New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has been playing at an elite level lately, and he will rank as a high-end QB1 for this week's matchup against the Chicago Bears. Maye opened the season with an ugly three-game start, but then he completely turned a corner and produced one of the best three-game stretches in recent NFL history. Over the last three weeks, he has 878 passing yards, 103 rushing yards, 11 total touchdowns, and just two interceptions. Not only is he the undisputed QB1 from Weeks 4-6, but he is also the highest-scoring player in fantasy football during that three-game span, and the race is not particularly close. As long as Maye is playing at a high level, he should be started in 100% of fantasy football leagues. That remains the case for Thursday Night Football against the Bears, who have allowed the third-most rushing touchdowns and the 12th-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks in 2026.

New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson has been one of the biggest busts in 2026 fantasy football drafts, and he can be avoided in most leagues ahead of his Week 7 matchup against the Chicago Bears. Outside of a solid Week 2 showing, Henderson has been held to fewer than 5.0 points (PPR) in every game so far. His snap share plummeted to 16% in Week 5, and it only increased to a meager 24% mark in Week 6. Although Henderson has been dealing with an ankle injury at times, it hasn't been enough to keep him from being active, and so it shouldn't be used as an excuse for his lackluster fantasy performance so far. Rhamondre Stevenson is clearly the primary running back in New England, and the Patriots even gave Corey Kiner a chance to prove himself with 17 carries (and an impressive 109 rushing yards) over the last two weeks. Henderson ranks outside the top 48 fantasy running backs for Week 7 against the Bears. He can be benched in 12+ team leagues and dropped to waivers in leagues with 10 or fewer teams.

New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson continues to operate as the No. 1 option out of the backfield, but fantasy managers will look for his receiving workload to bounce back in Week 7 against the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football. Stevenson logged 14 carries last Sunday against the Jets, but he was a massive disappointment in fantasy football with just 36 rushing yards and zero receptions. Stevenson's PPR and half-PPR outlooks are highly dependent on him catching passes, and this was the first time in his career that he finished a game without a single target. Last week was presumably an outlier, and Stevenson's receiving workload should improve this week, although it's worth noting that the Bears have allowed the eighth-fewest receptions to running backs in 2026. The bottom line is that Stevenson has fringe top-24 appeal in fantasy football, but last week showed that he also possesses a lower floor.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker returned from a multi-week injury last Sunday, and he picked up right where he left off with 13 targets, six catches, and 97 receiving yards on a 75% snap share. Coker set a new career-high in targets, and if you exclude the one game this season where he missed time due to injury, he's averaging 10.3 targets, 100.3 yards, and 0.7 touchdowns per game. He ranks as the overall WR29 in PPR scoring so far, despite the fact that he has only played in three and a half games, while some other receivers have played in six. The fact of the matter is that the 24-year-old has been quite impressive this year, challenging former first-round pick Tetairoa McMillan for the title of most productive Panthers pass-catcher in fantasy football. It has been refreshing to see that both of these receivers can coexist as fantasy WR2 options, which is a sign that the Panthers' offense (and passing game in particular) is operating much better than it has in years past. We'll continue to trust Coker as a mid-to-low WR2 in future weeks, including Week 7 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.