Welcome to week 7 of the NFL season. Dorks like me who spent their whole summer relentlessly drafting best ball teams have long known that week 7 is the bye week from hell. The Bills, Cowboys, Chargers, Vikings, Steelers, and Jags are all off the schedule. The shallow player pool will make it a bit tougher to find the plays will separate you from the field, but that’s why you come to DFS Army. Let’s get to my favorite leans for the main slate.
Oct 3, 2021; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams running back Darrell Henderson (27) is pursued by Arizona Cardinals cornerback Robert Alford (23) in the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
1- Darell Henderson, $6,600 on DraftKings
The easiest decision each week in 2021 NFL DFS has been to start the running back facing the Detroit Lions. Last week I sited the DK performances of Elijah Mitchell (19.4), Aaron Jones (41.5), David Montgomery (25.6), and Alexander Mattison (30.3) while making the case for Joe Mixon. The Bengals RB did not disappoint, delivering a healthy 26.3 points.
Henderson’s grip on the number one RB spot in LA has never been more secure, especially with Sony Michel missing practice due to a shoulder injury.
Henderson will be popular. As we saw with Kareem Hunt last week, there is always an argument for fading even the best looking chalk in GPPs. That said, there were plenty of excellent RB plays to pivot to last week. That doesn’t seem to be the case this week, so I will not be making many DraftKings lineups that don’t include Henderson.
2- A.J. Brown, $6,300 on DraftKings and $7,000 on Fanduel
Everyone is going to want to play Derrick Henry, and why not? He’s coming off a slate wrecking 3 TD performance in a stand alone game and he’s playing the terrible KC defense. I wouldn’t try to talk you off Henry, but don’t forgot about A.J. Brown. You can play Brown as leverage off the Henry chalk or with him. This game has a 57.5 point total, everyone can eat.
Brown is apparently still battling the world’s longest Chipotle (their new smoked brisket is surprisingly good) induced tummy ache. It didn’t stop him from heating up in the second half Monday night to finish with 7 catches for 91 yards.
Julio Jones is listed as questionable (when isn’t he?). I will be building Tannehill and Brown stacks and hoping they find themselves in a shootout with Mahomes and company on Sunday afternoon.
3- Miles Sanders, $5,100 on DraftKings and $5,900 on Fanduel
Eagles’ coach Nick Sirianni had a very direct quote on a local radio appearance this week stating, “We’ve gotta get the ball to Miles more.”
Sanders’ fantasy production has been disappointing this season, but if you watch him play, he still looks explosive. His problems are a lack of usage, not talent. Without a ton of RB value that I love, I’m willing to buy into the coach speak and take a chance on Sanders at these discount prices.
Our extremely useful Top Performances By Position Tool shows that the Raiders have given up Top 12 performances to opposing RBs in half their games so far this season. If Miles can manage to break one long run and see a slight uptick in usage, he should join this group.
4- Chris Godwin, $5,900 on DraftKings
This surprisingly low price was obviously generated before the news broke that Antonio Brown would miss the week. The Bears struggle against slot receivers. Godwin should feast without having to compete with Brown for Tom Brady’s attention.
There are plenty of good WR plays this week in the mid-tier price range, Godwin will likely be owned, but not super chalky. VIPs can use our Domination Station to get a more accurate feel for ownership as game time approaches. I am going to make sure I’m overweight on Godwin.
5- Jaylen Waddle, $5,600 on DraftKings and $5,900 on Fanduel
If you woke up early to watched the London game last week, you were reminded that Tua loves to pepper his former Alabama teammate with targets. Waddle caught 10 balls and put up a ridiculous 29.0 DK points in Tua’s first game back under center. The match up is just as soft against an Atlanta D that has already given up 3 top 6 WR finishes (DK points) in only 5 games.
With Will Fuller out and Davante Parker likely still out, I expect Waddle to continue to get fed. This game between two bad teams could go a bit under the radar, but has potential to get very shooty.
6-Cole Kmet, $3,000 on DraftKings
I know it isn’t a monster stat line, but Cole Kmet is coming off his best game of the year with 4 grabs for 49 yards against GB. Jimmy Graham is out this week, so you don’t have to worry about him coming in to vulture red zone opportunities.
It is damn near impossible to run the ball on Tampa Bay, so the Bears are going to have to loosen the reigns on rookie Justin Fields. The could lead to more work for the former first round pick Kmet. At a $700 and potentially half the ownership, Kmet makes a nice pivot of Ricky Seals-Jones.
Good lucking trying to build that six figure lineup in week 7. DFS Army has a history of helping members do so. With NFL and NBA firing at full steam there is no better time to become a VIP and join the family.
