Week 7 Fantasy Football Start/Sit Candidates: Wide Receivers
Wondering whom to start and sit at wide receiver this week? Below are two top-notch start and two sit options at the wideout position for Week 7 of the 2022 NFL season.
Week 6 Review – half-PPR scoring
Starts
- WR DK Metcalf (Seattle Seahawks) vs. Arizona Cardinals – 4.4 fantasy points (WR53)
- WR Khalil Shakir (Buffalo Bills) @ Kansas City Chiefs – 1.9 fantasy points (WR75)
- WR Darius Slayton (New York Giants) @ Baltimore Ravens – 2.3 fantasy points (WR71)
Sits
- WR Terry McLaurin (Washington Commanders) @ Chicago Bears – 6.7 fantasy points (WR43)
Wide Receiver – Starts
Michael Pittman Jr. (Indianapolis Colts) @ Tennessee Titans
Just 35 games into his NFL career, Michael Pittman Jr. already looks like one of the best X-wide receivers in the league. Though the Indianapolis Colts have made Pittman into the only 10-targets-per-game wide receiver with an average depth of target lower than 7.0 yards (5.7 yards), Pittman’s 1.37 RACR rate, the rate at which a pass catcher converts air yards into receiving yards, is second-best among NFL wide receivers with at least 40 targets.
Top 10 non-QB's PFF War through Week 6.
The Marquise Brown loss is a big one for the Cardinals pic.twitter.com/d3UBoKIf1d— Benjamin Brown (@PFF_BenBrown) October 19, 2022
Indianapolis’ Week 7 opponent, the Tennessee Titans have suffered major injuries at every level of their defense. As a result, Tennessee has been allowing 288.0 passing yards per game and a 10.3% explosive pass play rate, both top-two in the NFL, per 4for4’s NFL Team Stats Explorer. Tennessee has likewise been allowing 35.4 half-PPR points per game to opposing wide receivers, also second-most in the league.
Pittman currently sits T-11th at the position with 53 targets, despite missing Week 2 with a quadriceps injury. Given the matchup, Indianapolis’ No. 1 wide receiver has a good chance of hopping into the top 10 by week’s end.
DeAndre Hopkins (Arizona Cardinals) vs. New Orleans Saints
Arizona Cardinals X-wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has fulfilled his six-game suspension and will be making his 2022 debut against the New Orleans Saints this week. The move comes just as downfield wide receiver Marquise Brown suffered a foot injury in Week 6 that is expected to keep him out for at least six weeks. Brown’s 64 targets are third-most in the NFL and although targets are earned, fantasy managers can expect Hopkins to be the primary beneficiary.
New Orleans Saints No. 1 cornerback Marshon Lattimore missed Week 6 with an abdomen injury and his Week 7 status looks bleak as of Tuesday night. Fellow starting cornerback Paulson Adebo is also working his way through a knee injury. The August trade of Chauncey Gardner-Johnson has aged very poorly.
On the year, New Orleans’ 16.3% quarterback pressure rate ranks 27th and their 0.01 interceptions per drive sit dead last at 32nd. Their 33.9 half-PPR points per game allowed to wide receivers is the third-highest average in the NFL.
Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury is out of his depth as an NFL coach and with a measly 2-4 record to start the year, Kingsbury has quietly landed himself on the hot seat. Hopkins is going to get all the work he can handle.
* Check out the full WR Rankings here.
Wide Receiver – Sits
D.J. Moore (Carolina Panthers) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Thanks to an implausibly high number of quarterback injuries, the Carolina Panthers are expected to reinstall Baker Mayfield, well ahead of his expected return date from a high-ankle sprain. Mayfield suffered the injury in Carolina’s Week 5 loss to the San Francisco 49ers and as shown in Doctor of Physical Therapy Adam Hutchison’s Injury Index, quarterbacks typically miss an average of 4.4 games with a high-ankle sprain.
Mayfield and Moore struggled to connect even when the quarterback was healthy. From Weeks 1-5, Moore was just the half-PPR WR47.
Week 7 brings a date with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whose 26.5% single-defender blitz rate ranks sixth highest in the NFL. Among NFL quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks, Tampa Bay has also limited opposing NFL passing games to just 193.7 passing yards per game, the eighth fewest in the league.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling (Kansas City Chiefs) @ San Francisco 49ers
Though the Kansas City Chiefs at San Francisco 49ers game is totaled at an enticing 48.5-point over/under, fantasy managers should look elsewhere for wide receiver help this week.
San Francisco has locked down opposing passing games, especially the deep ball, Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s bread and butter. Both San Francsico’s 168.3 passing yards allowed and their 6.1% explosive pass play rate allowed are two of the three best averages in the NFL.
Though there were high hopes for Valdes-Scantling early in his career, he has proven to be a mediocre one-trick pony. Among the 51 NFL wide receivers with at least 30 targets this year, both Valdes-Scantling’s 16.0% targets per route run rate and 1.21 yards per route run rate are both bottom-six.
