ClutchPoints
A large part of winning fantasy football championships is drafting well. That goes without saying. But in-season management is just as important. Players get injured, and fantasy rosters get wrecked with bye weeks. There is no shortage of reasons why the more active fantasy managers tend to do better consistently.
NFL Week 7 is nearly upon us. This week, the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens are on bye. That means Derrick Henry and James Cook are unavailable, leaving fantasy rosters with a gaping hole at running back.
Additionally, we have already seen stud running backs go down with injury. That opened up opportunities for active managers to snag a handcuff that was left on waivers.
Take Rico Dowdle, for example. He was rostered in just under 10 percent of leagues when Carolina Panthers tailback Chuba Hubbard went down with a calf strain. Active fantasy managers scooped up Dowdle and have been rewarded handsomely. He has rushed for almost 400 yards in two games for the Panthers.
Even though there are no obvious players to target this week, that doesn’t mean there aren’t players with streaming appeal. So, let’s get into our NFL Week 7 fantasy football running backs worth streaming.
Two weeks ago, Los Angeles Chargers running back Omarion Hampton was placed on injured reserve. Reports out of Los Angeles had Hassan Haskins expected to take over lead duties.
So much for that.
Kimani Vidal dominated touches in the Chargers’ backfield. He rushed 18 times for 124 yards and caught three passes for 14 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Haskins barely got on the field.
Vidal was likely scooped up in waivers, if not last week, definitely this week. On paper, Los Angeles faces a tough matchup for running backs. The Indianapolis Colts allow the seventh-fewest fantasy points to the position this season. That may create some trepidation from fantasy managers to plug him into their lineups.
But offensive tackle Joe Alt is back at practice. Jim Harbaugh still wants to run the football, and Vidal is clearly the guy. Plug and play Vidal without any concern.
Fantasy managers who drafted Joe Mixon must be annoyed. The team has been so secretive about their starting running back. It left fantasy managers reluctantly drafting Nick Chubb in the middle-to-late rounds.
Chubb struggled to get much going the first few weeks, prompting talk of Woody Marks taking over the job. Even Texans’ head coach DeMeco Ryans talks up their rookie tailback. Marks was supposed to get as many touches as he could handle in Week 6.
Then the game happened.
Chubb once again played as the starter and, for the second time in five games, found the end zone. The matchup this week is far from ideal.
The Seattle Seahawks have been among the best rush defenses in the league. But this is a play more on touchdown equity than anything. For those in a pinch, you could do worse than streaming Chubb....
