Fantasy football start/sit advice, Week 7: Wide receivers

Week 6 of the fantasy football season is here, and we’re back with another crop of start/sit options. We have a nice set of data about each team through six weeks, and can make informed decisions on good plays and traps. With that in mind, we’ll pick quarterbacks who should exceed expectations in Week 7, along with three you should probably sit.

We talk a lot about Drew Brees’ home/road splits, because he’s historically other-worldly at the Superdome and just merely good on the road. This year, he’s upgraded from good to “pret-tay, pret-tay, pret-tay-good!” on the road as well, accounting for six TD passes in three road games. The Packers secondary isn’t pretty good at all and Thomas is still the clear No. 1 target, even with Willie Snead back in the mix. Thomas could easily go off in this one.

His overall stat line last week, five catches, 55 yards, wasn’t very impressive, but the number to take away from his first game with C.J. Beathard at quarterback was his 12 targets, which was a season high. If Beathard is going to stay locked in on Garcon, the production will come, and the Cowboys have allowed some big games to wide receivers this season.

Emmanuel Sanders is out this week and though a bit gimpy himself, Thomas will be the top target in the passing game after a huge performance against the Giants last week. Casey Heyward is regarded as a top cover man in the NFL, but the results this season suggest otherwise, as the Chargers have been giving up touchdowns to No. 1 receivers on a regular basis this season. Thomas could see upwards of 15 targets in this one.

Even in an ideal matchup it’s tough to trust Watkins right now. He’s essentially been phased out of the offense, with 10 targets and two receptions TOTAL over the past three games. And this is not an ideal matchup by any means, with Patrick Peterson expected to shadow Watkins all day. With Robert Woods ascending in this offense, Watkins is close to being on the cut list.

I’m sure Beasley owners were super excited after his breakout, two-touchdown game against the Packers two weeks ago. And now he gets to face the lowly 49ers. Fire him up, right? Wrong. The 49ers don’t do a lot of things well, but they are elite at defending slot receivers, allowing just one touchdown this season. Dez Bryant might go off, but Beasley’s chances for big success are slim.

Hilton is usually can’t miss when playing at home, and he’s posted two such terrific games this season. But neither were against this level of secondary talent. “Sit” might be a little strong – it’s hard not to play a guy with Hilton’s talent – but definitely lower expectations in this one.