Fantasy Football Week 7 Start / Sit

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It’s another depleting bye week in fantasy this weekend. We’re without New England, Philadelphia and, dare I say it with these other teams, Buffalo? Yes, no Fred Jackson or Steve Johnson this weekend. Tom Brady and Michael Vick owners need to find a solution at the QB slot and guys like Jay Cutler and Tim Tebow are disappearing off waiver wires quicker then it takes Brady to run the 2-minute drill. This is not a time to panic for those owners, rather capitalize on what’s available on the waiver wire. I’ll talk about a few QB’s still available in most leagues that will alleviate this bye week mess, as well as the start/sit for week 7.

Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs
Cassel is a QB whose name rarely garners “start-worthy” among fantasy circles. When it’s bye week folks, anything goes. Oakland has an abysmal secondary now that Nnamdi Asomugha is in Philadelphia. As bad as Cassel gets it, and believe me most of it’s justifiable, he has performed admirably the past few weeks. Throwing for 4 TDs and over 250 yards with no turnovers is a good day for anyone in the NFL. Take it or leave it, because this one could do a complete backflip on me like Victor Cruz did last week.

Matt Hasselbeck, Tennessee Titans
Hasselbeck has been someone who has flown under the radar most of the season. 16, 16, 18 and 18 are four pretty solid numbers to put up in his first four weeks. Most fantasy owners are taking that consistency to the bank and never looking back. Tennessee is not terrible in the secondary, but if the waiver wire is barren enough consider Hasselbeck as a nice fill in for a week.

Start’em

Earnest Graham, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This guy is 31-years-old and still having 100 yard rushing games in the NFL. A true marvel in modern football, as running backs seem to have only 4 or 5 years where it’s all there. Sigh. Sentiment aside, Graham is a solid RB 1 or RB 2 start this week. LeGarrette Blount is officially ruled out for Sunday’s contest against the Chicago Bears in London. Deploy at will.

DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys
With all the chaos and disarray in Dallas right now, it’s easy to believe the Murray is the person least likely to be impacted by it. Felix Jones just went down and Murray saw most of the action in his absence. Couple that with a juicy St. Louis Rams run defense and I believe you have yourself a pretty good week 7 play.

Santonio Holmes, New York Jets
Holmes has posted almost identical numbers the past two weeks by totaling over 60 yards and a TD each game. Mark Sanchez appears to have better protection and Holmes will be the direct beneficiary of that. Start him and expect double-digit production.

Darrius Heyward-Bey, Oakland Raiders
There are recent reports on espn.com saying that Carson Palmer is unlikely to start on Sunday against the Chiefs. This makes me more in favor of starting Heyward-Bey. Not that I have any beef with Palmer per-say, I just feel that throwing a QB who hasn’t practiced fully or played in an NFL game since last year is football suicide. Kyle Boller is clearly not the solution for the Raiders but from a fantasy perspective, it’s more comforting seeing Heyward-Bey receive passes from a QB he’s had at least a year of chemistry with. The target total for Heyward-Bey from the last three weeks is 4, 7 and 6. Don’t expect that to change against the Chiefs.

Sit’em

Mike Williams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
So the guy catches six balls for a whopping 60 yards and we’re supposed to automatically plug him back into the starter’s role? No way. If Williams has a good day, he hauls in a mediocre 10-12 fantasy points. I want a bigger productivity ceiling for my WR 2.

Percy Harvin, Minnesota Vikings
Harvin owners have had it up to here with his recent production and the real crime is that it’s not even Harvin’s fault. Will Christian Ponder come in and immediately propel Harvin back to “must-start” status? Well, that remains to be seen. In the meantime I’d monitor his performance on Sunday and consider him a week 8 start.

Shonn Greene, New York Jets
Is it a problem that I keep mentioning Greene in my weekly Start/Sit column? The answer is no. Greene returned to earth on Monday after his monstrous 14 fantasy points against New England in week 5. If you can’t pick up on my sarcasm here, I’ve done my best to lay it on. Greene will get the touches, 21 each of the last two games, but it’s what he does with those touches that screams pathetic. Stay tuned next week for a Greene replacement on this list, but only because he’s on a bye.

Montario Hardesty, Cleveland Browns
Whether Peyton Hillis is a go or not, Hardesty belongs on most fantasy benches this Sunday. If you’re that desperate that you need Hardesty’s 3.6 yards per carry, then by all means do what you need to do. However, guys like Maurice Morris and Jackie Battle are better plays at the FLEX.