Fantasy Football Week 7 Quarterback Preview: Starts, sits, streamers, DFS plays and more

There are three quarterbacks that my weekly Fantasy Football projections have been slow to buy-in on: Drake Maye, Daniel Jones, and Sam Darnold. All three have played mostly awesome football, but for one reason or another, I have struggled to fully buy into them. For one, Drake Maye, I no longer have any reservations at all. He has fully convinced me that he is a very good QB already, and he will be inside my top 10 most weeks. This week, he checks in at QB8 in the early rankings, and even I think that seems a little low. But the funny thing about Week 7 is that even without Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, it is a very good week at QB. Because of that, Jones and Darnold are still ranked outside the top 12.

The problem in projecting both Jones and Darnold is the same: passing volume. Jones is averaging 30 pass attempts per game and has only topped that number twice. Darnold is averaging just 26.8 pass attempts per game. That is a huge problem if you don't run a lot. Darnold not running is no surprise, but Jones has been all over the place, with three games with five attempts or more, and two games with just one. Now you may be wondering why I am saying that you have to throw a lot if Jones and Darnold haven't, but have still been good. Well, that's because Darnold leads the NFL at 9.6 yards per pass attempt (career 7.1) and Jones is averaging an elite 8.3 as well (career 6.6). As a rule, I don't project QBs over eight yards per attempt unless I believe they are elite passers or they are facing a terrible defense. The defenses Jones and Darnold face this week have been two of the four best against QBs this year.. 

Let's get to the rest of the preview:

Week 6 QB Preview

• 9.6 -- Opposing QBs have scored 9.6 FPPG against the Texans, the best mark in the league.
• 168.76 -- Patrick Mahomes has scored 13 more Fantasy points than any other player in Fantasy this season. And now he gets Rashee Rice back.
• 6 -- Drake Maye is averaging six rush attempts per game. That ground production has boosted his scoring by more than four Fantasy points per game.
• 54.5 -- The Cowboys and Commanders over/under is set at 54.5, which would be the highest of the young season. I am not sure it is high enough.
• 24.0 -- The Bears have given up the fifth-most FPPG to QBs. Spencer Rattler could be in play.
• 36 -- The Broncos held Justin Fields, Jalen Hurts, and Daniel Jones to a combined 36 rushing yards in three games. Jaxson Dart has at least 50 rushing yards in each of his first three starts.
• 6.0% -- Mac Jones has a 6.0% off-target rate, second best to Sam Darnold amongst qualified passers.
• 3.23 -- Justin Fields is once again averaging a league-high 3.23 seconds holding on to the ball. He seems to have regressed in this area.

Adds/Streamers (QB Preview)

Aaron Rodgers QB PIT Pittsburgh • #8 Age: 41 • Experience: 21 year Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ CIN PIT -5.5 O/U 43.5 OPP VS QB 25th QB RNK 13th ROSTERED 39% YTD Stats PAYDS 1021 RUYDS 12 TD 10 INT 3 FPTS/G 19.6 Rodgers has faced a difficult schedule over the last month, and gets the Packers in Week 8, so a one-week reprieve against the Bengals should feel like a layup. The Bengals are surrendering 7.95 yards per pass attempt and have given up multiple passing touchdowns in four of their last five games. Rodgers' 7.4 yards per attempt is his best mark since 2021, and he is still producing TDs at a high rate like he almost always has.

Spencer Rattler QB NO New Orleans • #2 Age: 25 • Experience: 2 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ CHI CHI -5.5 O/U 46.5 OPP VS QB 28th QB RNK 23rd ROSTERED 16% YTD Stats PAYDS 1217 RUYDS 143 TD 6 INT 1 FPTS/G 16.3 Spencer Rattler hasn't been flashy this year, but he has played close to mistake-free football. He has completed 68% of his passes, thrown just one interception, and taken just 11 sacks despite the fact that his time to pressure (2.4 seconds) is tied for the third lowest mark in the league. This week, he faces a Bears defense that ranks in the bottom third of the league in sacks and pressure rate. Against this defense, just playing solid football can turn into 20 Fantasy points in a hurry.

One To Stash (QB Preview)

Jaxson Dart QB NYG N.Y. Giants • #6 Age: 22 • Experience: Rookie Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ DEN DEN -7 O/U 40.5 OPP VS QB 2nd QB RNK 18th ROSTERED 57% YTD Stats PAYDS 508 RUYDS 167 TD 6 INT 2 FPTS/G 13.4 There is no way I am starting Dart against the Broncos. There is no way I am dropping Dart either. He's shown us the profile of a must-start Fantasy QB, but a lot of that has been with his legs, and the Broncos have bottled up running QBs all year. Stash Dart for one more week, or pick him up if he is still available in your league.

Top DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Dak Prescott QB DAL Dallas • #4 Age: 32 • Experience: 10 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs WAS WAS -1.5 O/U 54.5 OPP VS QB 24th PROJ PTS 25.9 QB RNK 2nd YTD Stats PAYDS 1617 RUYDS 49 TD 14 INT 3 FPTS/G 24.9 We're expecting the Cowboys to get CeeDee Lamb back, which makes Prescott my number one QB for the week. They have an implied total of 28.5 as of Tuesday, and I agree this could be the highest-scoring game of the year. Prescott has averaged more than 38 attempts per game this year, and the return of Lamb should boost his efficiency.

Contrarian DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Justin Fields QB NYJ N.Y. Jets • #7 Age: 26 • Experience: 5 yrs. Fields has three games with at least 25 FanDuel points this season. He has two games with fewer than five. Has there ever been a more obvious DFS tournament play? Of course, since he's coming off one of those bad games and likely to be without Garrett Wilson, his roster rate will be minuscule. He could justify his cost without doing much as a passer at all.

My full set of Week 7 Fantasy football projections for every position is now available on SportsLine. You'll find them here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 5. Projected stats for all starting quarterbacks are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.