5th Down - Week 7

[Corey]

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Quarterbacks - By:fantasyguru

MUST START: QB Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints  
The Skinny: Saints QB Drew Brees enters Week 7 against the Colts with a couple of impressive streaks. He has thrown for at least 350 yards in each of his last four contests and has gone an NFL-record 26 games with 20-plus completions. Indianapolis enters Sunday ranked 18th in the league against the pass, giving up nearly 256 yards per contest, and have allowed an average of 19.3 Fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.

MUST BENCH: QB Mark Sanchez, New York Jets
The Skinny: Sanchez has displayed better accuracy at home this season, completing 57 of 93 passes for 718 yards. The young QB has thrown for five touchdowns and three interceptions while posting a 89.8 passer rating during the team's three wins. Sanchez, whose nine total touchdown passes ranks eighth in the NFL, could struggle against the Chargers' defense that has permitted only 179.6 yards per game. San Diego is also yielding just 15.6 Fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. I'd sit him this week.

SLEEPER: QB Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears
Bears QB Jay Cutler will be up against the 26th ranked pass defense in the NFL in Week 7, when he travels to London to take on the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay is allowing an average of 276 passing yards per game and have given up 10 touchdown passes, tied for third most in the NFL. The Bucs have intercepted just five passes this season with three of them coming in Week 6 against Drew Brees of the Saints. They rank just 23rd in the league in sacks and do not appear to present Cutler with an unfavorable matchup.

Running Backs - By: JMACisBACK

Must Start- Arian Foster, Houston Texans
Last year he was a consensus must start each and every week, this season he is off to a so so start( at best) due to injuries, AJ being out, etc. This week look for him to get back to the Arian we loved last year, if we owned him. I see him torching the TEN defense for over 100 yards rushing this week, and at least 1 score, with an additional 4-5 catches for another 40 plus yards, making him the PPR beast we had hoped for when many of us selected him in the top 3 of drafts this season.

Must Bench - Peyton Hillis, Cleveland Browns
In addition to being a question mark, he just has not looked like the same back of last year. One year wonder maybe?? Time will tell, but I am not nor never have been sold on this back myself. he has too many question marks heading into this week to put your turst into him as a starter. Move and find other options if you can( Also Jahvid Best is a question mark this weekend as well so keep tabs on his situation)

Sleeper- DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys
Felix Jones is out, Tashard Choice is anything but spectacular and Murray looked pretty darn good last week when he took over for Jones. STL is brutal vs the run and the Dallas staff seems to be losing some confidence in Romo , so look for them to take advantage of the soft STL def and run Murray early and often and when he is not running look for him to be a nice check down option for Romo as well. He could put up 75 yards on the ground, with another 40-50 through the air and a score as well this weekend. Take the gamble and put him in your lineup this week.

Wide Receivers - By: zadelstein

Must Start: Eric Decker, Denver Broncos

I try to pick a player every week that is not an obvious start every week.  Eric Decker has had an up and down year, mostly because of the up and down year in Denver. But with Brandon Lloyd gone, and Tebow now solidified at QB, Decker should get a bigger piece of the pie.  This week, the Broncos are going up against the Dolphins coming off of a bye, in what will be a homecoming for Tim Tebow.  The dolphins are giving up 24 fantasy points a game to opposing recievers.  I expect Decker to get at least double digit targets and catch a majority of them, giving him at least 10 fantasy points in standard scoring leagues.

Must sit: Jacoby Ford, Oakland Raiders :OAK-NFL:

So in the past 2 days, a QB has come out of retirement, and been named the starter...and its not Brett Favre!!!  Carson Palmer is taking over the offense of the Raiders with just 4 days to learn the entire system.  This cant bode well for the wide recievers, but especially for Jacoby Ford who is just getting back to 100% from his hamstring injury.  While I think it is possible for Ford to get some decent points going up against a very bad Chiefts secondary, I would take a wait and see approach.  If it is not a vital sign for you, observe the first week of the new Raiders offense and see what the future holds.

Sleeper: Kevin Walter, Houston Texans

With Andre Johnson out for another week, Kevin Walter takes over the #1 reciever role for the Texans once again.  Although the Texans have had trouble getting the ball to recievers lately, the have had success in the past throwing the ball against the tough Titans defense.  This is a must win game for the Texans as they are in a 2 game skid and doing everything they can to get back on track.  I expect Walter to see double digit targets this game as the Texans go for a division win.

Tight ends - By: Jake

Must Start: TE Jimmy Graham, New Orleans Saints

Nothing changing here from last week. Graham is Brees' go to guy so far this season, and plays a weak Colts passing defense. Expect another 100 yard game, as he is averaging 103 yards per game this season.

Must bench: Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers

The Chargers appear to be pushing him to start, but I would avoid.  Gates is a great player even when he isn't 100%, but the risk seems too high for the reward against a stout Jets defense.  I would go with safer options like Tony Gonzalez, Owen Daniels and Dallas Clark.

Sleeper: Fred Davis, Washington Redskins

With Chris Cooley out, Davis was a favorite targer of Rex Grossman.  With John Beck the starting QB now, expect a lot of short throws and check downs, which is right up Davis' alley.  I would expect 5 catches and around 50-60 yards with hopefully a TD this week against Carolina.

Defenses - By: Eric

Must Start: DEF Green Bay Packers
The Minnesota Vikings are finally fed up with Donavan McNabb’s shenanigans, so they decide to throw rookie QB Christian Ponder to the “Pack”. This is good news for the Packers. They may not be the best against the pass (11 INTS) but they should be alright in stopping Ponder this week and possibly get a shutout or at least hold them to 10 pts or less.

Must Bench: DEF Indianapolis Colts
This defense has never been great and probably shouldn’t be owned in any league. They have allowed over 23 points in every game this season and have only 3 INS and 4 FR all season. You be better off starting the 49ers (bye week) defense this week than the Colts atrocious D.

Sleeper:DEF Carolina Panthers
Ok so I might be a bit biased on this matchup this week, but John Beck will be getting the start for a benched Rex Grossman. 4 of their 6 games have come against top 10 QB’s (Rodgers, Brees, Cutler and Ryan) so if you are struggling looking for a deep sleeper, the Panthers D might be your choice.