Gearing Up for the Fantasy Football Playoffs: Week 7

It’s time for the start of this year’s edition of Gearing Up for the Playoffs, as we set our sights on the fantasy postseason ahead of Week 7. Hopefully, you’re off to a solid or even decent start to the 2022 season and are excited to pursue that elusive championship.

I’ll go over some things you can do if your roster is not landing in the win column, if you’ve had a mixed bag of a season or if you’re crushing opponents on a weekly basis. Using 4for4 tools, possible waiver adds, and upcoming matchups, fantasy managers should have a short-term plan to either maintain their dominance or quickly pick up the momentum and get on the winning track.

Perfect 6-0

Nobody’s perfect, but some of your teams may still be without a loss, which is an incredible feat considering the sheer volume of injuries and drama we’ve seen so far in 2022. Now is not the time to get complacent, as we always need to maximize our output weekly.

We are into the second week of byes, so keeping an eye on your roster one week in advance will provide you with an advantage over your league mates, who may only address their holes as they come. By checking out our Hot Spots tool, you can get an overview of your players’ bye weeks and also see a color-coded map indicating their remaining opponents’ rankings in schedule-adjusted fantasy points (aFPA).

Another angle for the stellar squads is to peep the rosters of your not-so-fortunate league mates and see if you can upgrade at your weakest position. You probably have an extra tight end or maybe a quarterback laying around that a manager with fewer wins would love to get their hands on. Losing teams are scrambling for wins and may let a superstar go to get consistent production at another position.

Middling 3-3

This isn’t an awful place to be after six weeks, but it means you probably have dealt with some injuries, perhaps had a high draft pick underperform, or you have been the victim of the dreaded scored-a-lot-of-points-but-played-against-the-highest-scoring team of the week. It happens to all of us, and it’s brutal, but the good news is your team is probably decent, and you just need things to break your way.

One thing you can look into is how the legitimate losses occurred. Is there a huge discrepancy between projections and outcomes? Can that be traced to a decrease in opportunity? If so, you may need to find some pieces in better situations moving forward so that the usage and volume are to your benefit.

Be sure to use the 4for4 tools and weekly articles on drops, stashes, and streaming to maximize all parts of your roster. Players hanging out on your bench right now may have had a perceived value when you drafted them, but as we know, circumstances change in the NFL, and we need to change with them.

Winless (But not Totally Out)

Sitting without a victory after six weeks is not ideal, or even remotely desirable, but there is still enough time to go on a run and sneak into the playoffs. As I mentioned above, there are scenarios where your team is showing up and producing but happens to play a top-scoring roster for the loss.

Going over your players’ snap counts is one way to determine where the lack of production lies. Using 4for4’s Snap App, we can get an idea why players like Chase Edmonds and Kenneth Gainwell aren't producing right now, as they are both on the field for fewer than 40% of their teams' snaps.

If you click over to the Target App section, you can see why Terry McLaurin and Elijah Moore have let us down, as they have each received a passing game target at below 10% of their snaps. Each of these tools can also help identify fruitful players on the waiver wire, or more likely on other teams, to possibly go after to elevate your winless squad.

Helpful Resources for the Coming Weeks

Targeting players on teams in potential high-scoring affairs is one way to attempt to get the most out of your roster. Here’s a look at some projected shootouts in the coming weeks.

Streamable QBs with Softer Matchups (Through Week 10)

• Jameis Winston (Saints)

• Matt Ryan (Colts)

• ​Justin Fields (Bears)

Streamable TEs with Softer Matchups (Through Week 10)

• Evan Engram (Jaguars)

• Taysom Hill/Juwan Johnson (Saints)

• Logan Thomas/John Bates (Commanders)

Streamable Defenses (Through Week 10)

• Colts

• ​Jaguars

• Raiders

Running Back Insurance and Stashes

Now is the time when managers in your leagues will be dropping backup RBs to handle the bye-week gauntlet. If you have the room to stash any of these players with an eye on the future, these are the best ones to go for at this time. Most of these backs don't have much stand-alone value, but can be difference-makers due to attrition.

1. Alexander Mattison (Vikings)
2. Antonio Gibson (Commanders)
3. Rachaad White (Buccaneers)
4. Chase Edmonds (Dolphins)
5. Nyheim Hines (Colts)
6. Jaylen Warren (Steelers)
7. Dontrell Hilliard (Titans)
8. Samaje Perine (Bengals)
9. James Cook (Bills)
10. Gus Edwards (Ravens)