Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 7: Latest Fantasy Football Lineup Advice for Sunday

Throughout the week, fantasy football managers are trying to decide the optimal lineup in order to have success. And some weeks are easier than others. However, Week 7 may be one of the more difficult weeks, and many managers may still be contemplating their choices despite Sunday almost being here.

Six NFL teams have byes this week, so the fantasy managers with less depth on their teams will be tested. If they missed out on the top waiver-wire targets earlier in the week, then they may be digging deep for potential sleepers to try to somehow eke out a win over their opponents.

Here's some start/sit advice to help with potential lineup decisions prior to Sunday.

For a few weeks earlier in the season, Taylor Heinicke was a great streaming option at quarterback. Now, that's no longer the case, especially after the Washington QB couldn't capitalize on a favorable matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday.

Heinicke, who had multiple touchdown passes every game during Weeks 2-4, didn't have any in Week 5 against the New Orleans Saints, who also intercepted him twice. Then, Heinicke passed for only 182 yards, one touchdown and one interception against Kansas City.

Washington will now take on the Green Bay Packers, who rank fourth best in the NFL with 206.5 passing yards allowed per game. So it seems unlikely Heinicke will get back on track this week, keeping him out of streaming consideration for at least one more week.

Even though Mike Davis remains the Falcons' starting running back, Cordarrelle Patterson is getting enough involvement in both the running and passing games to remain fantasy relevant. He's had more than 100 total yards in each of Atlanta's past three games, and he had a season-high 21 touches in its Week 5 contest against the New York Jets.

Coming off a bye, the Falcons' offense should be ready to go in a favorable matchup against the Miami Dolphins. And Patterson is likely to remain a key part of the unit, considering how well he's fared to this point. In addition to his contributions on the ground, he's been targeted through the air at least six times in each of his past four games.

Miami is allowing 29.48 fantasy points per game to running backs, which ranks fourth-most in the league, per NFL.com. So Davis and Patterson should both be great fantasy starting options, as there will likely be plenty of opportunities for both to excel.

In the 49ers' last game on October 10, Brandon Aiyuk had two receptions for 32 yards in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals. And that was actually an uptick in production from how the second-year receiver had been performing earlier in the year.

Aiyuk continues to struggle to have much of a role for San Francisco's offense, as it's clear other playmakers have passed him in the pecking order. He has only eight catches this season, and four of those came in Week 3 against the Green Bay Packers, which is also when he scored his lone touchdown of the year thus far.

Until Aiyuk starts to show that he can put up big numbers again, he needs to be left on the bench in fantasy. He's too risky of a play at this point because of his repeated low outputs. Maybe that will change with a favorable matchup down the line, but not this week.

Dallas Goedert didn't play in Week 6 after getting placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Meanwhile, Zach Ertz got a final opportunity to be the Eagles' top tight end for a game before he was traded to the Arizona Cardinals.

Now, Goedert is active again, and he won't have Ertz taking potential targets away from him anymore moving forward. So while Goedert was already worth starting in fantasy many weeks, he will likely now be a must-start tight end for the remainder of the season.

Philadelphia is taking on the Las Vegas Raiders, who have allowed four touchdowns to tight ends over the past three weeks. Goedert has a good chance of getting in the end zone and should showcase why he'll be a TE1 for the rest of 2021.