The Week 7 matchup between the Cleveland Browns and the St. Louis Rams features two fantasy stars many would not have predicted would rise to the top. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 7: Browns-Rams featuring Gary Barnidge, Todd Gurley and Tavon Austin
We break down the Week 7 matchup between the Cleveland Browns and the St. Louis Rams.
Cleveland Browns
Raise your hand if you had even the slightest idea that the biggest name in fantasy football to dawn a Cleveland Browns uniform since Josh Gordon was suspended indefinitely would be tight end Gary Barnidge. You probably didn’t raise your hand. Don’t expect Barnidge or his fantasy owners to feel guilty though. Barnidge has been targeted at least six times in three of the last four games and despite the fact he only caught three passes last week, two of them went for touchdowns. He has 27 catches for 413 yards and five scores on the season and 23 of those catches have come in the last four games. It’s safe to say Barnidge is the top fantasy option in Cleveland at this point.
Wide receiver Travis Benjamin would likely be the next best thing. He caught nine passes for 117 yards against the Denver Broncos last week. After scoring in each of the team’s first three games, he’s posted a doughnut in the last three weeks. Although he should receive a steady number of targets against the Rams, getting into the end zone for the first time in a long time is going to be a tall order for Benjamin. He’s worth taking a flyer on in deeper leagues.
St. Louis Rams
It seems the 2015 fantasy football season was filled with rookie running backs who possessed potential. It’s clear that the Rams’ Todd Gurley is the best of them despite the fact he’s only played two games so far. Averaging over 155 yards a game is hard to ignore and that’s what he’s managed to do in those contests. Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson compared Gurley to himself a few weeks ago. It was high praise but Gurley may just be worthy of it. A tough test against a solid Browns defense will go a long way to solidifying that praise even further.
While Gurley will most certainly see tons of action on Sunday, it doesn’t mean there won’t be room to get wide receiver Tavon Austin involved. He wouldn’t be a number one guy on another team, but since no other receiver is doing much for St. Louis, Austin’s versatility has proved valuable. He only caught two passes for 6 yards last week against the Green Bay Packers, but he did find the end zone. Austin also managed to average over 7 yards a carry on three rushing attempts. His ceiling may not be high but he’s all the Rams have outside of Gurley.
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