Fantasy football Week 7: Injury news and pivots, risky starts and a tough Davante Adams decision New York Times (Online) Andy Behrens When the Pilgrims first celebrated National Tight End Day back in 1626, Goodman Celek famously scored three touchdowns and kicked two field goals for Plymouth against rival Weymouth while Goodman Heap responded with four touchdowns of his own. And with that, a great holiday was born. Four centuries later, National Tight End Day is still going strong. Indeed, it is one of our most cherished traditions. We hope you're able to spend Sunday enjoying a three-catch, 35-yard, two-touchdown performance from the most volatile spot in your fantasy lineup, in the truest spirit of the season. This article is from The Athletic 's NFL newsletter. Sign up here to receive it directly in your inbox. It's free to subscribe. WR Puka Nacua (LAR) exited Thursday's practice early after suffering a calf injury and was held out of Friday's session. Uh-oh. The Rams were already shorthanded in the receiving room with WR Davante Adams and TE Terrance Ferguson both on IR. Nacua's injury is believed to be minor, but we'll need to watch his status until game time on Sunday. He's officially questionable . Depth chart receivers Konata Mumpfield and Jordan Whittington could have shockingly large roles this week. WR Mike Evans (SF) has already been ruled out with Achilles tendinitis, leaving the fantasy potential of the Niners' receiving corps a bit of a mystery this week. RB Saquon Barkley (PHI) returned to practice, giving him a clear shot to return for Monday night's home matchup with Dallas. The Eagles opened the week with one of the longest injury reports you will ever see . WR DeVonta Smith (hamstring) and TE Dallas Goedert (knee) have not yet practiced this week. QB Lamar Jackson (BAL) has returned to practice, but won't take the field in Week 7; he's not yet at full health . Tyler Huntley will start at quarterback for Baltimore. QB Baker Mayfield (TB) practiced in full on Friday and is “ready to go” according to head coach Todd Bowles. Mayfield is officially questionable for the matchup at Carolina. Unfortunately, WR Emeka Egbuka (concussion, foot) has been ruled out. If rookie receiver Ted Hurst III is ever gonna break out, Sunday would be the perfect time. RB Quinshon Judkins (CLE) is back in action this week after being a near-miss last Sunday. Judkins has had a quiet season to this point, but he gets a friendly matchup this week at Tennessee. TE Tyler Warren (IND) will be sidelined again, not yet recovered from his groin injury. Indianapolis is headed into a brutal matchup with Minnesota, so don't go looking for opportunities to start any lesser Colts tight ends. RB Jeremiyah Love (ARI) will rest his injured ankle for another week, which means Tyler Allgeier and Bam Knight will once again handle the rushing workload for the Cardinals. This week's matchup against Denver is messy, so keep your expectations modest for the team's entire offense. WR Rashee Rice (KC) was unable to practice on Friday and has been ruled out for the Seattle matchup, so we are likely headed for another week in which Xavier Worthy is the team's leading receiver. WR Adonai Mitchell and RB Breece Hall (NYJ) returned to practice this week, a positive development for the team but also a complication for fantasy managers relying on Omar Cooper and/or Braelon Allen . Mitchell is expected to play in Week 7 while Hall is questionable, possibly a game day call . RB Brian Robinson (ATL) is dealing with a hamstring injury and was ruled out for Sunday's game against the Niners. Atlanta will elevate RB Khalil Herbert from the practice squad to play behind Bijan Robinson. RB Jordan Mason (MIN) put in a full week of practices, returning from a fractured thumb and has been activated off IR. 📈 Week 7 ranks : Jake Ciely has you covered with ranks for all positions (except kicker, which he finds too challenging irrelevant). He also hits you with seasonally appropriate rankings of Halloween-themed television episodes. 📊 Trade value chart : Are you desperate to trade away a player on their bye week, but you're not sure if it's a horrible idea? Joseph Bryan will let you know if this is the time to buy, sell or hold. 📱 Fantasy hub : Would you perhaps be interested in having all The Athletic's fantasy insights at your fingertips? If so, please check out our all-new interface simply by opening The Athletic app. 🛏️ Sleepers : No exaggeration, this is one of the most audacious collections of names Brad Evans has ever foisted on the fantasy public in his long history of bold takes. He has truly outdone himself. 🧠 Lineup intel : Fade Patrick Mahomes? Dalton Del Don is doing it, at least for a week. Dalton also does his best to make you feel like a genius for drafting Matthew Golden. 🤖 Fantasy Concierge : Finally, it's an AI tool that everyone can get behind. The Fantasy Concierge dispenses start-sit advice, relying exclusively on The Athletic's original fantasy content, NFL reporting and Rotowire projections. If your Flex spot has you flummoxed, give it a try. Each bye week in the NFL is terrible in its own way. The one we're currently dealing with is particularly problematic at quarterback. This weekend, we need to manage around the absences of the season's overall QB1 (Josh Allen) and QB5 (Trevor Lawrence). Thousands of you are seeking placeholders at the highest-scoring position in fantasy football. Unexpectedly, two of the oldest quarterbacks in the game — 38-year-old Kirk Cousins and 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers — have actually been among the most productive in the league through six weeks. Cousins is tied for the NFL lead in passing touchdowns (14), in fact, and Rodgers isn't far behind (12). These guys should be cashing checks from Copper Fit, but instead they're still cooking NFL defenses. Wild. Gotta say, their year-to-date performances do not seem entirely fluky. Cousins threw an absolute missile of a touchdown pass last Sunday, a ball that traveled roughly 60 yards in the air: A ridiculous throw for anyone, but shocking for a gentleman of Kirk's age and mileage. Both Cousins and Rodgers have been heavily added in recent days across all major fantasy platforms, a reflection of the quality of their play and the difficulties of the Week 7 landscape. It's rough out there. We asked Jake Ciely which dusty antique QB he preferred, both for the week ahead and the balance of the season … Rodgers gets the Saints this week while Cousins faces the Rams. That's a pretty easy Rodgers benefit. I'll take him for the rest of the season, too. It's not just that head coach Mike McCarthy has revitalized Rodgers (as much as anyone could at this point), it's that Rodgers doesn't have the No. 1 pick from the 2026 draft waiting in the wings. Even if the Steelers and Raiders have the same record and playoff odds in Week 12, the Raiders would be extremely close to giving rookie QB Fernando Mendoza the starting gig. The Steelers will need to be eliminated before we see a possible change at quarterback. K.C. Joyner reviews the best and worst individual matchups each week at The Athletic, identifying must-plays and potential duds. Let's flag a few key names for Week 7 : 🚦 Green light. Go! 🛑 Exercise caution In addition to being one of the most accurate rankers in the fantasy business, Jake Ciely is also a connoisseur of forgotten 1990s niche culture. You never really know what he's gonna rank, but you can be sure he'll do it thoughtfully and with detail. Also, you can be certain his ranks will break with consensus opinion. Here are a few such examples from Week 7 : Short of actually winning a championship, there's no feeling in fantasy as satisfying as finally dropping the player who has repeatedly disappointed you. Here are three duds who can hit the discard pile: Over the past four weeks, TE Tyler Higbee of the Rams has hauled in 22 passes for 234 yards and one TD on 27 targets. If those numbers don't strike you as useful, then you clearly have not been wandering the tight end wilderness this season. Congrats. Not everyone has been as lucky as you. Higbee was already benefiting from the absence of Terrance Ferguson (IR-ankle) and now Davante Adams (hamstring) has been removed from the equation. Puka Nacua also picked up a calf injury in practice on Thursday. The Rams could soon become unusually reliant on junior varsity receivers. Expect Sean McVay's team to flood the field with tight ends in the weeks ahead, living in 13-personnel. Higbee should be considered a top-10 (8?) tight end until further notice. How is it possible that you have still not joined The Athletic's fantasy football Discord? Get in here. Our analysts are active every day. It's free, friendly and incredibly useful. Here's a sample question from the Thursday expert chat: Looney Legion: I have Brock Purdy and Tyler Shough, and I'm playing matchups. I snagged Bryce Young this week since the other guys are both on bye in Week 8 (and most other managers are struggling at QB). I'm trying to decide if I should roll with three QBs (two on bench) to get through the bye. Or should I drop Purdy or Shough now to pick up Jordyn Tyson? What are your thoughts on those three QBs rest-of-season? In a league in which Young was still unattached entering Week 7, it is pretty clearly not necessary to carry even two quarterbacks. Three on the roster is a wild indulgence. Right now, Purdy is playing the position at the highest possible level in both fantasy and reality. He's the overall QB2 in our game and an obvious real-life MVP candidate. Shough's play has been far less consistent, although he's definitely paying the fantasy bills. Let's engage one of those managers who happen to be struggling at quarterback and make a deal. I'd be equally happy to either roll with Purdy alone for the remainder of the season or with a Shough-Young platoon. If you can package Purdy with a WR2 in order to land one of the truly elite first-round receivers, get it done. Or maybe you should make a play for Josh Allen while he's on his bye. Bottom line: You need to use this QB surplus to enhance your starting roster in some meaningful way. When you enter Week 9, let's be sure to have no more than two quarterbacks on the squad.