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Week 7 is here, and we've got some more bold predictions for you this week. They include Dameon Pierce, Matt Ryan and Gerald Everett.
For those who are not familiar, each week of the NFL season, we'll be providing some fun player predictions for fantasy football. While we wouldn't expect these things to happen, we also feel it's within the range of outcomes.
These bold predictions are fun and potentially edgy and should not alter your strategy for setting fantasy football lineups, though you might have fun if you use them to make an interesting DFS lineup. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading. Good luck, RotoBallers!
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Dameon Pierce...
Gets 30 touches in Week 7
Dameon Pierce's volume was a slight concern earlier in the season, but we've definitely reached a point where that's no longer the case, as he's had 20 or more carries in two of the last three games, including 26 carries against the Jaguars in Week 5.
Now, that volume hasn't always led to a ton of production. Last week, Pierce's 26 carries weren't enough for him to hit the 100-yard mark, as he finished with 99 yards. His best game this season from a yardage perspective was in Week 4, when he had 131 yards.
This week, I think we see that workload continue to rise. My bold prediction for Pierce is that he gets at least 30 touches on Sunday against the Raiders.
This isn't really about the matchup. On paper, the Raiders set up better to be a team that you beat through the air, not on the ground. Teams average 25.8 rushing attempts per game against them, for instance. But Houston isn't a "normal" team. Vegas allows the sixth-most net yards per pass attempt, which leads me to this theory: the Texans will be efficient moving the ball through the air, but because the team doesn't want to overwork Davis Mills, they'll use Pierce a lot to set things up. Throw in that they allow the fifth-most receiving yards to running backs and I think we get a big one from Pierce in all phases, especially considering his uptick in targets the last two weeks.
Matt Ryan...
Leads the league in passing yards again in Week 7
The Colts take on the Titans this week, who have allowed 304.6 passing yards per game so far. No other team is allowing their opponents to average over 300 passing yards per game.
That's reason enough to consider whoever faces the Titans this week to be a strong fantasy option, but I'm taking it a step further: Colts quarterback Matt Ryan will lead the NFL in passing yards this week—again. Why? Because he's been throwing the heck out of the football.
And I don't mean that as an indication of how good he's throw. I just mean that the volume is up there. Ryan threw 58 passes last week, finishing with 389 yards, the top mark in the NFL. Ryan has thrown 50 or more passes twice now, and he has another game against the Broncos where threw 41 times.
In his first meeting with the Titans, Ryan threw the ball 37 times. But those 37 passes turned into 356 yards, which ranked third in the NFL that week behind Tom Brady and Jared Goff.
The Colts are letting Matt Ryan cook. And hey: it has them 3-1 over the last four games, so I imagine they'll keep it up, which is why I predict that Matt Ryan will be the first quarterback this season to lead the league in passing yards in back-to-back weeks.
Gerald Everett...
Finishes as a top-three fantasy tight end in Week 7
While we're on the subject of a player having a good game because the defense he's facing is struggling, let's look at Gerald Everett from the Chargers.
Everett already has two finishes as a top five fantasy tight end, so this might not be the boldest of takes, but the fact that he was TE51 in Week 5 and TE21 in Week 6 suggests that him achieving a top three finish this week is a big shift from what he's been doing lately.
But the Chargers get to face the Seahawks this week, who have allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends by a pretty wide margin. The only team to allow more receiving yards to the position is Arizona, and the Cardinals have already played their seventh game.
To dig deeper, I took a look at PFF's weekly finishes chart to see how tight ends are doing each game against the Seahawks:
| Week # | Player Name |
PPR Finish |
Current Overall |
| 1 | Albert Okwuegbunam | TE16 | TE58 |
| 2 | Ross Dwelley | TE12 | TE54 |
| 3 | Kyle Pitts | TE6 | TE23 |
| 4 | T.J. Hockenson | TE1 | TE6 |
| 5 | Taysom Hill, so there's a caveat here | TE2 | TE9 |
| 5 (non-Taysom) | Adam Trautman | TE9 | TE35 |
| 6 | Zach Ertz | TE8 | TE3 |
Even with the weird Taysom week in there that might skew the numbers a bit, you can see that the Seahawks have hemorrhaged points to tight ends this season. The worst finish was in Week 1 with Albert O, while only Ertz failed to have a weekly finish that was better than his overall spot in the tight end rankings.
As for Everett this week, he's currently the TE8 overall with three top 10 finishes, so he won't have as far to go to have a big game as someone like Ross Dwelley had to.
Also of note here: Keenan Allen has been limited in practice with a hamstring injury. Donald Parham has a concussion. Josh Palmer has a concussion. Everett might be heading for a huge target share this week.
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