Week 7 Streamers and Stashes

It was another great week for running back stashes with Ray Davis, Chase Brown, Rico Dowdle, Tyrone Tracy and Bucky Irving all showing why they appeared in these articles earlier in the season. Meanwhile our top QB, TE and K streamer finished as the QB1, TE1 and K2 respectively! But fantasy footballers are never satisfied, so let’s keep looking to improve those rosters. Also note that this week it’s only the Bears and Cowboys on byes so expect a slightly kinder waiver experience.

To keep things simple, we’ll define a streamer as any player you wouldn’t usually start who is a viable option for this week. They may be on your bench or they may be on waivers, depending on your league. We’ll define a stash as any player you can probably find on waivers that you should stash for the future, either because they have a favorable match-up coming up, or because they could become a future fantasy starter.

Please also check out my rankings at ffdfantasyfootball.com and you can find my long-form videos on the Fantasy First Down Youtube channel and my Slot/Wide analysis on the Razzball Fantasy Youtube channel. If you have any questions, throw them in the comments below.

Be sure to check out the latest tools on Razzball.com: Slot vs. Wide PPG Allowed | WR Slot vs. Wide| DEF Targets Allowed | Home vs. Away | Wins vs. Losses | TD Tool

I’ll also be reporting my streamer record from the season to date above each section, to give you an idea of what to expect. Strong finishes mean top third of starters at the position, moderate means the top half of starters and a bust is anyone else.

QB Streamers (Week 1: 6 strong, 3 moderate, 4 bust):

• Player: Sam Darnold
• Matchup: Lions

I’ve been talking up Sam Darnold as a stash for weeks. Now is the time to strike. Against middling defenses, Darnold has looked very good and this week he gets an attackable matchup in the Lions. Aidan Hutchinson is a big loss for Detroit and the Vikings O-line is worlds above the Cowboys so I’d expect plenty of passing for Minnesota and a good fantasy day for their QB.

• Player: Drake Maye
• Matchup: Jaguars

Drake Maye didn’t look great against the Texans, but he scored over 20 fantasy points and kept the Patriots in the game for a while. This week he faces the easiest quarterback matchup in football against the dismal Jaguars. There’s not great upside here but if you’re streaming the position, you can do a lot worse.

 

QB Stash:

• Player: Caleb Williams
• Matchup: Bye

The Bears are really starting to click, with Caleb Williams finishing last week as the QB1. Many of you will have him on your rosters given he was my top Week 6 streamer and if you’re a little weak at QB, it’s fine to hold him. You also may find teams drop him given he’s got a bye this week, but he faces the Commanders next week and that’s an exploitable matchup. You know I don’t love stashing quarterbacks but if you want to, Williams is your best bet.

 

RB Streamers (11 strong, 4 moderate, 6 bust):

• Player: Tony Pollard
• Matchup: Bills

Honestly Tony Pollard is starting to look like an every-down starter but that’s very much an illusion. Tyjae Spears has battled a number of injuries and once he’s healthy, I expect a return to a committee approach. But that won’t be this week as Spears is battling a hamstring injury and the Titans get the best running matchup in football. Pollard is must-start this week.

• Player: Tank Bigsby
• Matchup: Patriots

Last week did not go well for Travis Etienne or Tank Bigsby in what should have been a good matchup against the Bears. I don’t think the Patriots will blow them away early as Chicago did though, so I’m backing Bigsby to get a far bigger role. He’s the clear early-down guy with Travis Etienne out while D’Ernest Johnson will be the receiving back. Although Johnson got the goal-line looks in Week 6, I think that was game script-mediated and we’ll see those revert to Bigsby in Week 7.

• Player: Antonio Gibson
• Matchup: Jaguars

The Patriots fell behind early against the Texans and struggled to establish the ground game against one of the league’s better run defenses. That all changes this week against a Jaguars side that is all-around terrible defensively. I’d expect plenty of touch and scoring opportunities for Gibson to bounce back in Week 7, assuming Rhamondre Stevenson is still out.

RB Stashes:

• Player: Nick Chubb
• Matchup: Bengals

I doubt Nick Chubb is available in most leagues. This is just a friendly reminder that you shouldn’t start Chubb out of the gate as he will likely be limited if he’s active this week.

Running backs get injured more than any other player in fantasy, with the average Top 36 running back missing two games per season in fantasy. For that reason, your best bet in fantasy is to roster running backs who are an injury away from an every down role. Each week, I’ll be listing my favorite RB stashes, only including players you won’t be starting most weeks.

Top Handcuffs: Braelon Allen, Zach Charbonnet, Tyler Allgeier, Ray Davis, Tyrone Tracy, Trey Sermon, Kimani Vidal, Trey Benson, Emanuel Wilson, Roschon Johnson, Justice Hill, Jamaal Williams

WR Streamers (3 strong, 9 moderate, 6 bust):

• Player: Tyreek Hill
• Matchup: Colts

Tyreek Hill has been a monumental disappointment this season, but there’s reasons for optimism. Firstly, Tua Tagovailoa is expected back at some stage this season. Secondly, their bye week should have helped them sort out a feasible passing attack without Tua. Lastly and most relevantly, this week Hill faces a Colts defense that is weak against, well, every position. If Tyreek is going to shine without Tua, it will be this week.

• Player: Jameson Williams
• Matchup: Vikings

The Vikings remain a Top 5 out-wide matchup and face a Lions passing offense that is absolutely popping off. In what should be a shootout, Jameson Williams has a good chance of scoring or at least making some big plays. He’s a strong, upside start.

• Player: Jordan Addison
• Matchup: Lions

On the other side of this game, the Vikings will need to pass against the Lions and they can’t just rely on Justin Jefferson. Jordan Addison should have a sizeable role after he returned to his usual 90%+ route count going into his bye week. There’s always risk with Addison but in this matchup, the juice is worth the squeeze.

WR Stashes:

• Player: Christian Watson
• Matchup: Texans

With Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks splitting the snaps in one role in the Packers offense this season, neither has been startable in fantasy. But both are great upside stashes. If Wicks is out with his shoulder injury in Week 7, Watson becomes a viable starter against an average Texans pass defense.

• Player: Troy Franklin
• Matchup: Saints

Troy Franklin and Devaughn Vele became starters for the Broncos in Week 6, with Josh Reynolds out. I expect Vele will fall back to the bench once Reynolds returns but Franklin may have wrestled the starting role from Lil’Jordan Humphrey for good. He’s very hard to start in fantasy yet though, so he’s more of a bench stash until we see how things play out.

TE Streamers (3 strong, 1 moderate, 7 bust):

• Player: Evan Engram
• Matchup: Patriots

I suspect Evan Engram may have jumped straight into every-down starting contention, but he’s still not rostered in plenty of leagues so I wanted to at least mention him after his boom 10-catch, 102-yard outing last week.

• Player: Dalton Schultz
• Matchup: Packers

The tight end landscape remains very ugly. We finally struck gold last week with Cole Kmet but he’s on bye so I’m going for another former fantasy star. Dalton Schultz has been badly underused but Nico Collins’s injury opens up plenty of snaps and Brevin Jordan is no longer there to steal routes. I don’t feel good about this pick, but when your other options are putting up donuts, you can’t be too picky.

TE Stash:

• Player: David Njoku
• Matchup: Bengals

Don’t give up on David Njoku just yet. If someone is going to succeed in this hideous offense, it’s the big-bodied underneath option. I can’t start Njoku until I see a little consistency from him, but he’s worth stashing just to see what happens.

K Streamers (6 strong, 4 moderate, 2 bust):

• Player: Austin Seibert
• Matchup: Panthers

You know the drill: start kickers against the Panthers. It helps that Austin Seibert is a top five kicker this season and that the Commanders are favored to score a haul of points. As a bonus, Seibert has just one missed kick all season and has a big enough leg to get you those bonus distance points.

• Player: Jason Myers
• Matchup: Falcons

The Falcons remain the best kicking matchup in fantasy. Even Eddy Pineiro found 9 points against them! Jason Myers should be a lock for double digit points this week.

DST Streamers (8 strong and 4 bust):

• Player: Broncos DST
• Matchup: Saints

There’s a lot to love about this matchup. The Broncos are a top five DST, Spencer Rattler is a turnover machine, Chris Olave is injured and Rashid Shaheed may be out too. It’s hard to see the Saints scoring double-digit points and there should be plenty of sacks available too. Bring it on!

• Player: Colts DST
• Matchup: Dolphins

The Dolphins have struggled badly moving the ball without Tua Tagovailoa and the Colts are solid favorites for Vegas bookies in a low-scoring game. I think the Colts are a viable option if none of the more popular pickups are available in your league.

Please note I won’t be listing any kicker or DST stashes as you should never roster more than one of either of these positions.