Are You For Real? Fantasy Football Outlooks for Gardner Minshew, D'Onta Foreman, Josh Downs, more

Week 7 of the NFL is behind us and it's time to look ahead to next week's action. There were some surprising performances in the seventh week of the season, but were those surprising performances a sign of things to come for players?

Every week, I'll be looking at three to five NFL players whose numbers from the week before were better than expected. I'll be analyzing their games and making sense of what their showings mean in the larger scheme of things.

Below, you'll find an analysis of the biggest fantasy football surprises of Week 7. Are those surprising results a fact, i.e. a sign of good things to come, or a fiction, i.e. an anomalous result?

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Gardner Minshew, Indianapolis Colts

Last Week: QB3

With Anthony Richardson done for the year, the Colts are now Gardner Minshew II's team. There are good and bad things about that, but right now he's playing some good football.

Minshew has thrown for over 300 yards in back-to-back games, something he last did in 2020 with the Jaguars. On top of that, he has completed 65.2% of his pass attempts this season.

That's the good. The bad is what we saw two weeks ago against the Jags. Minshew's gunslinger mentality went a little far, with the former Wazzu quarterback throwing three picks.

As far as fantasy goes, Minshew's volume and the emergence of Josh Downs as a legitimate weapon for him means that he'll probably have some more 300-yard games ahead of him. He'll also probably have some more interceptions ahead of him. He's a QB2 play with plenty of upside and plenty of downside, a true boom-or-bust play.

Verdict: IDK, Fact and Fiction?

D'Onta Foreman, Chicago Bears

Last Week: RB1

There were times this season when D'Onta Foreman was a healthy scratch, but the Bears were without Roschon Johnson (concussion) and Khalil Herbert (ankle) is currently on IR, so Foreman wound up as the lead back this week. He had 16 carries for 89 yards and two touchdowns while also catching three passes for 31 yards and a score.

It was undoubtedly a great day for Foreman. However, I just don't know if it's really a sign of great things to come. For one, Foreman actually played fewer snaps than Darrynton Evans, who had 14 carries and three targets in the game. Even with Johnson and Herbert out, Foreman didn't really end up with a stranglehold on the lead role.

Johnson should be back in Week 8, which further complicates the situation for the Bears. Herbert will be back down the line as well. This is still arguably the NFL's messiest backfield and one good game from Foreman doesn't change that. He's startable in fantasy until Herbert is back, but this is a good moment to try selling high on Foreman.

Verdict: Fiction

Gus Edwards, Baltimore Ravens

Last Week: RB2

Remember all that Keaton Mitchell hype? The rookie was coming off the IR and there was some thought that he could emerge out of a disappointing backfield.

Instead, Mitchell has no carries yet, and Gus Edwards extended his streak of games with double-digit carries to six. With J.K. Dobbins out, Edwards and Justice Hill have shared this backfield, to the point where both played exactly 50% of the team's snaps this week.

Edwards had 14 carries for 64 yards and a touchdown this week, which are numbers that are pretty much in line with what you can expect from Edwards. He's a solid RB2/3 play who can get you 40-65 yards and sometimes fall into the end zone.

The thing he did this week that you can't usually expect: he had an 80-yard reception. Don't expect more of that. Edwards had three catches for 13 yards coming into this one. His career high in receptions came in 2020 when he caught nine passes. He won't finish as a high-end RB1 often (if ever again), but he's still a solid player who should be in your lineup, especially in standard leagues.

Verdict: Fact-ish

Josh Downs, Indianapolis Colts

Last Week: WR3

I've been telling people over in my wide receiver waiver wire column to add Josh Downs for three weeks now. Hopefully, you've already done that. If you hadn't before this week, I hope you woke up on Wednesday morning with Downs on your roster.

There is a difference between a guy being a must-add and a guy being a must-play. Josh Downs needs to be on your roster. Does he need to be in your fantasy lineup?

Short answer: yes. Downs has played three really good games in a row. This week, he caught five passes for 125 yards and a touchdown. The week before, he caught five passes for 21 yards and a touchdown—not a lot of yards, but he found the end zone, which is what really matters there. The week before, Downs had six catches for 97 yards.

He might still have the occasional bump in the road, but Downs is clearly the second option in this passing game. He won't be putting up WR1 numbers every week, but I think he's a strong WR3 play on a weekly basis.

Verdict: Fact

Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kansas City Chiefs

Last Week: WR6

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling had his best game of the season on Sunday against the Chargers, as he was targeted five times, catching three of those passes for 84 yards and a touchdown.

On one hand, we've been waiting for a Chiefs wide receiver to break out all year, so we probably can't just ignore when one has a big game, right? Valdes-Scantling was a huge part of Sunday's victory and he was third on the team in targets.

On the other hand, MVS has done next to nothing all season. This was the first time all season that he had more than two receptions. It was the first time since Week 2 that he even had more than one. Nothing about Valdes-Scantling's season suggests that this game was anything other than an anomaly.

MVS did play 69% of the team's snaps this week, his second-highest mark of the season. Even with that positive sign, I just don't see it. The team traded for Mecole Hardman this week, and I expect his role to grow going forward, which potentially takes snaps away from Valdes-Scantling. I'm just not buying this.

Verdict: Fiction

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