Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

Time to set your lineups for your Week 7 matchups. Remember that the Giants and Rams are playing in London on Sunday morning, so those players need to be locked in early. This week we really like Alex Smith and Jeremy Maclin to do good things against a bad Oakland Raiders passing defense. We also think you should shy away from DeSean Jackson and Ryan Mathews, at least until they can prove to be more consistent.

With the conclusion of Week 6, we are now almost halfway through the fantasy football regular season. The next few weeks are both crucial (getting those tough wins to secure a playoff position and tiebreakers) and difficult (bye weeks, injuries, and now CVD-IR to deal with). Best of luck as we trudge through the rankings and hopefully find some jewels in the rough to pick up from the wire or start from your bench and pull out the win in Week 7! Listen to or watch the Fantasy Finish Line podcast to stay on top of the latest news and analysis - we broadcast live on YouTube weekly on Wednesdays at 9pm CT.

Guys that jump out to me this week to overperform expectations: Drew Brees, JaMycal Hasty, Mike Williams, Rob Gronkowski, and Cincinnati Bengals (DST).

Pay attention to these rankings throughout the season, as they will continue to evolve based on the latest injury updates, news, and player analysis. Have any specific lineup questions? Feel free to tweet us @drinkfive with any of your questions or comments!

Here's looking at you, James White! With Green Bay, Oakland, Pittsburgh, and Seattle off on bye this week, there are quite a few playmakers missing from your usual lineup. Thankfully, fill-ins are still pretty widespread and there are a ton of surging players such as Nick Chubb (after Carlos Hyde was traded to the Jags and won't be starting this week), and Tyler Boyd (showing up this season and entering fantasy lineups after a great week 6 performance). Good luck in Week 7 and remember, you can tweet us @drinkfive with any of your lineup questions!

With bye weeks in full force, decisions this week mean more than ever to your fantasy football team's chances of making the playoffs. If possible, it's also a good strategy to begin to look ahead at future weeks that may cause problems for your squad and try to make trades for players that have already had a bye week so that you have one less thing to worry about! Guys that I value higher than the expert consensus so far this week are Antonio Gibson, Miles Sanders, Brandin Cooks, and Corey Davis.

Good luck, and feel free to reach out to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any specific questions or comments that you might have. We are now broadcasting our weekly podcast, The Fantasy Finish Line, LIVE on YouTube every Wednesday at 9pm CT during the regular season. Tune in!