Targets are paramount when it comes to evaluating pass-catchers for fantasy football. There are no receiving yards, touchdowns, or receptions without a target. We want the players on our rosters in fantasy football who will earn these targets because targets are the most important thing to look at when trying to separate one pass-catcher from another on a base level. Sure, the player that earned 160 targets may be a better fantasy option than the player who earned 110, but that doesn’t take into account the offenses these players are in, the target share percentages on their particular team, how deep down the field these targets were earned, and so on. Each week, we’ll take a weekly team-by-team look into these target earners and separate the wheat from the chaff. 

We're through seven weeks of the NFL season, and we've got an abbreviated bye week here with just the Chiefs and Chargers, so we'll go through some team and player usage tendencies here in our Target Report. Before we get into the Target Report for Week 7, let's dive into a legend of terms we'll be referencing

Start Your Studs: Players you should be starting in all formats, regardless of matchup. Use your judgment in shallower leagues where players who are typically startable are plentiful.

Dump ‘Em: Players that you should be dropping from your rosters. Use your judgment in deeper leagues where players with usefulness on waivers aren’t as plentiful.

NFL Week 7 Target Report

Arizona Cardinals

It’s like DeAndre Hopkins never left.

Hopkins slotted into the top receiver spot for the Cardinals in the wake of the Marquise Brown foot fracture, earned almost 50% of the targets, and put up a 10-103 line on 91% of routes. He’s back, folks, and a must-start option in your fantasy lineups.

Besides a random Greg Dortch touchdown, the only other notable nugget from the Cardinals is that Rondale Moore (1-31, two targets, 94% routes) played more on the outside than he has all year. Of Moore’s 59 snaps, he played 49 of them on the outside of the formation (PFF), with a 13-yard aDOT. It’ll be interesting to see if Moore being outside is more than a one-week blip. Robbie Anderson is working his way in (22% routes) with the hope that Brown will be back in a month or so, it would be my prediction that Moore kicks inside for Anderson and eventually Brown to reclaim the outside receiver role opposite Hopkins.

Week 7 Arizona Cardinals Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: DeAndre Hopkins, Kyler Murray, Marquise Brown (when healthy)

Dump ‘Em: Nobody to outright dump.

Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons called a pass play on first down only THREE times out of 19 first down plays in Week 7. They were trailing in the game on ALL 19 first down plays.

This team is the worst. This is what an NFL offense would be like if Tim Tebow were still in the league.

Week 7 Atlanta Falcons Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: When does Cordarrelle Patterson get back?

Dump ‘Em: Kyle Pitts and Drake London are the worst kinds of fantasy assets. It’s so difficult to drop them because of talent, but the honest-to-God play is hoping Arthur Smith gets canned so that the offense HAS to open up. If you’re gotta drop London or Pitts, I get it. They’ve dug you a hole the rest of your team has to dig out of most weeks.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens ran the ball a whopping 44 times and only dropped back 21 times, so of course, we can deduce that the passing game wasn’t ripe for volume and fantasy goodness in Week 7. Mark Andrews didn’t record a reception on two targets (91% routes), but there shouldn’t be any worry whatsoever with him.

Rashod Bateman returned to the lineup with just a 71% routes per dropback, but as he gets reacclimated to the offense, we can expect that to tick up a bit. He led the Ravens in all receiving categories in this abbreviated passing game.

The entire passing game gets a pass here for me. Lamar Jackson hasn’t been great lately, as he hasn’t had a top-10 quarterback finish in fantasy over the last four weeks. He’s had at least 29 passing attempts in every game so far up to Week 7. Stay the course.

Regarding the run game, Gus Edwards (36% snaps, 19% routes) is lucky to get a target during a week, let alone any receptions. That’s not his game.

Week 7 Baltimore Ravens Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews

Dump ‘Em: When the Ravens’ passing game options are fully healthy, Devin Duvernay becomes a borderline drop. He has had just one game over seven targets and just one top-24 or better fantasy finish at wide receiver this season —  in Week 1, where he scored two touchdowns.

Carolina Panthers

Somehow, the Panthers rolled up the Buccaneers and actually used DJ Moore in a volume role, with 10 targets on just 22 pass attempts from P.J. Walker. This was a rare positive game script for the Panthers, so Moore is the only guy you’re even considering in your fantasy lineups since Christian McCaffrey headed west for the winter.

Week 7 Carolina Panthers Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: DJ Moore, but even that is pushing it. 

Dump ‘Em: The offensive environment isn’t anywhere close to being good to have more than one pass-catcher that’s relevant in fantasy outside of Moore. Terrace Marshall is a speculative add in super-deep leagues as he’s got up to 96% routes in Week 7.

Chicago Bears

The Bears are the most run-heavy team in the NFL, so any positive passing-game outcomes from Chicago are going to come from chunk plays and efficiency rather than target volume. And then we have to hope Justin Fields can connect the dots.

Equanimeous St. Brown (4-48, seven targets, 74% routes) and Darnell Mooney (3-53, six targets, 85% routes) did the heavy lifting, accounting for almost 62% of targets and almost 80% of air yards on Monday night. Khalil Herbert caught his only pass of the night and the lone touchdown for Chicago on a 25-yard catch and run. 

Week 7 Chicago Bears Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Studs? What studs?

Dump ‘Em: The only Bears that should be rostered are David Montgomery, Herbert, Mooney, and in deeper formats, Cole Kmet. It’s not a fun offense to buy into or stay bought into.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals have really turned a corner with their passing game, turning in a 23.1% pass rate over expectation in Week 7. Joe Burrow has been thriving and turning the corner himself with 481 passing yards and three touchdowns.

The main players ate well in Week 7 as all three of Ja’Marr Chase (8-130-2), Tee Higgins (5-93-0), and Tyler Boyd (8-155-1) combined for 66% of the targets, at least 89% of routes each, and 82% of total air yards. Add in Hayden Hurst’s 6-48 on eight targets (73% routes), and you’re looking at a virtual monopoly here of the passing game between these four options. 

Even Joe Mixon converted a red-zone carry for a touchdown! You love to see it!

Week 7 Cincinnati Bengals Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Ja’Marr Chase, Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, Joe Mixon

Dump ‘Em: Nobody to outright dump.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns were pretty even with their run-pass splits, maybe skewing slightly more to the pass (57% in Week 7), but Cleveland's main trio of pass-catching options were at least competent from a fantasy perspective.

David Njoku led the Browns in targets and receptions (7-71 on seven targets) on only 53% of routes as he left the game with an ankle injury that’s likely to sideline him for Week 8’s Monday Night Football tilt against the Bengals before their Week 9 bye. Expect Harrison Bryant to slot in as the featured tight end in Week 8 for the injured Njoku. I like him as a sleeper who you can plug and play if you’re without players like Travis Kelce and Gerald Everett on bye or other injured options.

Amari Cooper (3-73, four targets, 100% route participation) and Donovan Peoples-Jones (6-71, six targets, 91%) led the way for the pass-catchers outside of Njoku. Njoku being out likely opens up even more target-earning potential for Cooper as long as he’s out, so we do like that at the top end of this Browns’ target tree.

Let’s be real. With a team in the bottom-eight of pass-play percentage and a quarterback keeping the seat warm in Jacoby Brissett, we’re starting only two options here in fantasy. That’s Cooper and Njoku when healthy. Of course, this offensive environment could change for the better when/if Deshaun Watson suits up when his suspension is up in a month’s time.

Week 7 Cleveland Browns Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Amari Cooper, Nick Chubb, David Njoku (when healthy)

Dump ‘Em: Nobody to outright dump.

Dallas Cowboys

It was a rather quiet return for Dak Prescott to the Cowboys lineup, and it was quiet on the stat sheet too. The only touchdown scored in the passing game was by backup tight end Peyton Hendershot, and both remaining touchdowns were from Ezekiel Elliott in the run game.

Besides that, middling performances by the top targets like CeeDee Lamb (4-70, six targets), Dalton Schultz (5-49, five targets), and Noah Brown (5-50, seven targets). No other wide receiver caught a pass, including Michael Gallup, who was shut out on two catchless targets despite running 79% of routes. 

Week 7 Dallas Cowboys Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: CeeDee Lamb, Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott

Dump ‘Em: I had Noah Brown pegged for this spot, but he still maintained a starter’s route share (86%) and whether that was at the expense of Gallup’s lackluster performance is still up in the air. I still think Brown can be relevant, but if we’re looking at week-to-week consistency, it might be a “who pops off between Brown, Schultz and Gallup”-type scenario going forward. I don’t think we’re getting an early-2020’s massive pass game spike from the Cowboys anytime soon.

Denver Broncos

Brett Rypien might be the guy that makes Broncos fans miss Russell Wilson. That’s saying something.
 

It wasn’t for lack of trying, as Rypien was just tossing up deep balls to Courtland Sutton (3-23 on an inefficient nine targets, 92% routes), KJ Hamler (1-4 on four targets), and Jerry Jeudy (7-96 on 11 targets, 90% routes) to no avail. Also, Jets rookie CB Sauce Gardner is really, REALLY good. He erased Sutton from this game, which explains the Jeudy spike game. Rypien completed one pass of 20+ yards — to the Jets.

In our latest installment of “The Greg Dulcich Report,” Dulcich earned nine targets, dipped down to 71% routes but still put up double-digit fantasy points with a 6-51 line. He’s straddling the TE1 line right now in just two weeks of play. 

One more thing: this is MANIAC behavior.

Week 7 Denver Broncos Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, Greg Dulcich (yeah, I said it.)

Dump ‘Em: If you haven’t by now, I’m dumping KJ Hamler. Running sub-standard amount of routes (69%) in an offense that is chucking up deep balls but not converting them into actual yards.

Detroit Lions

Even with their bye in Week 6, the Lions still couldn’t get D’Andre Swift on the field. They did get Amon-Ra St. Brown back though. That’s good!

St. Brown played 10 snaps before leaving with a concussion that ended his day. That’s bad.

Did he even HAVE a concussion?

Jared Goff only had 26 pass attempts in this game and targets were so spread out that it was hard for anybody put up a big stat line. Kalif Raymond has the best fantasy day (5-75, six targets, 91% routes), but nobody started him. T.J. Hockenson earned five targets but a subpar 4-48 production on 88% of routes.

Just a humdrum day for the Lions in what amounted to the bear case of Detroit Lions’ game scripts. They only scored six points and the offensive environment was #notgood.

Week 7 Detroit Lions Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: D’Andre Swift (when healthy), Jamaal Williams (when Swift is out)

Dump ‘Em: Nobody to outright dump.

Green Bay Packers

This does feel like a bit of a shot across the bow at one player in particular: Romeo Doubs. He had a bunch of mental mistakes and four catchless targets in Week 7. It’ll be telling to see if Doubs' routes (94% in Week 7) are scaled back against the Bills in Week 8.

The Packers are just a mess right now and Allen Lazard couldn’t make it through the whole game as he left with a shoulder injury and didn’t practice on Wednesday. His status is up in the air for Sunday night.

Week 7 Green Bay Packers Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Aaron Jones, Allen Lazard

Dump ‘Em: This offense is broken enough that it might be time to cut bait on AJ Dillon. Jones is clearly prioritized so much in this offense over Dillon on both the receiving AND rushing component that Dillon isn’t startable. He’s merely a contingent play in the event Jones is injured.

Houston Texans

The Texans had 41 pass attempts, Davis Mills threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns, and yet, he didn’t really get anybody going amongst his pass-catchers. The only guy that’s likely starting from the Texans, Brandin Cooks, has just one fantasy finish above WR48 since Week 2. And that wasn’t this week, with his 4-46 line on five targets. He’s no longer a must-start option. The offense used to run through Cooks, but the Dameon Pierce show provides a ton of production on the ground.

Pierce actually had his lowest fantasy output over their last four games but was still good enough for a top-20 finish amongst running backs. Pierce continues to get the vast majority of the rushing volume, but Rex Burkhead and Dare Ogunbowale are getting big chunks of the receiving work. In fact, Ogunbowale’s five receptions, one carry, and all 62 of his yards came on the game’s final drive when the game was out of hand. If you looked at just the box score, he’d likely be on the radar as a PPR-focused deep add, but until he takes more meaningful work outside of the final drive, he should be left alone.

Week 7 Houston Texans Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Dameon Pierce

Dump ‘Em: I’m dropping Nico Collins where I have him. He hasn’t taken a leap up in production and the offensive environment isn’t good enough to sustain multiple options in the passing game. It’s not even good enough to sustain Cooks right now.

Indianapolis Colts

Another bad performance by the Colts, only scoring 10 points on the Tennessee Titans. It was the last straw for the Matt Ryan era of the Colts, as they will turn to Sam Ehlinger for the rest of the season as their new starting quarterback. 
 

What does this mean? Well, the offense may get more modern with Ehlinger’s solid mobility. To be fair, next to Ryan, Ehlinger looks like Michael Vick.

This move should spur some change around the league, as a team that is 3-3-1 is making a move to a younger guy to see what they have, unlike the Falcons, who are hiding Marcus Mariota behind a 75% run play percentage and the Commanders not going with Sam Howell in favor of career retread Taylor Heinicke.

It should be simple for Ehlinger: he has one of the best running backs in the league in Jonathan Taylor. He has a top weapon in Michael Pittman. He has solid secondary options like Nyheim Hines and Parris Campbell. A potential up-and-coming offensive threat in Alec Pierce. Ehlinger is set up better than most.

As far as projecting this offense for next week, we’re in a holding pattern. Think of it as Week 1. We’ll get some clues this week.

Week 7 Indianapolis Colts Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman

Dump ‘Em: Deon Jackson hasn’t retained a role in this offense now that Taylor is back, so he’s an easy drop.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Despite the loss to the apparently “good” New York Giants, there was a reason for optimism. Travis Etienne completed his stranglehold on the Jaguars’ running back room with 80% of the snaps and his first 100-yard rushing game and touchdown. 

James Robinson didn’t earn one single touch of the ball in Week 7 and earned one target on just 17% of snaps. And then he was traded to the Jets for a conditional late-round pick.

Everything is coming up Etienne, and he’s a must-start option now that the runway has been cleared for takeoff.

For the actual passing game, it was the same group of players running their typical allotment of routes. Christian Kirk (7-96, 10 targets, 98% routes) and Zay Jones (4-54, 10 targets, 100% route participation) ran a ton of routes and combined for 20 somewhat inefficient targets. Marvin Jones ran 66% of routes and earned eight targets in his return to the lineup after missing Week 6 with a hamstring injury. Evan Engram was fine (4-67, seven targets) on 75% of routes.

It’s not a super explosive pass offense, but it’s pretty solid for now.

Week 7 Jacksonville Jaguars Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Travis Etienne, Christian Kirk

Dump ‘Em: It’s hard to hold onto Marvin Jones as he doesn’t even have a WR3-level upside on your fantasy roster. With bye weeks, he’s just a dart throw flex option.

Kansas City Chiefs

We saw more clearly defined roles than ever before with Kansas City in Week 7.

Travis Kelce is #good. No further analysis needed.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling harkened back to his deep-threat days in Green Bay and the coinflips hit for MVS with 3-111 on four targets, 73% routes, and a 26.5-yard aDOT. Even on limited targets, this role could hit in big ways if this continues after the Chiefs’ Week 8 bye.

With an intermediate passing-game role paying off in a big way, JuJu Smith-Schuster ‘s 7-124-1 line on 67% of routes crushed most expectations and puts Smith-Schuster back in the low-end WR2 crosshairs after their bye. 

And if you’re into that sort of thing to project three touchdown games that aren’t likely to happen again, Mecole Hardman had one foot out the door on fantasy rosters but is now safely back in good graces after rushing for two touchdowns on his only two carries and catching all four targets plus a touchdown on 57% routes. 

BREAKING: Kadarius Toney was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs for a conditional third-round pick and a sixth-round pick. This obviously won't have Week 8 implications since the Chiefs are on bye, but for Week 9 onward, Toney could work his way into this receiving corps and be a late-season fantasy factor. The Chiefs don't go out to get a wide receiver if they're happy with what they have. They definitely don't spend a Day 2 and Day 3 pick on a depth piece. This is incredibly interesting for an obvious first-round talent going to the Chiefs to play with Patrick Mahomes.

Week 7 Kansas City Chiefs Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, JuJu Smith-Schuster

Dump ‘Em: I’m done holding Skyy Moore. It’s either going to take injuries or something drastic to get him on the field with the number of routes we’re looking for. He’s being pigeon-holed into a punt return hole that he’s clearly not suited for with another muffed punt in Week 7.

Las Vegas Raiders

In a game where Josh Jacobs absolutely crushed the Texans to the tune of 143 yards and three touchdowns, it’s safe to say there wasn’t much left for the passing game. Davante Adams was his usual self with 8-95 on nine targets and 100% route participation. Mack Hollins (96% routes, 2-44-1 on three targets) caught the lone touchdown, and the rest just picked up scraps without Darren Waller in the lineup. Hunter Renfrow is still working his way back into the fold, staying in the 70-75% routes range after their Week 7 bye with a pedestrian 3-55 effort on three targets.

It was a game where the Raiders steamrolled an inferior opponent and didn’t need to pass as much as they normally do, which meant it was Adams and not much else left.

Week 7 Las Vegas Raiders Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Davante Adams, Darren Waller (when healthy), Josh Jacobs

Dump ‘Em: Nobody to outright dump, but Mack Hollins gets a stay of execution after his touchdown in Week 7. He gets one more week, but he’s not producing as he did toward the beginning of the season.

Los Angeles Chargers

Week 7 was a bad week to be a “grown-ass man” wide receiver between Allen Lazard, DK Metcalf, and now Mike Williams getting hurt.

Williams went down with a high-ankle sprain and he’s likely out for a minimum of four weeks. The passing game might be in some big trouble moving forward if Keenan Allen’s snaps are managed. For some reason, Allen was put up on 25% of routes before their Week 8 bye instead of resting for another two weeks. I do like Gerald Everett’s work to tick up with Williams out of the lineup. His routes were dropping little by little over the last three weeks.

At least Austin Ekeler is a machine, catching all 12 targets for 96 yards and a touchdown on a season-high 72% of routes. He tacked on another touchdown on the ground too. Ekeler is the beneficiary of not just the wide receiver ambiguity thanks to injuries but of quarterback Justin Herbert’s rib issue too. There’s no doubt he’s still hampered by it to some degree, and he’d rather just dump balls off to Ekeler and let him work in space. In full PPR, Ekeler is a money-printing machine that’s set to be THE league winner at running back in fantasy.

Week 7 Los Angeles Chargers Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Austin Ekeler, Keenan Allen (when healthy), Mike Williams (when healthy), Justin Herbert

Dump ‘Em: Nobody to outright dump.

Miami Dolphins

In the return of starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, this game had some brief moments of competency in this vaunted passing game that we were hoping could get back to the high-flying ways of the early season. It was not to be, as only five Dolphins recorded a catch. 

Tyreek Hill was fine as the deep threat and target earner, with a 7-72 line on 13 targets and 171 air yards (second-most in Week 7). Besides Hill, tight end Mike Gesicki was inefficient with his seven targets and 3-27 on 68% of routes.

Jaylen Waddle was also really good, catching four of five passes for 88 yards on 87% of routes. All of Waddle’s completions were shorter passes that he extended out to 18, 20, 25, and 25 yards for each. He really would have benefitted from more volume, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Week 7 Miami Dolphins Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Raheem Mostert, Tua Tagovailoa

Dump ‘Em: Mike Gesicki was on the chopping block earlier this season, but he’s turned it around with solid routes run over the last couple of weeks with Durham Smythe injured in Week 6 and then with Smythe returning, Gesicki keeping a solid gap in snaps too.

New England Patriots

Mac Jones returned and started this game — he didn’t look so hot. In came Bailey Zappe and he immediately drove the Patriots down for a score.

End the movie there. Throw up a Disney logo. We’re good here.

Right?

Left on the cutting room floor was that Zappe wasn’t that great either after that first drive. Bill Belichick channeled his inner Steve Spurrier. It seems as though the Patriots have a pretty stable three-wide receiver group in place, with DeVante Parker, Tyquan Thornton, and Jakobi Meyers all running over 90% of routes. Thornton only caught one of his five targets, but he ran a season-high routes share of 94%, which we love to see. Meyers had a pedestrian game (2-34-1 on two targets) but saved his fantasy managers with a touchdown.

Week 7 New England Patriots Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Rhamondre Stevenson, Jakobi Meyers

Dump ‘Em: I’m still not super high on DeVante Parker going forward, and I have to say, despite running 81% of routes in Week 7, the same goes for Hunter Henry. Parker is an easier punt for the Patriots’ passing game that’s low volume in nature, but Henry has been fending off Jonnu Smith, but doesn’t have any production to show for it. Both can be cut in shallower leagues or leagues with startable options on the waiver wire.

New Orleans Saints

Andy Dalton being installed as the starting quarterback (over a healthy Jameis Winston) has been one of the best things for Alvin Kamara (7-56, nine targets), as his receiving role has been put front and center in this offense in lieu of all the wide receiver injuries.

With Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry’s continued absence from the Saints’ lineup, Chris Olave (7-106 on 14 targets, 94% routes) continues to take big strides as the de facto leader of the receiving room. Olave earned a huge 30% of targets and 168 air yards (third in the NFL in Week 7) while pacing this passing game from a volume standpoint. He’s been the most consistent rookie wide receiver this season, although he doesn’t have that much competition, to be fair.

Tight end Juwan Johnson (5-32-2, five targets, 79% routes) chipped in with two touchdowns in the comeback effort, putting him in the streaming conversation for a few weeks as, hopefully, that’s something he can continue to build on with the surrounding attrition amongst pass catchers.

Week 7 New Orleans Saints Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, Michael Thomas (when healthy)

Dump ‘Em: I’m dumping Jarvis Landry as I don’t think it’s prudent to continue to hold him as we’re passing the halfway point of the fantasy football regular season.

New York Giants

Saquon Barkley is #good.

The Giants are somehow winning games off of their USFL wide receiver group and it’s mind-boggling. Wan’Dale Robinson (6-50 on eight targets, 78% routes) is the guy to roster here as his role has grown the last few weeks, and he is the most talented player of these pass catchers by absolute far. 

Marcus Johnson is running cardio with three catchless targets on 97% of routes. We also lost Daniel Bellinger to an eye injury indefinitely, so we can’t even stream him. It’s bleak, but the Giants and Brian Daboll make it work so far.

Week 7 New York Giants Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Saquon Barkley

Dump ‘Em: If you haven’t dumped Kadarius Toney, go ahead and do so. It’s too late to be holding a candle for these guys with the hope that they play some snaps.

New York Jets

**sigh**

We can’t have nice things.

That nice thing being Breece Hall — the clear main storyline of Week 7’s action. Hall was on his way to going scorched earth on the Broncos until he tore his ACL. Hall being lost for the season gave a cup of coffee to “Michael Carter SZN” until the Jets traded a conditional late-round pick for James Robinson to shore up the run game. Carter is still going to matter in fantasy, but he’d be where I’d slot Tony Pollard in terms of immediate fantasy value post-Hall, just without the massive contingent value Pollard has if Ezekiel Elliott were to go down.

Zach Wilson only passed 26 times and for just 121 yards, so you can see where this is going: not enough robust yardage or volume for anybody to matter. It’s sad to say at this point, but these passing-game options might be just flex plays or even droppable in shallower leagues. That includes Garrett Wilson, who came on with Joe Flacco at quarterback but hasn’t mattered at all with Wilson under center. Wilson ran 88% of routes per dropback in Week 7 but hasn’t been any better than WR59 in a weekly PPR finish over the last four weeks. That’s not going to get it done.

Week 7 New York Jets Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: There are no studs anymore with Breece Hall out for the season.

Dump ‘Em: Elijah Moore can be dropped if you need the space, but I’m personally holding for now as long as I can help it. This offense got markedly worse minus Hall and, almost more importantly, offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker out for the season too.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Another week, another Pittsburgh game where there’s volume to be had by these pass-catchers. Diontae Johnson’s 10-target games are something you can set your watch to, and you can also set your watch to the fact that they’re likely going to be inefficient. Defenses know Johnson is very good, so this shouldn’t be a surprise.

Because of that attention, Pat Freiermuth returned to the Steelers’ lineup with an 8-75 game on nine targets and 76% route participation. With volume available now as quarterback Kenny Pickett gets his feet wet, we can feel much better about starting Freiermuth as a low-end TE1.

Chase Claypool was okay (5-41, eight targets, 86% routes) and George Pickens (6-61-1, six targets, 92% routes) caught another touchdown, proving he truly has that dawg in him each week. 

Say what you want about the Steelers, but Pickett is at least making this team competitive through the air. They’ll take some growing pains this season to see if Pickett can be a long-term quarterback option for this team moving forward.

Week 7 Pittsburgh Steelers Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Pat Freiermuth

Dump ‘Em: Nobody to outright dump.

San Francisco 49ers

In the debut game for Christian McCaffrey in the scarlet and gold of the 49ers, he ran 21% of routes plus took eight carries. He’s going to ramp up in production in the run game, and that likely keeps Jeff Wilson as a spell with the clear contingent value until Elijah Mitchell returns. After that, we’ll see how that shakes out.

If anything, it brings Deebo Samuel (5-42) back to the wide receiver side of the equation, as he only took one carry in Week 7 but earned seven targets on 86% of routes.

Between Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk (7-82, 11 targets, 96% routes) and George Kittle (6-98-1, nine targets, 88% routes), they combined to consolidate this offense with over half of the air yards and 60% of targets. Ray-Ray McCloud caught a touchdown and all four targets, but he’s not a weekly factor for fantasy purposes.

Week 7 San Francisco 49ers Fantasy Takeaways:

Start Your Studs: Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, Christian McCaffrey

Dump ‘Em: Nobody to outright dump, though if you’re rostering any 49ers back outside of McCaffrey, Mitchell, and Wilson, you can cut bait.

Seattle Seahawks