One-Hit Wonders or Here to Stay? Analyzing Week 7 Breakout Players: Rashod Bateman, Javonte Williams, Russell Wilson, Jonnu Smith and More

Week 7 of the NFL season is in the books, but before we turn our attention to week 8 and beyond, let’s do one final recap of the previous week of action.

Here, we’ll identify fantasy standouts from the previous week of play and then determine if they are here to stay or just a one-hit wonder. Here’s last week’s story. Also be sure to check out the panic meter series.

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Wide Receivers

Rashod Bateman and Cedric Tillman are the two wideouts I want to write about after week 7.

Bateman caught all four of his targets for 121 yards and a touchdown. This might look like a one-week outlier because of the big catches, but I think Bateman is actually here to stay.

Now, I don’t think he’ll produce these kinds of numbers every week, but he’s been an average or better fantasy performer the past three weeks, and four of the past five weeks. In his double-digit fantasy showings, Bateman has four or more targets in each game. That’s not many targets, but his big play ability gives him really good upside.

He’s kind of a boom or bust player looking at his full season stats, but I see him being more boom than bust the rest of the season, and wouldn’t mind at least stashing him on my roster for the second half of the season.

In the Browns’ first game without Amari Cooper, Tillman was one of the biggest beneficiaries. He had 81 yards on eight receptions and 12 targets.

There will be some changes in Cleveland’s offense with Deshaun Watson out with an injury and Nick Chubb working his way back from his injury, but there’s room for pass catchers to step up, and Tillman could be one of those guys.

I think Tillman is here to stay. Right now, he’s a safer starting option in deeper leagues, but one more solid outing might put Tillman on the starting line in standard leagues too.

Running Backs

Javonte Williams and Tank Bigsby are the running backs worth discussing this week.

Williams went off for 88 rushing yards and two scores on just 14 carries in week 7. He added 23 receiving yards on three catches and targets to finish as one of the top PPR fantasy backs of the week.

He’s only gotten double-digit carries in four of the team’s seven games this season, but this game was at least a step in the right direction because of his efficiency and scoring prowess. I don’t think he’ll match these fantasy numbers every week, but I also don’t see him fading out of the fantasy picture anytime soon. 

I think Williams is an above-average flex option at this point. The only reason I can’t confidently say he’s here to stay is because his strength of schedule is below average when stacked up against the entire league.

Bigsby was the lead back for Jacksonville in week 7 with Travis Etienne out with an injury. Bigsby rushed 26 times for 118 yards and two touchdowns. He failed to grab his only target.

I think the Jacksonville backfield belongs to Bigsby, and will remain that way even when Etienne returns. Bigsby doesn’t add much as a pass catcher, and that’s where Etienne will get his playing time and touches.

But I think Bigsby is here to stay as a fantasy asset - if only he had a better strength of schedule.

Quarterbacks

Russell Wilson and Drake Maye are the two quarterbacks who I want to discuss this week.

Wilson made his first start in week 7, completing 55.2% of his passes for 264 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. He added three rushing yards and a touchdown on three attempts.

His completion percentage wasn’t great, but the yardage and scores are exactly what you’d be looking for out of a fantasy quarterback. I don’t expect him to keep posting three total touchdowns, but if he can go for at least 200 yards and add a score or two every week, Wilson can be an above-average fantasy performer.

His schedule ahead has more favorable matchups than tough ones, and taking everything into consideration, I see Wilson as a fantasy player who is here to stay.

Maye doesn’t have as favorable a schedule ahead, but his team might be so bad that the volume passing stats he racks up turns him into a good fantasy option most weeks.

In his second start in week 7, Maye threw for 276 yards, two touchdowns and no picks, while rushing for 18 yards. He’s got 519 passing yards, five touchdowns, two picks and 53 rushing yards across two starts.

I think Maye is capable of similar showings going forward. Again, it might not be pretty for the Patriots as a whole, but Maye can add up enough stats to be an above-average fantasy performer, especially in the right matchups.

Tight Ends

Jonnu Smith and Will Dissly are two tight ends I’d like to discuss.

Smith has been a part of several of my stories already this week. He had had 96 yards and a touchdown on seven catches and receptions in week 7.

It was his second straight game over 60 receiving yards, and third time he’s topped 50 yards on the year. The other three games he’s played in have been below 20 yards though.

I still think Smith is here to stay as a fantasy performer, and a lot of that has to do with Tua Tagovailoa returning. Tua’s presence boosts the fantasy value of all the team’s offensive playmakers, and Smith could absolutely continue putting up solid numbers despite Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and De'Von Achane leading the way.

At a weak fantasy TE position, I think Smith deserves a lot more attention, and is extremely overlooked right now. If you aren’t confident in Smith, or Tagovailoa in his return, at least stash Smith to see if he can build on what he’s done over the past couple weeks.

Dissly had a breakout performance on Monday night. He caught eight of his 11 targets for 81 yards.

Dissly has 21 receptions, 192 yards and 26 targets on the season now, which makes this look like a one-game outlier. After getting three or less targets in week 1-4, Dissly has 16 targets over the past two games, possibly suggesting a breakout of sorts.

The problem with Dissly is that Hayden Hurst has been banged up the past two weeks. Hurst played seven snaps in week 6 and was inactive in week 7.

So I would say Dissly is here to stay if Hurst continues to miss games, but otherwise, I see the two Charger tight ends going back to splitting snaps and the workload, which means Dissly is going to fade back into a deep league streaming option only.

Keep Dissly in mind if Hurst happens to miss week 8, but otherwise, I’m chalking his last couple weeks as outliers because of the Hurst injury. It’s still a situation to monitor as time passes.