Week 7 Monday Night Fantasy Football Rankings: Are Ladd McConkey, Cade Otton, Rashod Bateman, Michael Wilson and Others Worth Starts Tonight?

Ranking the best fantasy football starting options for Monday's pair of NFL games.

Week 7 of the NFL season ends with a pair of Monday night games. The Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers clash in one game, while the Los Angeles Chargers and Arizona Cardinals meet in the other.

Let’s rank the top fantasy options from each team. I’ll then offer up my reasoning behind my rankings. Let’s go!

Looking for start/sit help? Be sure to check out the FantasySP Who Should I Start tool.

Quarterbacks

1. Lamar Jackson

2. Baker Mayfield

3. Justin Herbert

4. Kyler Murray

Jackson is clearly the best fantasy option for the game, although Mayfield has been spectacular this season as well. Jackson’s matchup against the Bucs is too favorable to do anything but start Jackson tonight.

Mayfield’s matchup against the Ravens is similar, but I simply trust Jackson and his history of success a bit more.

You might be surprised to see Herbert above Murray for tonight, but the matchup is tough for Murray and super favorable for Herbert. I think Herbert will avoid mistakes and toss a couple TDs, while Murray struggles against the Chargers’ defense. 

Murray is really the only QB here who I prefer not to start, and if I had to start him, I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world because of his potential upside.

Running Backs

1. Derrick Henry

2. J.K. Dobbins

3. James Conner

4. Bucky Irving

5. Justice Hill

6. Rachaad White

7. Sean Tucker

8. Kimani Vidal

9. Trey Benson/Emari Demercado

Henry is another no-brainer choice for the No. 1 slot. His matchup is average, but he’s simply been too good this season to not be treated as the RB1 in tonight’s games, and each week for that matter.

Dobbins has a pretty favorable matchup against the Cardinals, so he gets the No. 2 fantasy slot for the night. Expect him to serve as the team’s workhorse.

Conner is the final fantasy back I’d want to play in a standard league tonight. His matchup is tough, but he’s a big enough part of the offense to still start fairly confidently.

The Buccaneers’ running back room is a mess right now. I broke it all down in another story earlier this week.

Hill slides into the rankings between Irving, White and Tucker. Hill is usually fairly involved each week, and is worth a potential start in some deeper setups.

Vidal is the new top backup in LA with Gus Edwards hitting injured reserve. I don’t expect a big workload for Vidal tonight, but he could score a few fantasy points with a big play or touchdown for those of you in really deep leagues. 

Benson is questionable with an illness, but he wasn’t worth starting in almost any leagues anyways. He and Emari Demercado have split the backup role behind Conner, but neither are worth playing tonight in the tough matchup.

Wide Receivers

1. Chris Godwin

2. Zay Flowers

3. Mike Evans

4. Marvin Harrison Jr.

5. Ladd McConkey

6. Rashod Bateman

7. Michael Wilson

8. Joshua Palmer

These are the eight wideouts that appear in the week 7 wide receiver projections, so we’ll discuss them.

Godwin has been the best fantasy wideout between these four teams, and in a favorable matchup, I’m fine taking him first. 

Flowers also has a favorable matchup, and because he doesn’t have to deal with another top wideout, he gets the edge over Evans for the No. 2 slot of mine.

Evans has been banged up this season, which is maybe contributing to his underwhelming numbers. His ceiling is high enough to keep starting him, but the confidence level in playing him is not great right now.

Harrison is a risky play after dealing with a concussion last week and in a tough matchup, but I simply like his upside over anyone else, so I have to take him fourth.

I gave McConkey thought for the No. 4 slot, but feel more confident slotting him behind Harrison. He’s questionable for the game, as are three teammates - another is doubtful - but if McConkey suits up, I think he leads the team in receiving. He’s the last wideout tonight who I’d consider starting in standard leagues.

Bateman, Wilson and Palmer are all deep league starting options. Bateman has a favorable enough matchup to give a start to in a pinch. Wilson’s matchup is tough, but I like him over Palmer because he doesn’t have an injury designation, and because he could go off if the defense tries to take away Harrison.

Tight Ends

1. Trey McBride

2. Cade Otton

3. Mark Andrews

4. Isaiah Likely

5. Will Dissly/Hayden Hurst

There’s not many good fantasy TE options for Monday’s games.

McBride has 17 targets over the past two games, and I think he continues to be heavily involved tonight. It’s also not a terrible matchup, so I think he is the top fantasy performer by the end of the night.

I like Otton in his very favorable matchup after that. I think the Bucs will be throwing a ton tonight, and that should help Otton to a solid fantasy score.

Andrews, Likely and Dissly and Hurst are on the outside looking in for standard league starts in my book. None of them have been consistent performers, so I’m mostly going off of “what have you done for me lately?”

A touchdown could help propel any of the final four over McBride or Otton, but I wouldn’t want to base my fantasy rankings on scoring.

Kickers

1. Justin Tucker

2. Chase McLaughlin 

3. Cameron Dicker

4. Chad Ryland

I see the Ravens, Bucs game as a shootout, while the Cardinals, Chargers game is more of a defensive battle. That makes Tucker and McLaughlin more appealing from a fantasy perspective to me, and I think both are good starting options.

I think Dicker would also be a fine starting option, but I don’t like Ryland this week all that much. You might not have any other options, and a couple field goals might get you to a decent fantasy score. It’s the kicker position overall, so don’t fret too much over it.

Defenses/Special Teams

1. Chargers

2. Cardinals

3. Ravens

4. Buccaneers

The only D/ST from tonight’s games that I really like is the Chargers, and even they are not a great option in my eyes. 

I have the Cardinals second, but really would avoid them if I could. I’d do whatever I could to avoid Baltimore and Tampa Bay, as I see a ton of points and not much defense being played in that contest.

Offensive Overall Rankings (OP or Flex Spots)

1. Lamar Jackson

2. Baker Mayfield

3. Derrick Henry

4. Chris Godwin

5. Zay Flowers

6. Justin Herbert

7. Kyler Murray

8. J.K. Dobbins

9. Mike Evans

10. James Conner

11. Marvin Harrison Jr. 

12. Ladd McConkey

13. Trey McBride

14. Cade Otton

15. Bucky Irving

16. Rashod Bateman

17. Justice Hill

18. Rachaad White

19. Michael Wilson

20. Mark Andrews

21. Sean Tucker

22. Kimani Vidal

23. Isaiah Likely

24. Joshua Palmer

25. Trey Benson

26. Will Dissly

27. Emari Demercado

28. Hayden Hurst

If White misses the game, you can slot Tucker into his slot instead, and then bump Irving ahead of Otton. If Benson misses the game, I’d slot Demercado into his slot.

If McConkey misses the game, Palmer would slide way up. I’d put him between Irving and Bateman. I’d also slide Dobbins up a couple slots, going between Herbert and Murray, if McConkey is out.

#start-sit-decision #2024-fantasy-football