QB:
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs–Kansas City has the highest pass rate over expectation this season (thanks to its awful running game), and they get Rashee Rice back from suspension. Even better is that they play Las Vegas, who is likely missing Brock Bowers and possibly sitting out Jakobi Meyers in case they trade him. This feels like one of those games where Mahomes goes for 250+ passing yards and 2 TDs with maybe more, and he needs to be locked into all lineups.
Jayden Daniels, Commanders–Dallas has given up the most passing yards and the most passing TDs this season, as well as the most yards per passing attempt. With stats that bad, there is no way that Daniels is not a Visionary play. Washington needs a divisional win badly, and Daniels will certainly help them get one this week.
Caleb Williams, Bears–To their credit, the Saints run defense has been solid this season. On the other hand, their pass defense has been getting beaten on big plays, as we saw last week with Drake Maye, who torched the Saints secondary in the first half. Williams has looked better with Ben Johnson calling plays, and even if D.J. Moore misses the game, Luther Burden seems more than ready to step up. Put Williams down for 240 passing yards and a TD, and watch him score a rushing one as well.
Honorable Mention: Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert
RB:
Quinshon Judkins, Browns–Miami was just torched by Kimani Vidal, and now they play on the road in Cleveland, where the winds will be strong and the Browns will try to keep the ball out of Dillon Gabriel’s hands after letting him throw 52 times in Week 6. Judkins was severely underutilized last week, and Kevin Stefanski knows he needs to change that. Look for Judkins to get 100+ rushing yards and a TD in this disaster of a game.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Commanders–Fantasy football is a game of highs and lows. Going into the game against Chicago, Bill was a world beater. After having a poor game, fantasy managers might be questioning his role in the offense. That would be a huge mistake, as Dallas’ run defense is awful (did you see what Rico Dowdle did last week?), and Washington seems to play better when Bill is more involved. Lock him in for 80+ rushing yards and a TD.
Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots–Never ever underestimate the revenge factor and how it affects fantasy football. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was booted out of Tennessee after many good, solid years of coaching. You think for a second that he hasn’t circled this game on his calendar from the time the schedule came out? He’s going to run it down the Titans’ throats, and Stevenson feels like a lock for 1 rushing TD and maybe even 2.
Honorable Mention: Breece Hall, Jonathan Taylor
WR:
CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys– It feels like forever since we’ve seen Lamb play, but he’s expected back this week. What will help Lamb even more is the presence of George Pickens, who has been so sensational over these past weeks that opposing defenses won’t be able to double-cover Lamb like they have in the past. Look for Dak Prescott to get Lamb heavily involved right away, as he knows that he needs to keep him happy in order for Dallas to play at its highest level. Against Washington’s porous secondary, Lamb should have an excellent chance at 100 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lions–As we’ve learned over the past few seasons, defensive coverage means everything when it comes to matchups and fantasy football. We all know that Tampa is one of the toughest teams to run against, and we also know that Tampa plays predominantly a Cover 2 defense, which is zone coverage. One of the top receivers in the NFL against the zone is St. Brown, and he always seems to carve up Tampa’s defense. If you’ve got him this week, he feels like the hammer that’s going to get you the win. Put him down for 20+ fantasy points.
Jaylen Waddle, Dolphins– The game in Cleveland is expected to be very windy and difficult to throw, and that might scare some people, but not me. Cleveland is a very hard team to run against, and they allow a lot of short passes and play a ton of man coverage. That is perfect for Waddle, who is rumored to be on the way out of Miami sometime soon. This could be the game that they feature him in to try to get his trade value up even more. Put him down for 8 to 10 receptions for 100 plus yards.
Honorable Mention: Rashee Rice, Rashid Shaheed
TE:
Trey McBride, Cardinals–It doesn’t look like Kyler Murray is going to play once again this week, and even if he does, he’s going to need to lean on McBride more than ever. What happens with Arizona is that when they fall behind, they start peppering McBride with targets to help catch up. Marvin Harrison hasn’t been confirmed to even be playing yet, which makes McBride Arizona’s number one target for sure. Lock him in for about 14 to 16 fantasy points.
Zach Ertz, Commanders– Statistics don’t really say that Ertz is a great play, but this is the highest scoring game on the slate by far, and Dallas has allowed the third highest catch percentage to opposing tight ends. With Terry McClaurin possibly coming back for his first game in quite some time and Deebo Samuel not 100% it feels like Daniels might rely more on Ertz than people think. I like Ertz to score a touchdown and definitely get a two-point conversion.
Mason Taylor, Jets– Let’s see.. the Panthers have allowed the most receiving yards to opposing tight ends; they’ve allowed the third most touchdowns to opposing tight ends; they’ve allowed the second highest yards per target to tight ends, and the fifth highest catch percentage to tight ends. What does that all equal? A great day for Mason Taylor, who might be the Jets number one receiving option with Garrett Wilson injured.
Honorable Mention: Harold Fannin, Michael Mayer
