The NFL heads into Week 7. Once again we have an International Game in England (Los Angeles Rams vs. Jacksonville Jaguars) and two Monday Night Football games (Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Detroit Lions and the Houston Texans vs. Seattle Seahawks). Personally, I am not a fan of this schedule. Last week we had two Monday Night Football games, two MLB Playoff games and I wanted to watch the Philadelphia Flyers season opening hockey game. I almost short-circuited trying to keep up with two TVs with YouTube Multi-View on each and the hockey game on my lap-top. I made it through it and I am ready to do it again this weekJ.
Here are my picks for the NFL Week 7….
DRAFTKINGS INTERNATIONAL SHOWDOWN PICKS
DRAFTKINGS NFL CASH CONTEST
QUARTERBACK: I was all ready to play Jayden Daniel as my Cash Contest QB and then it was announced that his two top WRs (Deebo Samuel Jr. and Terry McClaurin) will miss the game and his TE (Zach Ertz) is questionable to play. That is too many weapons missing for the Commanders, so I will pivot to DAK PRECOTT. He has been one of the best QBs in Fantasy Football this year. The Cowboys can score on any team in the league and their defense will allow enough points to keep the Cowboys Offense with the foot on the gas pedal. Prescott should score 25+ DK Points Sunday.
RUNNINGBACKS: I thought about paying up for Jonathan Taylor this week, but there is not a $1K difference between Taylor and JOSH JACOBS. I will take the discount and play the Packer’s RB. Jacobs has been a TD machine and he is starting to become more involved in the passing game. Jacobs has a good chance to be to highest-scoring RB on the slate Sunday…. QUINSHON JUDKINS will be the second RB in my Cash Contest lineup. The Dolphins have given up the fourth-most DK Points to the RB Position and the most over the last two weeks. The Browns should run the ball a lot and try to play good defense in order to beat the Dolphins Sunday.
WIDE RECEIVERS: ROME ODUNZE has been one of the best WRs in Fantasy Football this year. He did not score well on Monday Night Football last week, but that could have changed if he did not have a TD called back because of a penalty. Odunze should get back on track at home vs. a leaky Saints Defense… You probably will not find a person more happy to see RASHEE RICE back than me (Yes, I’m a Chiefs fan). OK, maybe Patrick Mahomes is more excited about the return of Rice. I follow the Chiefs closely and their coaching staff said that Rice will not be eased into the offense. He is going to get a lot of work. Rice should score well in his first game back from his suspension… CHRIS OLAVE is back in my Cash Contest lineup. I have played him almost every week this year and he has not let me down. The Saints vs. Bears game has a good chance to be high-scoring. Olave is second in the NFL in targets and 5th in receptions. He should be busy again Sunday vs. the Bears.
TIGHT END: You could save some salary this week and take a chance with Harold Fannin Jr. or Mason Taylor, but I do not trust the Browns Offense enough to use two players from their team. I do not trust the JETS passing game as well, so I will take a chance with MICHAEL MAYER. He has averaged 10 DK Points per game with Brock Bowers out of the lineup. The Raiders will have to throw a lot Sunday in order to keep up with the Chiefs. That means a lot of targets for Mayer.
FLEX POSITION: The Commanders will be without most of their pass-catchers, so that means a lot of work for JACORY CROSKEY-MERRITT (Bill). The Cowboys have given up the third-most points to the RB Position this year. I expect more work for Bill out of the backfield as a pass-catcher too Sunday.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS: My Defense/ST in the Cash Contest lineup will be the PANTHERS DEFENSE/ST. The JETS are in a tight battle with the Titans for the worst offense in the NFL. They will be without Garrett Wilson this week, so the Panthers can stack the line of scrimmage to stop Breece Hall and Justin Fields. I just do not see a path for a lot of points for the JETS Offense this week. The Panthers are one of the best “punt plays” at the defensive position on this slate.
** UPDATED DRAFTKINGS NF CASH CONTEST CONTEST**
Adam Shefter from ESPN reports that RB JOSH JACOBS is a true game-time decesion. I still plan to play the lineup listed above and I will switch Jacobs to SAQUON BARKLEY if Jacobs is out. I feel more confertable playing the lineup listed below…
DRAFTKINGS NFL TOURNAMENT CONTEST
TOURNAMENT STACK: The Chiefs have the highest implied total on the slate at 28.5 Points. The Chiefs are averaging 31.6 points per game since Xavier Worthy returned to the lineup. Now they get Rashee Rice back from suspension to go with Travis Kelce, Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Tryquon Thornton. This may be a homer pick, but I just cannot pass up the PATRICK MAHOMES + XAVIER WORTHY + RASHEE RICE triple stack against the Raiders. I will run the stack back with MICHAEL MAYER. I just think Mayer is a good pick for Cash or Tournament Contest lineups in Week 7.
RUNNINGBACKS: I need a piece of the Commanders vs. Cowboys game in my lineup. I will do it by playing JAVONTE WILLIAMS. Williams has been one of the best RBs in Fantasy Football this year. He is averaging 19.3 DK Points per game. Juggernaut Javonte should have a good chance to score 20+ DK Points Sunday…
WIDE RECEIVERS: I have a piece of the Commanders’ Offense in my lineup with Jacory Croskey-Merritt, so now I need a piece of the Cowboys Offense. I will do so with CEEDEE LAMB. He returns to the Cowboys Offense this week and the reports out of Dallas are that he is 100% ready to go. Lamb is one of the best WRs in the NFL. He should score a lot of points in the shoot-out between the Commanders and Cowboys… The Commanders will be without Terry McCluarin and Deebo Samuel Jr. Someone has to catch the ball for the Commanders, so I will play LUKE MCCAFFREY. He has been a deep threat target for the Commanders and the Cowboys have been one of the best teams at allowing deep completions. McCaffrey is a good WR for the price.
RB + DEFENSE ST STACK: The QUINSHON JUDKINS + BROWNS DEFENSE/ST should be the best RB + Defense/ST stacks on the slate. The Dolphins have the worst run defense in the NFL and they are going to get a heavy dose of Judkins Sunday. The weather in Cleveland is expected to have winds over 30 MPH and heavy rain. The Browns should easily shut down the Dolphins Offense and be one of the highest scoring defenses on the slate.
DRAFTKINGS SNF SHOWDOWN PICKS
DRAFTKINGS MNF SHOWDOWN (TB vs. DET)
DRAFTKINGS MNF SHOWDOWN (HST vs. SEA)
Good luck this week!
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