Welcome to Week 7 of the fantasy football season, everybody! Luckily, this isn’t the most difficult week of byes that we’ll face in the 2024 season, with just the Dallas Cowboys (and a lack of depth at WR) and the Chicago Bears (who admittedly have great depth at WR but it’s been volatile for fantasy at best) out for the week.
This week, the major headlines were mostly related to trade news, in fact, with star wide receivers Davante Adams and Amari Cooper both having been traded on Tuesday, to the Jets and Bills respectively.
Here to help you navigate these newly stirred waters are my Week 7 wide receiver rankings for standard-scoring leagues, including one flex play and three WR sleepers.
Week 7: WR flex of the week — Diontae Johnson, Carolina Panthers
There’s no wide receiver in the Carolina Panthers’ offense that you will feel particularly great on any given week, but so far this season, it’s been clear that as long as it’s Andy Dalton in at quarterback over Bryce Young, there’s some hope for fantasy relevance. This week, the Panthers will match up against the Washington Commanders, whose offense has been running hot while the defense … does not. This unit is allowing the third-highest YPA average (8.08) to opposing passers and is tied for the second-highest passing touchdown percentage (6.9%).
Given how potent the offense has been under rookie Jayden Daniels, the Panthers should be playing catch-up early on, currently 7.5-point underdogs on FanDuel Sportsbook. That will provide the perfect game script for WR1 Diontae Johnson to see plenty of volume against this undersized and undermanned secondary.
Week 7 WR sleepers
Rostership percentages in Yahoo! Fantasy leagues are indicated in parentheses.
Romeo Doubs, Green Bay Packers (vs. Texans, 40%)
The Green Bay Packers passing game continues to be as ripe as ever with Jordan Love under center, and WR Romeo Doubs is coming off a season-best 3-49-2 outing that landed him as the WR6 on the week. Star wideout Jayden Reed suffered an ankle injury in that contest, while Dontayvion Wicks is week-to-week with a shoulder injury and will certainly miss time. That could put Doubs in position for a repeat performance in Week 7 against the Houston Texans, currently tied for the second-most touchdowns (9) allowed to opposing wide receivers.
Rashod Bateman, Baltimore Ravens (vs. TB, 12%)
Former first-round wideout Rashod Bateman is quietly on a path to the best season of his NFL career thus far, currently healthy and on a 17-game pace for a 48-774-6 stat line that would outpace any previous career highs by a mile. Bateman has been a key beneficiary of the Ravens’ recent trail of success on offense, with 50+ receiving yards or a score in four of six games this season.
This week, the Ravens will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in primetime with one of the higher projected point totals of the week at 48.5. The Bucs are allowing the seventh-most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers thanks to a wicked string of touchdowns allowed to the position over the past three weeks, giving up scores to Parris Campbell, Drake London, Darnell Mooney (2 TDs), KhaDarel Hodge and Bub Means since Week 4.
Demario Douglas, New England Patriots (vs. JAX, 26%)
The New England Patriots’ passing game has been revived (at least, for now) with rookie QB Drake Maye under center, and the primary beneficiary could just be 5-foot-8, 192-pound wideout DeMario Douglas. Though he doesn’t have a prototypical WR1 build, he’s enjoying the role of a WR1 in his respective offense and gets a Week 7 matchup against one of the worst defenses in the league — the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Jags are allowing the fifth-highest passing touchdown percentage with the fourth-highest YPA average (8.07) and sixth-highest explosive pass percentage (16.2%) to opposing offenses this year, which has culminated in allowing the second-most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers.
Fantasy football: Week 7 WR rankings
Kate Magdziuk is an editor and contributor for Yahoo Fantasy and co-host of the Locked On Dynasty Football podcast. She is also the managing editor for Behind The Steel Curtain, SB Nation’s exclusive Pittsburgh Steelers blog. Her previous bylines include Pro Football Focus, NBC Sports Rotoworld and 4for4 Football, among others.
