Nick Popio | October 18th, 2018
Week 7 in the NFL is upon us, which means major fantasy names will be on a bye. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, Oakland Raiders, and Seattle Seahawks all have the weekend open. So here’s a look at some players who can step in for the likes of Antonio Brown, Davante Adams, Jared Cook, and Doug Baldwin in PPR leagues.
Running Backs
1. Todd Gurley @ San Francisco-Single-handedly carried the Rams offense to victory in that inclement Denver weather.
2. Melvin Gordon vs. Tennessee-Coming off a season-high 132 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns in Cleveland.
3. Saquon Barkley @ Atlanta-Should earn 10+ snags in Atlanta and against that depleted defense, he could be very deadly touting the rock as well.
4. Kareem Hunt vs. Cincinnati-The second-year standout had 5 grabs for 105 yards and a TD on Sunday night, now finding the end zone 6 times this year. It should continue this Sunday night.
5. Ezekiel Elliott @ Washington-Managed 33 carries for 150 yards and 2 scores in his lone game against them in 2017.
6. Joe Mixon @ Kansas City-This maybe Mixon’s chance to stuff the stat sheet in KC with the Chiefs shaky defenders trying to slow him down.
7. Tevin Coleman vs New York Giants-With Freeman out, Coleman becomes the focal point in the run game, while also making an impact in the passing game.
8. Christian McCaffrey @ Philadelphia-Should get targeted heavily through the air, but not so much on the ground.
9. David Johnson vs. Denver-Thursday night might just be Johnson’s best breakout chance of his underachieving 2018 season so far.
10. Alvin Kamara @ Baltimore-Kamara won’t be running the ball as much with Ingram back, but can easily go off catching balls out of the backfield. Temper your expectations this week on the road against a stingy Baltimore defense.
Wide Receivers
1. Julio Jones vs. New York Giants-You can count on Jones for 10+ receptions the way he has been on the same page with Matt Ryan.
2. Adam Thielen @ New York Jets-The hottest receiver in the league with 6 consecutive 100+ yard games.
3. A.J. Green @ Kansas City-The Chiefs defense is struggling mightily and won’t be able to slow down Green for 4 quarters.
4. Tyreek Hill vs. Cincinnati-On fire with Mahomes and expect it to continue with a few deep bombs against Cincy.
5. Brandin Cooks @ San Francisco-At least 6 targets in each contest, he’s also good for a couple of deep balls and playing a suspect secondary that let Davante Adams run wild.
6. Odell Beckham Jr. @ Atlanta-Will Beckham’s diva attitude rear its ugly head or will the Giants keep feeding their dynamic playmaker?
7. Mike Evans vs. Cleveland-If he gets covered by Denzel Ward then beware, but Jameis Winston consistently finds a way to target Evans more often than not.
8. Stefon Diggs @ San Francisco-Another great matchup for Kirk Cousins to get his wideouts video game numbers.
9. Jarvis Landry @ Tampa Bay-Landry is Mayfield’s main target and the Bucs’ defense is trending down towards their awful 2017 form.
10. Robert Woods @ San Francisco-The way Jared Goff is ripping it, Woods and Cooks are must-starts in all formats where they can quickly surpass the 100-yard barrier.
Tight Ends
1. Travis Kelce vs. Cincinnati-Since week 1 Kelce has regained his swagger with at least 8 targets and 60 yards receiving every game.
2. Zach Ertz vs. Carolina-The best tight end on a week-to-week basis when it comes to fantasy.
3. Eric Ebron vs. Buffalo-Finally looking like a first-round pick in Indy where Andrew Luck is relying heavily on his tight ends.
4. Rob Gronkowski @ Chicago-The Bears will likely double team Gronk, but he’ll still see plenty of passes come his way.
5. Evan Engram @ Atlanta-If he returns Monday night as he is thought to, this is a TE1 instantly facing a banged up Atlanta defense.
6. George Kittle vs. Rams-The Rams have struggled to guard tight ends thus far, most notably Kyle Rudolph and Jared Cook.
7. David Njoku @ Tampa Bay-Mayfield and Njoku are starting to hit their stride by connecting on 18 out of 30 attempts in the last 3 ballgames.
8. Jordan Reed vs Dallas-The often-injured veteran saw a season-high 9 targets versus the Panthers last week and will look to build on that.
9. Greg Olsen @ Philadelphia-Getting 5 catches for 50 yards from Olsen on the road is a fair prediction.
10. Cameron Brate vs. Cleveland–OJ Howard or Brate seems to be certain for a touchdown pass from Winston nearly every week.
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