idea when it comes to their passing game, as Justin Hunter has a touchdown in each of his first two games with the team and draws a beatable Miami defense. Robert Woods is out and Hunter is the minimum price, so there’s plenty of reason to love his value and upside.

The same goes for Jack Doyle, who already has three touchdowns on the year, is as cheap as a DraftKings player can get and should see the ball more with Dwayne Allen out this week.

Oakland is a nice sleeper defense to consider, as they face a pretty big game in week seven and the Jaguars tend to turn the ball over and, you know, lose games. The Raiders have not been strong defensively, but this could be a good spot for them and the price is obviously fantastic.

Players to Avoid

• Carson Wentz, QB, Eagles ($5.2k)
• Christine Michael, RB, Seahawks ($6.7k)
• Antonio Brown, WR, Steelers ($9.3k)
• Jimmy Graham, TE, Seahawks ($5.8k)
• Chargers Defense ($2.1k)

It’s weird how Philly has the better matchup by the numbers here, but there is no way we can use Wentz with confidence. Minnesota is undefeated and it’s largely due to an elite defense that is making good quarterbacks look bad. Just imagine what they’ll do against a raw rookie that has struggled for the past two weeks.

I actually like Christine Michael most weeks (20+ fantasy points in three straight games), but a road date with Arizona doesn’t tempt me in the least. Arizona has done extremely well against running backs, ranking 4th against the position on the year. Michael may not be awful, but he’s not an elite target like he has been.

I’m also not into paying up for Antonio Brown, who obviously has a monster role and ridiculous upside, but the fact that he’s never caught a TD from anyone other than Ben Roethlisberger is tough to swallow. He might be fine on DK due to the PPR upside, but I’d rather pay for Julio Jones and/or A.J. Green this week.

Jimmy Graham has been fantastic lately for Seattle (14+ fantasy points in three straight contests), but I think the fun ends in week seven. The Cardinals are nasty at home usually, but even nastier against tight ends in general (#1 in 2016). Graham might remain involved, but I’m not seeing a big game.

Some people might think it will be fun to get cute and pay almost nothing for San Diego’s defense, but I see no point. They’re on the road against an elite Falcons offense and this game promises to be a shootout. The salary relief is there, but Atlanta hasn’t truly been shut down at any point this season. It’s hard to see that happening in week seven.

Top Chalk Plays

• Matt Ryan, QB, Falcons ($7.2k)
• DeMarco Murray, RB, Titans ($7.2k)
• Julio Jones, WR, Falcons ($9.2k)
• Rob Gronkowski, TE, Patriots ($7.2k)
• Bengals Defense ($3.6k)

Some of the chalk plays are insanely obvious going into week seven – so obvious that it might be silly to fade them. A Matt Ryan/Julio Jones stack makes a ton of sense, as Ryan is actually a great price and Jones isn’t even the most expensive WR on the slate at DK.

Both of these guys torched a good Seattle defense on the road last week, so getting the Chargers at home looks like a cakewalk on paper.

DeMarco Murray looks like an easy call, too. Not only is he one of the top rushers in the league, but he’s been insanely reliable in daily fantasy football with 12+ fantasy points in every single game he’s played. In week seven he gets a bad Colts defense, who just got destroyed by Lamar Miller and rank 31st against running backs in 2016.

The Gronk is without a doubt the top tight end play this week, just like most weeks. He’s officially over a tight hammy that ailed him earlier in the year and has been a total monster in his last two games. This week he gets a middling Steelers defense that doesn’t seem poised to slow him down.

Minnesota is a viable chalk defense as well, but the Bengals are at home against a winless Browns team. Their defense looks set up for a massive day in a game they know they have to win.

Contrarian Thinking

• Drew Brees, QB, Saints ($7.4k)
• Zach Zenner, RB, Lions ($3.5k)
• Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Cardinals ($7.1k)
• Erik Swoope, TE, Colts ($2.5k)
• Dolphins Defense ($2.5k)

Contrarian plays border on simply being bad plays at times, but anytime you can use a stud who most people won’t be using, it can be a fun time. That’s precisely what Drew Brees could be this week, as he’s expected to regress on the road against a good Chiefs defense. That will probably happen, but he’s been awesome this year and his low ownership makes him interesting.

Zenner could be a fun contrarian play with Theo Riddick out again, seeing as he’s cheap and a fun pivot away from Mike Gillislee. The Redskins are a good matchup for him, he touched the ball 16 times last week and he should be rather low owned.

The same goes for usual stud, Larry Fitzgerald. He’s guilty of safely producing 10+ fantasy points in every game this year, yet most people why shy away from him due to a date with the Seahawks. Seattle’s numbers on the year are good, but they just got obliterared by Julio Jones. Fitzgerald isn’t Julio, but he could be a great GPP play due to his role, ability and low ownership.

Swoope is the mother of all contrarian plays, as people are probably either paying for The Gronk or saving cash with Jack Doyle. With Dwayne Allen out, though, Swoope (who is the same price as Doyle) could actually end up being the guy who benefits the most as the second tight end.

Miami’s defense isn’t usually one you’re going to confide in – especially when they get a Bills team that has won four in a row. You tend to toss out all the data for rivalry games, however, while we can’t ignore that these Dolphins completely shut the Steelers down last week. They’re cheap, the Bills are down three key offensive players and they’re certainly contrarian.