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Good morning.

It’s been a wild week around the NFL…

If you’re anything like me, that means you’ve already spent hours putting off work and scrolling through endless tweets and articles about moves being made. But if you actually have a life, then we’ve got you covered today.

Let’s dive in.

AROUND THE LEAGUE 🚨

Major Moves Made

WR Davante Adams was traded to the New York Jets, reuniting him with his former QB Aaron Rodgers. He’s also miraculously healthy now and expected to play this week…

This move is undoubtedly a boost for Adams, but also for Rodgers and Breece Hall, who should see some improved TD-upside. Meanwhile, Mike Williams is reportedly available for a trade, and Garrett Wilson managers will have to wait and see what his role looks like as the 1B.

WR Amari Cooper was traded to the Buffalo Bills. Going from Deshaun Watson to Josh Allen is possibly the biggest QB upgrade imaginable. Meanwhile, all other Bills WRs take a hit, and although Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku get a slight bump, they’re still stuck with Watson, so don’t hold your breath.

Steelers QB Russell Wilson is taking first-team reps this week and is trending toward starting over Justin Fields, who has led the team to a 4-2 record. This seems like an odd move, but it could be beneficial fantasy-wise for Steelers pass catchers.

RB Cam Akers was traded back to the Minnesota Vikings. HC Kevin O’Connell called it “a depth move,” which makes sense given Aaron Jones’ lingering hip injury.

Tom Brady has been approved as a minority owner for the Las Vegas Raiders, which might make his job as a FOX broadcaster a little tricky…

Injury Report 🚑

The middle of the week is a tricky time for injury reports, as many players routinely sit out of Wednesday practices for load management purposes. But there have been some major developments heading into Week 7…

Saints WRs Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed are OUT for tonight’s game. Shaheed is expected to have meniscus surgery, but is also feared to have possibly done more damage as well. Doctors reportedly won’t know the severity until they operate, meaning Shaheed could be out for a couple weeks, or maybe even for the full season.

Patriots rookie QB Drake Maye is having an MRI on his knee. He was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice, but something must have been bothering him enough to get it checked out. Fingers crossed.🤞

Browns RB Nick Chubb is expected to play Sunday for the first time since his gruesome knee injury last season.

Rams WR Cooper Kupp is trending in the right direction to play Sunday against Vegas.

Giants WR Malik Nabers is still working through the concussion protocol, but he is expected to return Sunday against Philly.

Colts RB Jonathan Taylor is “feeling better,” but his status for Sunday remains unclear. He and Trey Sermon both sat out of Wednesday’s practice, making Tyler Goodson the clear RB1 for now (he’s worth a stash).

Pats RB Rhamondre Stevenson was held out of Wednesday’s practice due to his foot injury. His status for Sunday remains up in the air.

Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson and Panthers rookie RB Jonathon Brooks are back practicing after spending the first month of the season on the PUP-list. Neither one is expected to play this week, however.

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POLL 📊

MARKET TRENDS 🧐

Running Back

🚀 Buy high on David Montgomery. He’s outscored Jahmyr Gibbs in four of five weeks and is on pace for 1,513 yards and 20 TDs, per Austin Abbott. He’s a TD MACHINE and should be valued above Gibbs rest of season.

💰 Buy Tony Pollard. He leads all RBs in yards after contact per attempt (min. 50 carries) and is averaging more yards after contact in 2024 than he has in any season since his rookie campaign, per NBCSports’ Kyle Dvorchak.

“This is the full Pollard experience. We weren’t wrong about him last year, just early.” — Dvorchak

👀 Chase Brown > Zach Moss:

📉 Sell Bucky Irving. It pains me to say this, but that Bucs backfield is just too crowded.

“Irving’s price is at its peak right now, before a brutal matchup against the Ravens. Todd Bowles said post-game that Tucker has earned the right for more opportunities. In fact, Bowles used the word “three-headed monster” regarding his backfield. Gross.” — FantasyPros’ Andrew Erickson

Wide Receiver

👑 Tee Higgins = WR1?! He led all WRs with a 50% first-read target share and has out-targeted Ja’Marr Chase in three straight games, per CBSSports’ Jacob Gibbs. I wouldn’t go so far as to value him over Chase, but this is more of a 1A/1B situation than people realize.

🚀 The Drake London breakout is happening:

💰 Buy Ladd McConkey. The rookie had a season-high eight targets and 97 air yards last week. Amongst all WRs this year, he’s 11th in target share (26.4%), per Joe Orrico, and is about to face three defenses (ARI, NO, CLE) that are all top-10 matchups for opposing fantasy WRs.

👀 Buy high on A.J. Brown:

✋ Hold Diontae Johnson. His value went through the roof early on with Andy Dalton, but he’s been a little more inconsistent as of late. Regardless, he leads the NFL with 11 end zone targets — no one else has more than seven (per ESPN’s Mike Clay). He’s a must-start every week.

📉 Sell high on Deebo Samuel. Last week, he hauled in three of his five targets for 102 yards, including a massive 76-yard TD. But Deebo’s seen five or fewer targets in three consecutive games and is much more volatile than his commonly accepted WR1 status suggests. If you can flip him for WR1 value, make the move.

Tight End

🚀 Brock Bowers might break records this year. He’s currently on pace for 105 receptions, which would shatter the rookie record of 81 catches by a TE. With Davante Adams now out of town, the sky’s the limit.

📉 Sell Dalton Kincaid. He’s coming off one of his better outings of the year and is still sure to pique the interest of other managers. The reality is he's the TE10 in total points scored, putting him in the same range as players such as Pat Freiermuth, Hunter Henry, and Zach Ertz.

“Don't be scared to tier down to players like Cole Kmet, David Njoku, or dare I say Mark Andrews for an additional asset in return.” — RotoBaller’s Jorden Hill

✋ Hold Mark Andrews. Over the last two weeks, he has seven catches for 121 yards (17.3 yards per catch) and one TD. While he’s still splitting time with Isaiah Likely, Andrews leads all TEs with an 11.1 average depth of target and 10.3 yards before catch per reception, meaning he’s making plays deep down the field — a rarity for the TE position.

QUICK SLANTS 👀

📖 Read Players Who POP: Regression and Bounce-Back Candidates for Week 7 from The Fantasy Footballers’ Matt Savoca. The POP model combines player share of team opportunity value and teammate fantasy points per game to identify players who are outperforming or underperforming their expected value.

📖 Read Jay Felicio of FTN Fantasy’s 10 Things to Know for Week 7, which he refers to as “your guide to navigating the chaos, with insights on breakouts, busts, and those under-the-radar gems.”

📖 Read Nick Chubb’s post on The Players’ Tribune, Cleveland Got My Back. You don’t have to be a Browns fan to get emotional reading it. The guy’s been through a lot.

🎙️ Listen to Week 7 STATS vs FILM from the Underdog Football Show, where Josh Norris and Hayden Winks compare what the numbers say to what their eyes see for every team in the league.

📺 Watch this clip from the Fantasy Cops segment on CBSSports’ Fantasy Football Today podcast. How would you handle this if it happened in your league???

TWEET OF THE DAY

Try to enjoy TNF, where the Broncos will be without Pat Surtain II and Saints backup QB Spencer Rattler will be throwing to guys named Bub Means and Mason Tipton … yikes.

Pray for Al Michaels.🙏 He might retire at halftime.

- Marcus