Fridays are for Five lists of Five, baby. Let’s get you set for Week 7 with stashes and sleepers.
Because, honestly—all I want is for you to be better than your friends. You’re going to be surrounded by them on Sunday, probably. How sweet would it be if you could be sure you’ve checked every box possible that might guarantee you a resounding victory this week? Some kick-your-feet-up insights? I’ve got some.
I know my audience. The smoke-break audience. The quick-scan-of-the-phone-on-the-way-to-the-fridge audience. The give-me-as-much-info-as-possible-as-fast-as-possible audience. I’m a man of the people.
And so: the Five Lists of Five series. Think of these as byte-sized, two-minutes-to-yourself lists to scan during your weekend as you foam at the mouth for any competitive fantasy edge. As much relevant analysis as I can fit into, like, 250 words per player.
Kicking it off this week with my five best stashes for Week 7.
Also available from my Week 7 Friday Five Lists of Five:
- Top five fantasy football buy-low players for NFL Week 7
- Top five fantasy football smash starts for NFL Week 7
- Top five wide receivers due for fantasy football breakouts in NFL Week 7
- Top five fantasy football streamers for NFL Week 7
We’re going with a heavy rotation of running back, this week. It felt about time. We’ve got one foot on both sides of the halfway line for the 2024 fantasy football regular season. Who we stash today could determine the integrity of our roster depth come the playoffs.
Let’s see if we can find a breakout running back—a Todd Gurley or Keaton Mitchell type, you see—out there in them waiver hills.
Stash ’em
Kimani Vidal, RB, Los Angeles Chargers (7.0% rostered)
Popular name this week after that 30+-yard wheel route touchdown last Sunday. Zach Thompson and I have been writing about Vidal for quite some time in this space.
Here was my bottom line in my Kimani Vidal could be this year’s fantasy breakout running back column (which has more statistical breakdown than excerpted here):
Vidal’s performance against the Broncos has earned him more reps. J.K. Dobbins is the lead-dog in that backfield right now, and I don’t expect that to change. But I don’t see any reason Vidal doesn’t start seeing four-to-five targets per game, and somewhere in the ballpark of six-to-eight carries.
I’d expect his snap percentage to creep up more toward that 30-35% range Zach mentioned in his analysis of Vidal. Make no mistake: Vidal is going to be a difference-maker in this offense. His efficiency per touch is going to skyrocket, with regards to team value and, hopefully, fantasy value.
Vidal is about as good a bet out there, right now, besides maybe Tyrone Tracey Jr. and Bucky Irving, to be 2024’s most materially-dominant breakout running back. Prioritize him on waivers this week.
Pierre Strong Jr., RB, Cleveland Browns (0.6% rostered)
Strong’s most impressive performance of the year came in Week 6. I wrote about stashing him as the potential handcuff to Nick Chubb, or at least the potentially-most-valuable running back behind Chubb on the depth chart:
One thing important to note: Strong Jr.’s longest gain through the air was on a 21-yard screen play. This is remarkable because it means Stefanski already has Strong Jr. built into the gameplan on high-leverage passing-down situations. A screen, too, is as much misdirection as it is anything. If you read the tea leaves here, what you might be reading is a coaching staff that believes Strong Jr. is someone to whom they want to deliver the ball in space.
A clear sign he’s become more of a necessary offensive asset: his special teams plays have gone down from as many as 23 in Week 1 to zero in Week 6. Each week his total special teams snaps went down, Strong Jr.’s offensive snaps increased.
I imagine it’ll be Foreman who might walk away with the most carries against the Bengals this week. But, seeing as the Bengals are expected to hang a number on the Browns, there might be clear passing-down situations where Deshaun checks it off to Pierre Strong Jr.
He might not have an above-replacement-level week this week, but I bet he flashes again on the field such that he’s worthy of a bench stash.
Audric Estime, RB, Denver Broncos (1.2% rostered)
This technically doesn’t count, as you can’t functionally add Estime before next week. But I want him on your immediate stash/waiver docket for next week already.
Yes—it was fun to watch Javonte Williams score two touchdowns on, *checks notes*, everyone’s bench. But it was clear that this was a Saints defense that was already playing with a clear lack of morale, and who just got progressively more defeated as the Broncos maintained excruciatingly-long offensive drives last night in the Superdome.
My colleague and fellow DKN Analyst Keagan Smith wrote about Audric Estime earlier this week:
Williams has played 56.8% of snaps, followed by change-of-pace back Jaleel McLaughlin with 32.7%. The two share receiving duties out of the backfield, and while neither have been overly successful in that regard, Estime wasn’t much of a pass catcher in college.
However, he should see the field in some capacity. The aforementioned goal-line role could be within reach, and unfortunately, injuries are always looming in the NFL. If Williams or McLaughlin go down, Estime would likely see an uptick in playing time.
It’s also worth mentioning that Williams is in the final year of his contract in Denver. It’s possible the coaching staff will want to see what they’ve got in Estime, especially later in the season if the Broncos aren’t winning many games.
Ray Davis, RB, Buffalo Bills (16.3% rostered)
We should be slightly nervous about his calif injury, to be clear. We should always be nervous when “(calf)” pops up on the injury report. And not just because that was the first designation that eventually led to whatever-the-heck this year is for Christian McCaffrey.
Having said that, Davis looked as good as we were all hoping on Monday Night Football against the Jets. James Cook (toe) didn’t suit up, so Davis was granted RB1 carries, and he looked the part: 20 carries for 97 yards, and three receptions for 55 yards.
He’s got that calf injury this week, but he’s been practicing in a limited fashion. He should be fine to suit up for Week 7. But, honestly, we’re not stashing Davis for Week 7. We’re stashing him hoping Joe Brady saw what we all did on Monday night: the potential for Davis to be a better asset to this flavor of the Bills’ offense than Cook.
Ja’Lynn Polk, WR, New England Patriots (11.0% rostered)
I don’t really want to play this game. But I think there might be some value in it. Stashiest-of-stash value, that is. De’Mario Douglas is likely to be the clear alpha wideout in this experimental Patriots offense with Drake Maye. His name’s too big, now, for stash consideration.
Folks seem to be debating between Kayshon Boutte and Ja’Lynn Polk. Boutte led the Patriots in routes run against the Texans (28), and Ja’Lynn Polk was a close second (26). Both more than Pop Douglas. Boutte made the most of his targets, but also created about a yard less separation between he and his defenders at the catch-point than Polk (0.8 yards to 1.6 yards, respectively).
It’s a coin flip, here. It might not even be worth flipping a coin. The coin we’re flipping might be an oxidized penny. But this is a race between an LSU wide receiver and a Washington Huskies wide receiver. LSU has so far won the battle. I like the Huskies to punch back here at the NFL level and for Ja’Lynn Polk to be a good bet over Kayshon.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $3M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st].
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is thegreatdansby9) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
