Miami Dolphins

Start/Sit: Dolphins Fantasy Football Preview Week 7

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Jay Ajayi was a fantasy player of the week candidate after his incredible performance during the Dolphins upset victory over the Steelers. Can him or another Miami player similarly standout this week against Buffalo?

The Miami Dolphins looked like a totally different team in last week’s win over Pittsburgh. This week, the Dolphins welcome in division rival and the red hot Buffalo Bills to South Florida. Can Miami do it again or will we see the team we saw through the first five weeks?

Jay Ajayi was by and large Miami’s best player last week with his 204 yards and two touchdown performance. His fantasy numbers were through the roof although most owners had him on their bench. In some leagues, he wasn’t even owned at all. I’ve been reluctant to even make mention of him much in our start/sit because the Dolphins backfield has been such a mess. That may no longer be the case. Let’s take a look at this week’s start and sit options.

Ryan Tannehill

I mentioned in our fantasy football recap that Tannehill had one of his better games we’ve seen from in quite some time even though it didn’t exactly show in his fantasy numbers. Tannehill looked cool, calm, and collective. It’s amazing what a little protection can do for a quarterback. It won’t be quite so easy to replicate that, however, against a stingy Buffalo defense.

Buffalo head coach Rex Ryan likes to blitz. A lot. The Bills have dominated the line of scrimmage in recent meetings, which resulted in turnovers or Tannehill lying on his back. The offensive line will be tested, but that doesn’t mean Buffalo’s defense is impossible to move the ball against. Despite being one of the better defensive options in fantasy football, the Bills defense is mediocre overall.

The Dolphins will continue to try and lean on the running game, which limits Tannehill’s fantasy appeal. I think Tannehill may get one touchdown on Sunday, but I’m not too optimistic of anything more. One touchdown is not usually enough to help win your league matchup or place in DFS so I need to see more from Tannehill before I’m ready to start him.

Sit

Jarvis Landry / DeVante Parker

With the run game working so well last week, both Landry and Parker sort of took a backseat. Landry did manage to have a bounce back performance after his dud against Tennessee. He hauled in an amazing 39-yard catch that could have been a touchdown had it not been thrown behind him, causing Landry to adjust mid-air to come down with it. Parker had five receptions but only for a total of 28 yards.

As I said, Buffalo likes to blitz a lot. So if Tannehill can get the ball into the hands of his two best receivers fast enough, there could be opportunities for some big gains. Against a middle of the road defense like Buffalo, it’s tough to analyze how well Miami’s pass game will work in this one. Therefore, I’m sticking with the safe route this week.

Landry – Start

Parker – Sit

Jay Ajayi / Arian Foster

The Dolphins know that their key to success is through the run game. Up until now, Miami’s rushing attack has been a laughing stock. After Ajayi’s performance last week, however, teams have taken notice. Ryan’s initial game plan against Miami probably was to rattle Tannehill as much as he could, but now he knows he can’t overlook the Dolphins ability to run either.

After his career day, we’re assuming that Ajayi will be the starter this week ahead of Foster. It was Foster last week who got the start, but Miami rode the hot hand of Ajayi and it paid off. The Bills are 15th in the league against the run, giving up 103.2 yd/game on the ground. Foster is still trying to get back to form after missing three weeks with an injury, leaving us to think Ajayi is in line for another heavy workload. I’m finally willing to pull the trigger on Ajayi, but I’m fading Foster because of the unknown, despite his abilities in the passing game.

Jay Ajayi – Start

Arian Foster – Sit