Start Rashid Shaheed vs. Kendrick Bourne vs. K.J. Osborn vs. Josh Downs | Fantasy Football Week 7 WR Start Decision
Week 7 of the NFL season is closing in fast, with a matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints kicking things off on Thursday night.
There’s a handful of players from each team that are starting-caliber guys, and the FantasySP Start/Sit tool has some trending matchups that we need to cover before kickoff.
Saints’ Rashid Shaheed is part of a few of the trending wide receiver decisions, so let’s discuss him against New England Patriots’ Kendrick Bourne, Minnesota Vikings’ K.J. Osborn and Indianapolis Colts’ Josh Downs.
Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including predictive waiver analytics to help prioritize waiver pickups, projections, auction values, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Use our fantasy football trade analyzer to break down trade scenarios.
Why You Should Start Rashid Shaheed
Shaheed is pretty much the definition of a boom-or-bust player. He’s posted three games of 60 or more receiving yards and three where he went under 35.
One thing to note with Shaheed is that he also got two carries last week. This could be the Saints’ way of getting him the ball a couple more times a game, although that could change with a full complement of running backs back in the mix tonight.
Shaheed and the Saints will be taking on a Jaguars’ defense that is in the bottom half of the league when it comes to slowing opposing wideouts. Wide receivers are scoring 38 fantasy points a game against them.
Shaheed is the third-ranked Saints’ receiver in the week 7 projections, coming in 47th overall. Chris Olave and Michael Thomas are ranked above him, but one thing to note is that Olave is dealing with an injury, which could mean more offensive involvement for Shaheed.
Why You Should Start Kendrick Bourne
Bourne has been New England's best receiver to this point of the season, although that’s not all that impressive a feat given how the offense has produced as a whole.
Bourne got 11 targets a week ago, and is up to 44 on the season. He’s caught 28 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns.
He’s played the most snaps of any receiver, but is behind tight end Hunter Henry in snaps. Bourne leads the team in red zone targets (4) and catches (4).
Bourne will be facing a Buffalo Bills’ defense that allows an average of 31 fantasy points a game.
Bourne is one of just two New England receivers that rank in the top 63 spots in our projections. Bourne is No. 38.
Why You Should Start K.J. Osborn
Osborn wasn’t as involved as fantasy owners hoped he would be last week in the team’s first game without Justin Jefferson. He was targeted five times, which was four less than the previous week.
For the season, Osborn has caught 17 of his 31 targets, going for 214 yards and two touchdowns. He led the team’s pass catchers in snaps last week, but was outproduced by tight end T.J. Hockenson and rookie receiver Jordan Addison.
Osborn will look for a bit better showing this week against the San Francisco 49ers. San Fran’s defense has been average against opposing wideouts, allowing 34 points per game. The Niners allow a healthy amount of receptions and targets to receivers, but the yardage and touchdowns allowed are above-average defensive marks.
Osborn is ranked 36th in our weekly projections, five slots behind Addison as of this publication.
Why You Should Start Josh Downs
Downs has been an ascending fantasy player over the past few weeks. He was targeted eight times last week, but only caught five for 21 yards. He scored to bail fantasy owners out with a solid point total.
For the season, Downs has caught 28 of the 41 passes thrown his way for 276 yards and a touchdown. He’s got as many red zone targets (7) as teammate Michael Pittman, but has four red zone catches to Pittman’s six grabs.
Downs has played less snaps than Pittman and wideout Alec Pierce, but Downs played more than Pierce in week 6. Pierce was injured during the contest and could be limited this week.
Downs and the Colts’ wideouts have a tough matchup ahead against the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland’s defense is the best in the league in slowing wide receivers, allowing just 18 fantasy points a week.
Downs is ranked 44th in our weekly wideout projections, with Pittman leading the team in 27th.
Final Numbers and the Recommended Start
Let’s focus on Shaheed, as he’s playing later tonight. Shaheed is currently the preferred starter over Bourne, but fantasy owners like him less than Downs and Osborn.
It’s a little surprising to see those numbers, as Shaheed is going up against the easiest defense on paper. Many owners are still probably not convinced with the boom-or-bust threat though.
I’m not totally on board with Shaheed either at this point, and would take Bourne first among this group of receivers. I like what he’s down over the past few weeks and think he’s the safest bet to produce a solid final line.
I’d give the slight edge to Osborn over Shaheed. I like the Vikings’ offense a touch more than the Saints overall, and think Osborn’s floor is safer than a big catch or two from Shaheed.
I’d take Shaheed over Downs simply because of the matchup each has. A big catch or two for Shaheed should result in more yardage than Downs could accumulate on a similar amount of catches. I also like Shaheed’s chances to score over Downs, so although most weeks I’d want Downs over the other three, the tough matchup is just too daunting for my liking.
