Getty Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs
Thursday night football graces us with an exhilarating divisional matchup this week. The Kansas City Chiefs travel to face off against the Denver Broncos in hopes of getting back to their winning ways. Thursday night also offers us a plethora of difficult start-sit decisions for our fantasy football lineups.
Patrick Mahomes has seen his struggles the past few weeks, however, a struggling Mahomes is still better than about 99% of the quarterbacks out there. He will undoubtedly be in any team’s lineup who is lucky enough to have him on their roster. Mahomes’ top two targets, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, are other players whose starting status should go without saying.
Players such as Mahomes, Hill, and Kelce are obvious locks for your Week 7 lineup. Below we will present you with the answer for the more difficult decisions looming over your fantasy roster. Check out our Thursday night football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em column below, and get a head start on the competition this week.
- *If you’re in search for more fantasy start, sit advice check out our position start ’em, sit ’em columns below.
- Week 7 Start-Sits by position:
- [ QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | DEF | Ks]
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Start ‘Em
Start of the Night: Phillip Lindsay (DEN, RB)
After averaging less than 40 yards per game rushing in the first two weeks of the season, Lindsay owners were sure that the sophomore slump was underway for the Broncos running back. Have no fear, because Lindsay has bounced back in a major way. He has averaged 23.1 points in three of his past four games. Expect his success to continue against a Kansas City defense that allows 24+ fantasy points per game to running backs this season, the eighth-most in the NFL.
LeSean McCoy (KC, RB)
McCoy was brought into Kansas City to be a change of pace to “starting” running back Damien Williams. However, he’s quickly proven to be the more productive option (more on this later). McCoy lead all KC running backs in touches a week ago, out-touching Williams by eight total touches. Denver has had their struggles containing RBs both in the ground game and in the passing game. The Broncos are the only team in the NFL this season to allow a running back to rush for 200+ yards in one game, and another running back to catch 15 passes against them.
Royce Freeman (DEN, RB)
While Freeman’s fellow running mate may be our “start of the night,” that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for a second Broncos running back in your lineups. Freeman is essentially one half of a 50-50 timeshare in Denver. In fact, he’s been out-touched by Lindsay by just five total touches over the previous three weeks. Kansas City is coming off a showing where they allowed both Houston Texans running backs to score 12.40+ fantasy points. In other words, there’s success to be had by both Bronco backs on Thursday night.
Sleeper: Joe Flacco (DEN, QB)
Flacco is likely not rostered in your league. I know this because he’s currently owned in just 9% of Yahoo leagues. However, if your starting QB is one of the four on bye this week, or maybe your starter is pressed with a difficult matchup, Flacco is worth a flyer against the Chiefs. Kansas City allows the seventh-most points on a per-game basis to opposing quarterbacks this season. They’ve surrendered an average of 25+ fantasy points to signal-callers in three of their past four games.
Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Night: Demarcus Robinson (WR, KC)
With Sammy Watkins ruled out for Thursday night’s contest, some owners may be tempted to plug Robinson into their lineups in hopes of rekindling his magical performance in Week 2. I can nearly guarantee you that won’t happen, nor will he come close. Robinson had already been losing targets to fellow pass-catchers Byron Pringle and Mecole Hardman, and the return of Tyreek Hill was the icing on the cake. Robinson has averaged just 4.53 fantasy points over the past three weeks, which includes him failing to register a single reception one week ago. Oh yeah, and Denver allows the fewest fantasy points to wideouts this season.
Emmanuel Sanders (WR, DEN)
Sanders’ status was iffy for this game at the beginning of the week, but he will be in the lineup for Denver on Thursday night. However, he should not be in your fantasy lineups. Kansas City is the 10th toughest defense against fantasy WRs this year. Sanders has averaged a measly 1.97 points in three of his past four games.
Buyers Beware: Damien Williams (RB, KC)
The Chiefs run game has averaged 90 less rushing yards with Williams in the lineup than without him over the past four weeks. Kansas City has seemingly deligated Williams’ usage due to his struggles. The running back saw just two total touches a week ago, while simultaneously playing his lowest snap count percentage of the season. Denver has also allowed an average of just 4.8 points to opponents’ starting running backs over the past two weeks.
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