Welcome to Week 7 of the fantasy football season! Let’s take a quick look how the fantasy wide receiver position has shaped up through the first six weeks, shall we? First off, Puka Nacua has been amazing, and leads all wide receivers in PPR scoring despite injuring his ankle last week and only catching two passes for 28 yards. We’ll see if he can get back next week, but if he can’t, there’s little doubt Jaxon Smith-Njigba will pass him up in scoring. Through six games he’s never dipped below 90 scrimmage yards, while absolutely going off the last two weeks for lines of 8/132/1 and 8/162/1. And this is happening on a team that wants to be run first. JSN’s target share is a league high 36%.
For the most part, there aren’t many receivers who have truly surprised us so far. George Pickens is WR4 on the season, but he was highly touted and CeeDee Lamb’s injury has thrust him into more work. Rookie Emeka Egbuka at WR6 overall has also seen a nice bump with injuries around him, but we also believed in his ability. Unfortunate a hamstring injury may sideline him.
Injuries may be the headline for receivers this season, as Malik Nabers, Tyreek Hill, CeeDee Lamb, Puka Nacua, Mike Evans, Jayden Reed, Ricky Pearsall, Quentin Johnston, Chris Godwin, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison Jr., Terry McLaurin, and Calvin Ridley have all injured right now. Zero RB is in shambles.
Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills
Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman
Nacua has had multiple in-game injuries, but has been able to play through them and continue his fantasy WR1 play. Unfortunately in Week 6 he did play through this ankle injury, but was more of a decoy than anything, as he just caught two passes for 28 yards on three targets. You know he is injured when he only gets three targets. We’ll see if he can get right ahead of their matchup in Jacksonville this Sunday, but the team does have a bye the following week. It might be smart to give him some extra time.
Wilson hyperextended his knee in Week 6 and will miss a “couple weeks,” per Adam Schefter. The Jets are dead in the water without Wilson, but they were with him as well. Mason Taylor, Breece Hall, and Justin Fields, if they let him keep starting, are about the only fantasy plays against a weak Panthers defense this week.
Pearsall hurt his knee in Week 4 against the Jaguars, but it seemed like he wasn’t going to miss much time. Unfortunately he’s now missed two games, while Jauan Jennings returned, but is playing through broken ribs. Pearsall hasn’t practiced since his injury, but hopefully that changes this week ahead of their SNF matchup with the Falcons.
Lamb rolled his ankle in Week 3 against the Bears and has missed Week’s 4, 5, and 6 so far. He has yet to practice, but reports do have him possibly returning this week to play the Commanders. George Pickens will continue to be the WR1 while he is out.
Quentin Johnston, Chargers
Johnston is dealing with a hamstring injury that kept him out of Week 6’s matchup with the Dolphins. He was able to get in limited practices all week, so there is some hope he’ll be able to return to face the Colts this week.
Terry McLaurin, Commanders
McLaurin suffered a quad injury in Week 3 against the Raiders, but wasn’t put on I.R. He has a chance to return this week in a great matchup with the Cowboys. Keep your eye on the practice reports this week.
Egbuka suffered a hamstring injury in Week 6 and was unable to return to the game. We would expect him to miss this week, but there’s no timetable at this point. They’ll do tests to judge just how severe the injury is and then we should have a better timeline.
With Egbuka and Chris Godwin likely out this week, the team really needs Evans to return from his hamstring injury. He suffered the injury in Week 3 and his timetable was set around 3-4 weeks. This will be Week 4 and his head coach believes he can practice this week. He remains iffy as they get ready for a Monday night clash with the Lions.
Marvin Harrison Jr., Cardinals
Harrison Jr. suffered a concussion in Week 6 and will need to clear concussion protocol to be able to play against the Packers in Week 7. Zay Jones was his replacement in Week 6 and had a productive game against the Colts.
Ridley suffered a hamstring injury in Week 6 and appears likely to miss at least a week and probably more. Van Jefferson played well in his stead, but isn’t likely to have much fantasy value moving forward.
Commanders at Cowboys (54.5)
Buccaneers at Lions (52.5)
Colts at Chargers (48.5)
Falcons at 49ers (47.5)
Dolphins at Browns (40.5)
Texans at Seahawks (40.5)
Giants at Broncos (40.5)
Patriots at Titans (41.5)
Highest implied individual team totals
Lions (29)
Chiefs (28.5)
Commanders (28)
Cowboys (26.5)
Bears (26)
Lowest implied individual team totals
Giants (16.8)
Raiders (17)
Titans (17.3)
Texans (18.5)
Bengals (18.5)
Raiders at Chiefs (-11.5)
Giants at Broncos (-7)
Patriots (-7) at Titans
Packers (-6.5) at Cardinals
