Let's take a look at five of the biggest fantasy football takeaways from Week 7 of the NFL season.
Down Goes Foster (Again)
Even before this season, Houston Texans RB Arian Foster had a reputation for being injury prone. It's awfully hard to dispute that now. Foster suffered his worst injury to date in a blowout loss to the Miami Dolphins when he attempted to plant his foot and Achilles just completely quit on him. Foster will be out for the season, and it's fair to question whether he'll be a relevant fantasy running back ever again.
The Texans will likely go back to the combination of Alfred Blue and Chris Polk for the rest of the season, which is underwhelming to say the least. Polk will likely get more of the work when the Texans fall behind, as he's the better receiver, but Blue has shown in at least one game this season (31-139-1 against TB) that he's capable of handling the early down work. The Texans will likely ride the hot hand, but I'd prefer Polk over Blue given the choice between the two.
With 30 right around the corner and a lengthy recovery coming from this injury, Foster can be safely released in all leagues, including dynasty. Although you hope he makes a comeback, the odds aren't great. If you owned both Jamaal Charles and Arian Foster this season, well, at least the NBA season starts tomorrow.
Cowboys-Giants Confuses Us All
Raise your hand if you had Orleans Darkwa having the best fantasy day for New York's running backs! What originally was a three-headed committee between Shane Vereen, Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams has now expanded to include Darkwa, who ran for a touchdown and received the second-most snaps behind Vereen against the Cowboys.
Darkwa should be picked up in 12-team leagues in case this mess becomes more clear, but don't be too optimistic. Andre Williams can be safely dropped, if he hasn't been already. This is like a glorified version of Tenneessee's backfield at this point.
As for the Cowboys, an oblique injury to Joseph Randle paved the way for Darren McFadden -- not Christine Michael -- to recive a full workload. McFadden totaled 152 yards and a touchdown, which you would think put him in the lead for touches at least for the next few weeks. Keep an eye on Randle's status, but fire up McFadden, even with a tough matchup against Seattle coming.
As for Michael? Once again, he remained fantasy's biggest tease. With all the talk of an increased workload, Michael only received five carries, and that was with Randle going down early. You can keep Michael rostered, as Randle and McFadden could both easily go down with injuries at some point, but don't start him until he's forced into action.
Quarterback Comebacks
If it isn't painfully clear by now, the Cowboys and Steelers need their star quarterbacks in the lineup pretty badly. Ben Roethlisberger is expected to be back this upcoming week for a big matchup against the Bengals, while Tony Romo is throwing again and looks to be on track to return Week 11 against Miami.
For the rest of the season, Roethlisberger safely pencils in as a top-5 QB the rest of the way. Remember, Martavis Bryant is back, Le'Veon Bell is a weapon in the passing game and Antonio Brown is much better than he's been able to show over the last few weeks with the undesirable Michael Vick/Landry Jones combo. This passing game is probably the most explosive in the league, and as soon as Roethlisberger is cleared to play, you'll want him in your lineup.
Romo is a little trickier. It's possible we have to wait until Week 12 against a tough Panthers D to get him going, which is a matchup you'll almost certainly want to avoid. More likely than not, Romo won't have an impact for your team until the fantasy playoffs, where you can play him in Week 13 against Washington, Week 14 against Green Bay or Week 16 against Buffalo. Keep in mind that it's possible Dallas is out of the hunt by then, so you'll need to monitor both Romo's health and play as well if the Cowboys will be playing for something. If you're out of the playoff chase and have Romo stashed, it might be time to trade him to a contender or cut bait for a high upside free agent. It's just not clear how quickly he'll be able to help you.
Surprising Fantasy Offenses
With nearly half of the season complete, it's time to reevaluate our position on a few of fantasy's more surprising offenses. It may seem crazy, but teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been solid providers of multiple skill players. Allen Robinson, Amari Cooper and Mike Evans are all locks as high-end WR2 types, but Allen Hurns and Michael Crabtree have been plenty valuable as well. Doug Martin, T.J. Yeldon and Latavius Murray are all top-15 backs thanks to big workloads.
Was it hard to see this coming? Yes. All three teams looked like they would be doormats yet again, but they're putting points up on the board. Streaming defenses has been much more difficult this year because of it.
Waiver Wire
QB: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jay Cutler, Tyrod Taylor, Brian Hoyer, Johnny Manziel
RB: Charcandrick West, Darren McFadden, Chris Polk, Alfred Blue, Branden Oliver, Orleans Darkwa
WR: Rishard Matthews, Stevie Johnson, Michael Floyd, Nate Washington
TE: Eric Ebron, Crockett Gillmore, Jacob Tamme
D/ST: ARI, STL, TEN
