Week 7 Start/Sit Calls

Five players to start this week, led by D'Andre Swift and C.J. Stroud, and five to bench, including Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Plus four hurt players to start if they're cleared.

Every week our model ranks each player twice: once for this week alone, and once for the rest of the season. When those two ranks are far apart, that's a start or sit call. A start is a player who ranks much higher this week than he usually does. A sit is a player you might be thinking about starting who doesn't make a 12-team lineup this week.

Rankings are half PPR for a 12-team league, from Thursday morning's update, and they include tonight's Patriots at Bears game. Every rank and point total below assumes the player suits up, so a hurt player isn't marked down just for being hurt. Injury news is as of Wednesday's practice reports, so check the live rankings before you lock anything in. They update every day.

Start

D'Andre Swift, Bears (vs Patriots, tonight). He's RB3 this week and RB14 for the rest of the season, at 18.8 projected points. Kyle Monangai is ruled out again with thumb and toe injuries, and the model gives Swift about 21 carries. Chicago is expected to score about 27 points, second-most this week. Caleb Williams is off the injury report too, and he's QB2 this week.

C.J. Stroud, Texans (vs Giants). He's QB8 this week and QB20 for the rest of the season, at 18.6 projected points. Houston is expected to score about 26.5 points, tied for third-most this week, and the model has Stroud throwing about 34 times. If you're streaming a quarterback, he's the one.

Woody Marks, Texans (vs Giants). He's RB14 this week and RB32 for the rest of the season, at 14.6 projected points. David Montgomery missed Wednesday's practice with his groin injury after sitting out last week, and the model has Marks at about 15 carries and 3 targets.

DK Metcalf, Steelers (at Saints). He's WR6 this week and WR13 for the rest of the season, at 14.3 projected points. With Michael Pittman on injured reserve, the model gives Metcalf about 10 targets. This game kicks off at 9:30 a.m. Eastern on Sunday, so set your lineup early.

Michael Mayer, Raiders (vs Rams). He's TE11 this week and TE18 for the rest of the season, at 8.3 projected points on about 6 targets. Brock Bowers was limited in Wednesday's practice with a hamstring injury, per the official practice report. If your tight end is hurt, Mayer is a fine fill-in.

Sit

Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs (at Seahawks). He's QB9 for the rest of the season but only QB20 this week, at 15.6 projected points. Kansas City is expected to score about 20 points, tied for seventh-fewest this week, and Rashee Rice didn't practice Wednesday with his hamstring injury. If you have another starter close to him, play that guy.

Jacoby Brissett, Cardinals (vs Broncos). He's QB12 for the rest of the season but QB17 this week, at 16.0 projected points. The model has him throwing about 37 times, but Arizona is expected to score only about 19.5 points against Denver, tied for fifth-fewest this week.

Travis Kelce, Chiefs (at Seahawks). Kelce is TE7 for the rest of the season and TE16 this week, at 7.8 projected points. He was limited in Wednesday's practice with an ankle injury. Kansas City is expected to score about 20 points, so there isn't much to go around.

Xavier Worthy, Chiefs (at Seahawks). Worthy is WR30 for the rest of the season and WR31 this week, at 9.0 projected points. With Rice hurt, the model gives him about 7 targets, but that still isn't enough for a 12-team lineup.

Keenan Allen, Colts (at Vikings). Allen is WR31 for the rest of the season and WR35 this week, at 8.5 projected points on about 8 targets. Indianapolis is expected to score about 17.5 points, tied for second-fewest this week.

Hurt Players to Start If They Play

Four players rank low on the page this week only because they might sit. If they're cleared, start them. If he plays, Jordan Love (back) is QB7, Breece Hall (quad) is RB9, Saquon Barkley (hamstring) is RB15 and Mike Evans (Achilles) is WR16. Love was limited Wednesday, per the official practice report. Hall missed Wednesday's practice, but his coach isn't ruling him out. Barkley hasn't practiced since he got hurt, and the Eagles don't play until Monday night. Evans sat out Wednesday too, and his coach hopes he can play Sunday. Check the final injury reports before kickoff and have a backup ready.

Where to Find the Rest

Every player's rank for this week and the rest of the season is on pigskinprojections.com, and it updates every day as injury news comes in. Our free Saturday email puts the start/sit calls up top.