The Week 7 NFL Dashboard
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Colts at Titans
The Titans are currently 2.5-point favorites for their Week 7 matchup against the Colts. The Titans were implied to score 28.75 points at the beginning of the week, but that has since dropped all the way to 25 points. The Colts are implied to score 22.5 points; they will attempt to get their first win of the season against a divisional opponent. Let’s take a look at who will be taking the field Sunday.
Indianapolis Colts
Writer: Ian Hartitz
QB – Andrew Luck
Luck hasn’t played great this season but has still averaged the fifth-most DraftKings points per game among all quarterbacks, largely thanks to his excess amount of fantasy-friendly opportunities. His 4.8 deep-ball attempts per game this season rank fifth among all QBs through six weeks. Luck has been most successful throwing deep down the right side of the field, where he’s gone 10 of 19 for 320 yards with three touchdowns, per sharpfootballstats.com. He’ll be tested against a Titans defense this week that has done a great job limiting passes in that exact area. Opposing QBs have completed just three of their 17 attempts of 15-plus yards down the right side of the field this season, resulting in zero touchdowns and two interceptions. Luck is priced at $7,000 on DK and has the second-lowest projected ceiling among all QBs priced over $6,000 on DK.
RB – Frank Gore
The streak is over. Gore’s 106 rushing yards in Week 6 marked the first time in 55 games that a Colts running back exceeded the century mark. He has a chance to continue to produce at a high level this week in a matchup that he has historically thrived in:
As our Trends tool shows, Gore has posted a +2.89 Plus/Minus with 62.5 percent Consistency and averaged 12.05 DK points in his 16 games with a similar implied score over the past three seasons. He’s priced at $4,700 on DraftKings with a +3.1 Projected Plus/Minus and faces a Titans defense that doesn’t have a single linebacker graded within the top 30 at their position by PFF through six weeks.
RB – Josh Ferguson and Robert Turbin
Ferguson didn’t record a touch last week and wasn’t targeted for the first time all season. The Colts may have finally moved on from their rookie RB; he is averaging just one yard per carry this season. Turbin, on the other hand, received a season-high seven touches last week. Still, neither back is a fantasy option this week due to the lack of opportunities available behind Gore.
WR – T.Y. Hilton
Coach Chuck Pagano said Monday that while Donte Moncrief is getting closer to a return, there’s still no timetable for when he’ll resume practicing. He hasn’t played since injuring his shoulder during the Colts’ Week 2 loss to the Broncos. Hilton will continue to be the team’s undisputed No. 1 receiver in Moncrief’s absence. Hilton has a tough matchup against a Titans defense that has locked him up as of late. He’s posted a -2.99 Plus/Minus with 25 percent Consistency and has averaged just 10.45 DraftKings points in his last four games against the Titans. Hilton is expected to see a lot of Jason McCourty, PFF’s 14th-highest graded cornerback through six weeks. He’s priced at $7,800 on FD with a 97 percent Bargain Rating and has eight FD Pro Trends.
WR – Phillip Dorsett
Dorsett (foot, hamstring) is out for Week 7. An undrafted rookie named “Chester” from a school in the Football Championship Subdivision will serve as Luck’s No. 2 WR this week.
WR – Chester Rogers
Rogers appears primed to have an increased role in the offense after averaging five targets per game over the past two weeks. He’s averaged only 8.1 yards per target but could have plenty of chances to increase that rate on the league’s fourth-most pass-happy offense through six weeks. Rogers is minimum-priced on DK and has zero to one percent FantasyLabs projected ownership.
TE – Jack Doyle
Dwayne Allen has been ruled out Week 7, and Doyle will fill in as the Colts’ featured tight end. He’s performed well this season when given a decent-sized role in the offense, averaging a 4.33-45.67-0.67 line in his three games with four-plus targets. Doyle has a good matchup against a Titans defense that has allowed 2.3 points above salary-based expectations to TEs over the past 12 months. He’s minimum-priced on DK with an 86 percent Bargain Rating and has a +5.82 Projected Plus/Minus – the highest mark among all tight ends.
Tennessee Titans
Writer: Ian Hartitz
QB – Marcus Mariota
Mariota has overcome his slow start to the season and has played very well as of late:
As our Trends tool shows, Mariota has posted a +7.34 Plus/Minus and averaged 22.8 DK points during his past three games. He’s priced at $6,000 on DK with a 92 percent Bargain Rating and is the fourth-highest rated QB in our Cash Model. Mariota will face a Colts defense that has allowed the fourth-most passing yards per game this season.
RB – DeMarco Murray
Murray’s 65 yards last week were his fewest since Week 1. Despite the down performance, there’s no reason to believe his 19 carries and 4.8 targets per game are going anywhere. Murray has a great opportunity to rebound against a Colts defense that has been exposed by essentially every RB they’ve faced this season:
As our Trends tool shows, RBs priced over $4,500 on DK have posted a +10.85 Plus/Minus with 100 percent Consistency and averaged 23.15 DK points against the Colts defense this season. Murray is priced at $7,200 on DK with nine Pro Trends and is the third-highest rated RB in our Tournament and Cash Models.
RB – Derrick Henry
Henry received just two carries last week after having seven-plus rush attempts in three of his four previous games. He won’t be a recommended fantasy option until he’s able to earn a more consistent role in the offense or Murray misses some time.
WR – Tajae Sharpe
After the Titans’ Week 6 win over the Browns, coach Mike Mularkey said, “(Sharpe) has kind of . . . taken a step back.” The comment came after Sharpe was held without a reception on his three targets. He’s now averaging just 4.8 yards per target, a mark that ranks well outside the top-100 rates among all wide receivers this season. Sharpe isn’t a recommended fantasy option even at just $3,500 on DK, as it wouldn’t be surprising to see his role diminished in the coming weeks.
WR – Rishard Matthews
Matthews has now had touchdowns in consecutive games and has caught every one of his targets since Week 3. The problem has been that he’s averaging only three targets per game. Matthews is a talented receiver, but he’s a risky play on an offense that has thrown the ball at a bottom-five rate this season and doesn’t appear to have a set pecking order at receiver. However, he’s priced at $3,600 on DK with a 91 percent Bargain Rating and faces a Colts secondary that doesn’t have a cornerback graded higher than 46th this season by PFF.
WR – Kendall Wright
Wright’s 8-133-1 line from last week was the best performance from a Titans wide receiver this season. He continued his tendency of producing when given a featured role in the offense:
Per the RotoViz Game Splits App, Wright has averaged a 6.19-69.96-0.37 line in his 27 career games with eight-plus targets. Whether or not he’ll see this same level of involvement in the offense remains to be seen, but Mularkey did say after the game that the coaches would continue to try to get Wright more involved. He’s priced at $3,700 on DK and has zero to one percent FantasyLabs projected ownership. Wright will likely see a lot of slot cornerback Darius Butler, who has been graded outside of the top-50 cover cornerbacks by PFF through six weeks.
TE – Delanie Walker
Walker had a season-low two targets last week. He’s had fewer than five targets in a game only five times since 2014; he’s averaged 10.4 targets the following week, per PFR. In games with 10-plus targets, Walker has averaged a 7.7-80.2-0.2 line. He’s priced at $4,900 on DK with a +3.26 Projected Plus/Minus and faces a Colts defense that has allowed 4.4 points above salary-based expectations to tight ends over the past 12 months – the second-worst mark in the league.
News Updates
After this piece is published, FantasyLabs is likely to provide news updates on a number of players herein mentioned. Be sure to stay ahead of your competition with our industry-leading DFS-focused news blurbs:
