Priority fantasy football pickups for Week 7: Buffalo Bills are ready to binge
Each week, we highlight six recommended fantasy pickups plus a team defense available in over 50 percent of Yahoo leagues. If you have roster needs, we offer a full menu of options. We're strangely AFC East-heavy this week, but it was not intentional.
Quarterbacks
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (49% rostered)
Yeah, OK, so he's bumping right up against our roster percentage cutoff, but OMG LOOK AT THIS UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
Week 7 - Miami
Week 8 - Philadelphia
Week 9 - Washington
Week 10 - at Cleveland
Week 11 - at Miami
Ridiculous. You will start Allen in absolutely every week for the next five, friends. He’s obviously a turnover-prone quarterback (7 INTs) with a scattershot arm, but he's also proven to be capable of crushing a friendly matchup. And, well ... wow. His upcoming slate is hilariously friendly. He's also averaging better than 30 rushing yards per week and he's run for three scores through five games. Do not leave him on the wire. He’s about to produce a series of multi-TD games.
FAAB bid: $16 of $100 budget
Sam Darnold, New York Jets (15%)
Welcome back, Sam. His return went about as well as it possibly could have, as he passed for 338 yards, two scores and one pick against Dallas on Sunday, with a 92-yard deep strike included.
New York's offense is suddenly multi-dimensional and capable of stressing a defense at all levels. Darnold's return is a huge win for every Jets receiver, obviously, and he has a clear shot at fantasy relevance in the second-half of the season. He's facing New England next week, the league's No. 1 pass defense, so that probably won't go well. But beyond Week 7, it's a layup line: at Jac, at Mia, NYG, at Was, Oak, at Cin, Mia.
[Play in Yahoo’s NFL $250K Baller. $10 entry fee and $25K to first place]
As long as the kid can remain healthy and virus-free, he's going to make plenty of fantasy noise.
FAAB bid: $6
Other QBs to consider: Kirk Cousins (he was an obvious add ahead of Sunday's matchup with Philly, plus he gets Detroit, Washington and KC in his next three), Daniel Jones (it hasn't been a clinic lately, but Arizona awaits in Week 7), Ryan Tannehill (if you play in a super-flex format, he's probably the week's priority pickup).
Running backs
Mark Walton, Miami Dolphins (4%)
Walton started ahead of Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage on Sunday, gaining 75 scrimmage yards, catching five balls on six targets and generally looking like a lively, competent runner. Ballage entered the week averaging a miserable 1.5 YPC and with only three receptions on 11 targets, so it's no surprise his role has been minimized. The Dolphins coaching staff has been full of sunshine regarding Walton, a former collegiate standout at the University of Miami (1117 rush yards in 2016).
Just for the record, we don't necessarily advise you to invest heavily in Dolphins skill players. In fact, you should probably limit yourself to no more than one, regardless of your league depth. But Walton has added his name to the fantasy conversation; he deserves a look in larger formats.
FAAB bid: $5
Additional RBs worth adding: Jamaal Williams (mostly because Aaron Jones was so jarringly bad on Monday night), Benny Snell (he ran for 75 yards on SNF with Conner dinged, but has a bye this week), Chase Edmonds (clearly has stand-alone value for deep leaguers, plus he's a necessary handcuff), Alexander Mattison (the previous note applies here as well; he's coming off a 14-carry, 63-yard performance).
Wide receivers
Jamison Crowder, New York Jets (42%)
OK, c'mon. How is this man still so widely available in Yahoo leagues? Somehow, our season-long messaging on Crowder has failed to make the desired impact.
Sam Darnold is back at the controls of New York's offense and he loves Crowder like a pet. That was perfectly clear in the preseason, then it was reinforced in opening week when Crowder saw a ridiculous 17 targets, catching 14. He snagged six balls for 98 yards on nine targets in Sunday's win over Dallas -- and we haven't seen the last of those fantasy lines. If you play in any sort of PPR league, Crowder needs to be rostered, immediately. Go add him. Shoo.
FAAB bid: $16
Phillip Dorsett, New England Patriots (41%)
Dorsett found his way to the fantasy discard pile in many leagues after being ruled out ahead of TNF, but his hamstring issue is not believed to be a significant concern. Let's recall that he saw 23 targets over New England's first four games, catching three touchdown passes and generally looking like a viable receiver for fantasy purposes. Josh Gordon is dealing with a knee issue of unknown severity, so the Patriots' receiving corps is looking thin. Dorsett could easily see 7-10 targets against the Jets next Monday.
FAAB bid: $9
Duke Williams, Buffalo Bills (1%)
Williams was elevated from Buffalo's practice squad only days before the team's Week 5 game at Tennessee, yet he started and played 50 of 64 snaps. Perhaps more significantly, Williams caught all four of his targets, gaining 29 yards and scoring a go-ahead fourth-quarter touchdown...
First career @NFL game.
First career touchdown catch. #BUFvsTEN | #GoBills pic.twitter.com/eHJeEdleUr— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) October 6, 2019
Williams was an elite recruit back in the day, but he had a rollercoaster career at Auburn, culminating with his dismissal from the team. He lit up the CFL last year (88-1579-11) and appears to have worked his way into a substantial role for the Bills moving forward. Like every Buffalo skill player, he has a shot to binge over the next five weeks while the team feasts on a series of miserable defenses (see above).
FAAB bid: $5
Various other WR/TE options: Allen Lazard (6-foot-5 former Iowa State star feasted in the fourth quarter of MNF and Rodgers offered glowing postgame praise), Auden Tate (he's an auto-add following a 12-target game), Cole Beasley (again, Buffalo's schedule is a gift to fantasy players), Dante Pettis (he drew six targets in Sunday's win at LA), Jakobi Meyers (he's of moderate interest, given the injuries to Dorsett and Gordon), DeVante Parker (the most bankable player in a lousy receiving corps), Randall Cobb (he's dealing with an injury, but Dallas may need him if Amari Cooper's quad issue is serious), Chris Herndon (returning soon and his team's schedule is amazing, beginning in Week 8), Luke Willson (he's now at the top of Seattle's TE depth chart following the unfortunate injury to Will Dissly).
Defense
Kansas City Chiefs, DEF (24%)
It's a rough week to stream defenses, as most teams with favorable matchups are already rostered in a majority of leagues. If you happen to be able to snag Buffalo (63%) coming off its bye and preparing to host Miami, then you'll obviously want to do that. If not, the Chiefs are a reasonable one-week option. They travel to Denver for the Thursday night game, where they'll face a quarterback who's thrown interceptions in five straight games. We can count on Joe Flacco taking a sack or three and giving up the ball at least once.
FAAB bid: $1
Follow the Yahoo fantasy crew on Twitter: Andy Behrens, Dalton Del Don, Brad Evans, Matt Harmon, James Koh, Liz Loza, Scott Pianowski and Tank Williams.