Fantasy Sleepers Week 7: Mike Williams A Sneaky WR Start

If you are in need of a fill-in option due to a bye week or injury, this is your chance to find some potential sleeper options to stun your opponent. This is also a spot to see what some of the best FLEX options are for Week 7. With a lot of injuries already sinking lineups, you are going to need to dive into deeper names that you might not be familiar with. To help set those lineups, head on over to our rankings and projections pages.

Quarterback

Justin Herbert – QB – Los Angeles Chargers

Over the past three weeks, Justin Herbert is averaging the 4th most fantasy points per game (25.2). He has seven touchdowns in the last two games and has 554 yards. The Chargers have strong weapons around him with Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Hunter Henry. He gets a Jacksonville secondary that is allowing 19.7 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks this season. They also rank dead last in DVOA against the pass. Herbert has plenty of upside but the floor is there as well.

Ben Roethlisberger – QB – Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee ranks 24th in pass defense DVOA this season and is allowing 21 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks this season. They have allowed 23 and 19 point games to Kirk Cousins and Gardner Minshew who each threw for over 250 yards and 3 touchdowns against them. Ben Roethlisberger has plenty of weapons and is in line for a big week. Roethlisberger has 22, 18, 17, and 21 fantasy point games this season. Last week was oddly his worst game despite the team scoring 38 points but it was a lot of rushing touchdowns that could have been passing touchdowns with receivers going down inside the five.

Running Backs

D’Andre Swift – RB – Detroit Lions

D’Andre Swift had 17 touches this past week and while it was a matchup where both him and Adrian Peterson could get some work. Swift has had a third-down role but if he can keep tacking on 10+ carries he is going to have FLEX upside. Going up against the Falcons this week, who have allowed a 46-328-4 line to opposing running backs through the air this season. They have also allowed 410 yards on the ground. Swift is well in play this week with the chances in the passing game. There should be a lot more of that this week with Atlanta being able to put up points in comparison to Jacksonville.

Antonio Gibson – RB – Washington Football Team

The Cowboys defense can be targeted at many different angles. Antonio Gibson and the run game is worth a look. The Cowboys have allowed the second-most rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns this season. Overall they are allowing the 8th most fantasy points per game. Dallas is 29th in run defense. Gibson should see 12-15 touches in this one and that is enough to find fantasy football lineups. Dallas’ defense should be targeted heavily at most positions. McLaurin and Gibson are the preferred options here.

James White – RB – New England Patriots

Since James White has returned, he has 15 targets in two games. In PPR and Half-PPR formats, White is certainly worth a look even against what has been a tough 49ers run defense even with the injuries. With the lack of receiving options and no Sony Michel, White has seen 40 and 31 snaps. These are season highs of course and he led the way over Damien Harris and Rex Burkhead. I would expect the same this week.

Wide Receivers

Mike Williams – WR – Los Angeles Chargers

Jacksonville ranks 32nd in pass defense as mentioned above and Mike Williams is a major mismatch for most secondaries. Justin Herbert has come out and said he is looking for Williams in one-on-one coverage and is going to be throwing his way in those situations. Williams always has that big chunk play potential for each play. He would receive a bump if Keenan Allen is limited as well. Williams has a ton of upside this week.

AJ Green – WR – Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland’s secondary is in the bottom third against the pass and we have seen receivers have monster games against them. Green’s targets have been there, even with the injured game against Baltimore. He has seen 19% of the targets this season, basically tied with Boyd, the difference between the two is Boyd has a 79% catch rate and Green is at 51%. Green finally had a strong week and looked connected with Burrow more. The Browns are allowing the 4th most fantasy points to wide receivers.

Tim Patrick – WR – Denver Broncos

Tim Patrick ranks as WR27 over the past three weeks and has been a main option for the Denver quarterbacks regardless of whoever is under center. The matchup indicators won’t look great as Kansas City allows the 8th fewest fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers this season and rank 4th in DVOA against the pass. However, Denver is good enough to put up a few touchdowns especially if they are trailing in this game which they definitely will.

Tight Ends

TJ Hockenson – TE – Detroit Lions

The Falcons have allowed 14 fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends this season. Most of that has come with tight ends finding the end zone. They have allowed seven touchdowns to tight ends this season. I expect the Lions to have to throw a bit more this week, and Hockenson has 15% of the targets and 17% of the red zone targets as well. He has three red zone touchdowns on the year and he has the chance to add to that this week.

Dalton Schultz – TE – Dallas Cowboys

Dalton Schultz is third in red zone targets on the Cowboys this season. He also has 37 targets over the six games this season. Andy Dalton looked his way six times last week. This is a good spot against Washington, who have allowed the 4th most fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends (11.4). In a week where there are plenty of tight ends needing replacements, Schultz should find your lineups. I expect a slightly better offensive performance from Dalton in his second game.