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The Denver Broncos are trending in the wrong direction at a rapid rate, and if something doesn’t change soon, it could lead to a big shift on the team. After losing four-straight games, the Broncos now find themselves on the road in Thursday Night Football matchup against a 1-5 Arizona Cardinals team.
While there should be a fair amount of solid fantasy football targets in this Week 7 game, one name who’s under the microscope is Broncos wideout Demaryius Thomas. Although Thomas has seen Case Keenum target him 43 times, he’s only tallied 330 yards on the year. Overall, the 30-year-old pass-catcher has underperformed this season.
Let’s take a deeper dive into the situation and decide whether the Broncos receiver is a start or sit against the Cardinals for fantasy owners.
Key Stats and Demaryius Thomas’ Fantasy Outlook
I’ll break down the matchup, recent production and a few other key numbers for Thomas in Week 7. All information on fantasy points and statistics for defense vs. position are from ESPN.
- Arizona Cardinals vs. wide receivers in 2018: 90 receptions, 979 yards, two touchdowns (No. 9 fewest fantasy points per game)
- Thomas played 73 percent of snaps in Week 6 but was out-snapped by Courtland Sutton 59-47 in Week 5, per Football Outsiders
- Thomas has seen 22 targets in the past four games compared to 39 for Emmanuel Sanders and 19 for Sutton
- Thomas expected to draw coverage from Patrick Peterson in shadow coverage
The matchup isn’t overly exciting as Thomas is very touchdown-dependent. If he doesn’t find the end zone, he’s struggled to do much for fantasy owners. With a looming matchup against Peterson highly likely, it makes his outlook somewhat bleak.
Should You Start or Sit Demaryius Thomas?
I’m going to pull the “sit” card on Thomas this week due to his matchup not only with Peterson but against a tough Cardinals defense who doesn’t allow many touchdowns to wideouts. If Arizona were strong against receivers but still allowed touchdowns, Thomas would at least be on my radar.
The only spot where I’d consider playing him this week would be 14-team leagues or larger. Even then, I’d prefer to look at other options first. The Broncos wideout has upside, but he’s seen single-digit targets in each of the past four games and failed to top 65 yards in any of those games.
He’s a sit for me this week unless you don’t have anyone remotely close to worth playing over him, which is tough to believe based on some of the names on most waiver wires.
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