This article is part of our Start vs. Sit series.
Week 6 proved a delightful slice of swirling chaos. Any week of college football that features Vanderbilt beating Alabama is one for the books. What will Week 7 bring? Not just for viewers, but for fantasy players? There are two huge games on the slate, but as we have learned, any game can prove interesting, at least for fantasy purposes. Here are my players to target and avoid for Week 7.
AAC Starts and Sits
START
Kanye Udoh, RB, Army vs. UAB
Army is undefeated because its run game has been utterly killer. Bryson Daily is kind of the ideal quarterback for the Army offense, but Udoh has been a star as well. He's averaged 7.6 yards per carry and scored six touchdowns in five games. On the flip side, Trent Dilfer's UAB defense has struggled. The Blazers have allowed a whopping 227.2 rushing yards per game, not to mention 36.8 points per game.
SIT
DT Sheffield, WR, North Texas at Florida Atlantic
Sheffield has 23 catches for 317 yards and five touchdowns through five games, but three of those scores came against Stephen F. Austin. You can run on the Owls' defense, though facing Army obviously skews things, so far, the Owls' pass defense looks good. Again, factoring in the Army of it all, having only allowed 134.4 passing yards per contest over five games does stand out.
ACC Starts and Sits
START
Cade Klubnik, QB, Clemson at Wake Forest
So, maybe there is something to
Week 6 proved a delightful slice of swirling chaos. Any week of college football that features Vanderbilt beating Alabama is one for the books. What will Week 7 bring? Not just for viewers, but for fantasy players? There are two huge games on the slate, but as we have learned, any game can prove interesting, at least for fantasy purposes. Here are my players to target and avoid for Week 7.
AAC Starts and Sits
START
Kanye Udoh, RB, Army vs. UAB
Army is undefeated because its run game has been utterly killer. Bryson Daily is kind of the ideal quarterback for the Army offense, but Udoh has been a star as well. He's averaged 7.6 yards per carry and scored six touchdowns in five games. On the flip side, Trent Dilfer's UAB defense has struggled. The Blazers have allowed a whopping 227.2 rushing yards per game, not to mention 36.8 points per game.
SIT
DT Sheffield, WR, North Texas at Florida Atlantic
Sheffield has 23 catches for 317 yards and five touchdowns through five games, but three of those scores came against Stephen F. Austin. You can run on the Owls' defense, though facing Army obviously skews things, so far, the Owls' pass defense looks good. Again, factoring in the Army of it all, having only allowed 134.4 passing yards per contest over five games does stand out.
ACC Starts and Sits
START
Cade Klubnik, QB, Clemson at Wake Forest
So, maybe there is something to Klubnik, and all the hype was not unfounded. Yes, Georgia made life tough on the junior quarterback, but since then he has 14 passing touchdowns against one pick, and he has also rushed for 185 yards and four scores. Wake Forest is very much not Georgia. The Demon Deacons rank in the bottom three in the ACC in passing yards, rushing yards, and points allowed per game.
SIT
Elic Ayomanor, WR, Stanford at Notre Dame
The Cardinal facing the Fighting Irish has been a long-standing occurrence, but for now the Cardinal are doing it as an ACC team. Ayomanor has scored a touchdown in all three of his ACC games thus far, but this trip to South Bend will be a real test. Notre Dame's stout defense has held the opposition to 161.0 passing yards and 12.6 points per contest.
Big Ten Starts and Sits
START
Kaden Feagin, RB, Illinois vs. Purdue
Ooh, Bret Bielema can't wait to run the ball all over the Boilermakers. This kind of matchup is his dream. Purdue has allowed 36.8 points per game but also a staggering 239.2 rushing yards per contest. Feagin has averaged 4.6 yards per carry and scored three touchdowns. In his two Big Ten games, he's just ticked over 60 yards on the ground, but this matchup should yield at least 100 yards.
SIT
Jordan James, RB, Oregon vs. Ohio State
This game is huge. The number-three team is hosting the number-two team in the AP poll. James has delivered exactly what was expected of him, but even at home this matchup gives me pause. Ohio State has not played a hard schedule, but against an all-FBS schedule, it has only given up 72.6 rushing yards and 6.8 points per game. James is good enough to have, say, 70 yards without a touchdown, but you can find other options with more upside.
Big 12 Starts and Sits
START
Xzavier Henderson, WR, Cincinnati at UCF
Henderson has two games with seven catches, 100 yards, and a touchdown. In the only game in which he had fewer than six receptions, he turned both catches into scores. While UCF has allowed 247.0 passing yards and 24.6 points per game, it opened the year against New Hampshire and then faced run-heavy Sam Houston. The wheels have started to come off a smidge since that.
SIT
Quali Conley, RB, Arizona at BYU
You play the opposition in front of you, and Conley has excelled in easy matchups. In two road games in conference, against Kansas State and Utah, he has 28 carries for 120 yards and one touchdown, plus three catches for 16 yards. This trip to BYU is in that vein. The Cougars have given up 121.6 rushing yards and 15.8 points per contest. They and their heated rivals, the Utes, have pretty similar defenses, so this could be a similar turn of events for Conley.
Conference USA Starts and Sits
START
Tru Edwards, WR, Louisiana Tech vs. Middle Tennessee State
The Bulldogs' passing offense has not exactly been great, but this matchup makes it worth taking a shot on their top receiver. MTSU has allowed a hefty 319.0 passing yards and 39.0 points per game. Both of those are in the bottom five in all of FBS football. Edwards has 17 catches over his last three outings. While he's only turned them into 208 yards and a touchdown, getting his usual number of looks against the Blue Raiders could, and should, yield more yardage.
SIT
Omari Kelly, WR, Middle Tennessee State at Louisiana Tech
Kelly has been erratic, to say the least. He has two games with over 170 yards receiving. Across his other three games he has 58 yards and zero touchdowns. While kind of game will this be? Louisiana Tech's defense has started off pretty well, have allowed 198.3 passing yards and 21.8 points per game. For a defense in this conference, that's relatively good.
MAC Starts and Sits
START
Braedon Sloan, RB, Ball State at Kent State
Possibly the two worst defenses in the FBS are squaring off! If these teams don't total over 80 points, I'll be surprised. Sloan was an FCS star at Eastern Kentucky, and he's kept that going as an FBS back. He has 347 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, but also 17 catches for 201 yards and a score. That's not a fluke, as he was a dual threat at EKU. Kent State is also a dual threat in that it is terrible against the run (289.2 y/g) and the pass (293.4 y/g). Oh, and the Golden Flashes have allowed over 50 points per game as well.
SIT
Jaison Patterson, RB, Bowling Green vs. Northern Illinois
Toledo and Northern Illinois have been pretty even in terms of quality defense, but only the latter has kept Notre Dame in check. The Huskies have held opponents to 94.6 rushing yards and 19.2 points per game. Patterson had two touchdowns last week, but they came against Akron, who is not Northern Illinois.
Mountain West Starts and Sits
START
Pofele Ashlock, WR, Hawaii vs. Boise State
Hawaii's passing game is built upon trying to get Ashlock the ball as much as possible. The dude has 69 targets in five games! Those have yielded 40 receptions for 428 yards and four scores. Boise State has an amazing running back in Ashton Jeanty. The thing, though, is that the Broncos don't have a particularly good defense, especially against the pass. Boise State has allowed 30.0 points and 278.8 passing yards per game. The latter is highest in the Mountain West
SIT
Cameron Camper, WR, Boise State at Hawaii
Camper has 18 catches for 330 yards and four touchdowns, but Latrell Caples is back healthy, and that could cut into his targets. Unexpectedly, Hawaii has been good defensively, especially against the pass. The Rainbow Warriors have held the (admittedly easy) opposition to 188.8 passing yards and 19.0 points per game. It's not easy to take a trip to the islands to play football. Things get weird.
SEC Starts and Sits
START
Trevor Etienne, RB, Georgia vs. Mississippi State
Etienne missed the game against Clemson, but in four games since he has 300 rushing yards, 72 passing yards, and three touchdowns. The defenses in the SEC are not easy to face off with, but Mississippi State is the one exception. In fact, the Bulldogs have given up 212.8 rushing yards per game.
SIT
Michael Hawkins, QB, Oklahoma vs. Texas
If you are excited about Oklahoma's true freshman quarterback, it's time to pump the brakes as hard as you can. The Longhorns, who want to obliterate the Sooners on any occasion they get the chance, have seen the SEC open up for them thanks to Week 6's upsets. Texas' defense is not to be messed with, having held opposing teams to 121.6 passing yards, 106.6 rushing yards, and a mere 7.0 points per game. Hawkins seems to have a bright future, but Week 7 is looking quite dim on the horizon.
Sun Belt Starts and Sits
START
Braylon Braxton, QB, Marshall at Georgia Southern
In limited action this season, Braxton has thrown five touchdowns against zero interceptions and rushed for 167 yards and two scores. No wonder the Tulsa transfer has unseated Stone Earle and taken the number-one job. Georgia Southern has allowed a hair over 300 passing yards per game, but on top of that has given up 191.6 yards per contest on the ground. So, you know, Braxton can mix it up if he feels like it.
SIT
Joey Aguilar, QB, Appalachian State at Louisiana
Aguilar threw 10 picks last season, but he paired them with 33 touchdowns through the air, so it was a fair trade. This year, though, he has five picks through five games, and that's with only eight passing scores. That's less palatable. While the Ragin' Cajuns have faced an FCS team and a Kennesaw State offense that is worse than probably 30 or so FCS teams, the fact remains they have only given up 147.2 passing yards per game.