NFL Fantasy Football 2021: 5 best and worst performers from Week 7
Week 7 in the NFL had a lot of fantasy football players who smashed the box score. There were other players who didn’t quite meet expectations.
The following lists 5 of the best performers and 5 of the worst performers for the week (worst performers are based on players who vastly underperformed based on their high prices).
Fantasy Football Week 7: The 5 best and worst performers
5 best performers:
#1 - WR Cooper Kupp
The Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford breakfast club just won’t quit. Kupp was the top performer for Week 7 with two touchdown receptions and 156 yards on 10 catches.
Stafford targeted Kupp 13 times, so don’t expect the brunch bunch to let up any time soon as long as the Rams try to keep up with the Arizona Cardinals and nail down a top seed in the playoffs.
#2 - WR Ja’Marr Chase
Ja’Marr Chase started out his rookie season with low volume passing opportunities, but he maintained fantasy relevance with long touchdown catches.
On Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, the rookie phenom simply exploded for 201 yards on eight catches with one touchdown catch.
Chase’s targets have increased since Week 4 as Joe Burrow gets more comfortable and healthier a year removed from his serious knee injury.
Expect the former college teammates to continue their success for the rest of the season as the Cincinnati Bengals continue to surprise the league.
#3 - WR Mike Evans
With all the weapons at Tom Brady’s disposal, it’s hard to pinpoint when Mike Evans might have a big day. But when he does, his touchdown catches usually come in twos. Week 7 against the Chicago Bears was no different.
Evans hauled in six catches on 10 targets for 76 yards and scored three times to give fantasy owners the boost they’ve come to expect from him. Mike Evans remains a top tier boom-or-bust wide receiver 1 , especially when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers get receiver Antonio Brown and tight end Rob Gronkowski back from injury.
#4 - QB Tua Tagovailoa
Trade rumors? What trade rumors? Tua Tagovailoa let his play on the field speak as he had his best career game to date. The second-year signal-caller had four touchdown passes on 291 yards. He also rushed four times for 29 yards but did throw 2 interceptions.
The Miami Dolphins defense has not been particularly good this season, so Tagovailoa should have plenty of negative game scripts to garner fantasy points.
#5 - RB Alvin Kamara
Alvin Kamara was a one-man offensive machine on Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks. He touched the ball 30 times and scored on one touchdown reception. While the running game was very inefficient (20 rush attempts for 51 yards), that sort of volume is good for fantasy because opportunities are key.
In the passing game, Jameis Winston is finally seeing the value of dumping the ball off to Kamara when nothing else is working. Kamara dominated in the passing game catching 10 balls thrown his way out of 11 targets for 128 yards.
In PPR leagues, no running back has done better in fantasy football than Kamara this week.
King Kamara 👑
@A_kamara6 becomes the fastest player in the NFL to reach 3000 rushing AND receiving yards in just 66 games- 4 games faster than the previous leader 😎😤 https://t.co/1DxbaeLYts
5 worst performers:
#1 - QB Patrick Mahomes
As consistently good as Patrick Mahomes is, there was bound to be one game where he would not meet his high expectations . Against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Mahomes failed to find the end zone for a passing touchdown for the first time since 2019.
The Titans brought the pressure all afternoon, and Patrick Mahomes “only” threw for 206 yards with one interception. As far as the fantasy floor goes, by Mahomes’s standards, this game was a dud.
Expect the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback to bounce back and have much better days.
#2 - RB Aaron Jones
Aaron Jones is a touchdown-dependent running back, but his work in the passing game usually keeps him in elite fantasy relevance. For the game against the Washington Football Team, Jones only had 20 yards on five receptions.
Despite the Green Bay Packers’ win against the Football Team on Sunday, the running game for the team wasn’t working well. Jones’s backfield mate, A.J. Dillon, only had six yards on three attempts.
Going forward, Aaron Jones is still the captain of the running back room, but the Packers will need to find some balance in the running game for Jones to have better statistical days on the football and the fantasy field.
Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon barely played today. Keeping them fresh for Thursday? 🤔 Could be.
#3 - WR Tyreek Hill
It’s beating a dead horse to say that the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense did not do very well last Sunday. But at their high price point and draft capital, anything short of at least double-digit fantasy points is a complete bust.
You could add TE Travis Kelce to this list, but he only slightly did better than Tyreek Hill and barely hit double digit fantasy points. The Tennessee Titans did a good job of bottling up Hill for 49 yards on six receptions.
Patrick Mahomes still looks for his two main guys as they each got the majority of targets, but the fantasy production just didn’t materialize this last week.
#4 - RB Darrell Henderson Jr.
Given the potency of the Los Angeles Rams’ offense, any share should be a good share. However, Darrell Henderson Jr’s fantasy production was lacking on Sunday, especially given his opportunities and high DFS price.
Henderson only managed 45 yards on 15 rush attempts and 19 reception yards on three catches. The good news is that the Rams are giving him every opportunity to be the workhorse back, but Henderson will have to bring up his yards per attempt on both the ground and through the air to justify his high DFS price point.
#5 - RB Derrick Henry
Derrick Henry had a good fantasy day by any running back’s standard (86 rushing yards on 29 attempts with two receptions for 16 yards). However, King Henry is no standard running back so when he does not score a rushing touchdown but rather passes for one, it’s an atypical game for him.
The passing touchdown provides a saving grace for an otherwise pedestrian stat line for someone with Henry’s DFS price and top draft capital. Winter is coming, and the cold weather will only strengthen Derrick Henry’s powers.
Expect much better statistical fantasy days ahead.