Week 7 fantasy football in 2020 saw a few young gun quarterbacks put up impressive numbers. Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, and Kyler Murray all finished in the top four at the position in fantasy per the scoring we use in our LWOPF Yahoo Sports league. And then there’s the amazing night that wide receiver Tyler Lockett had for the Seattle Seahawks in a losing effort against Murray’s Arizona Cardinals. Pretty much all those players enjoyed healthy ownership rates in fantasy football, though. Which players from Week 7 came out of nowhere to put up impressive numbers despite being owned by few, and maybe even zero, players? We will explore below.
Week 7 Fantasy Football Surprise Sensations
Baker Mayfield
He has run into a few stumbling blocks this season, but year three of the Baker Mayfield project seems to be bearing fruit for the Cleveland Browns. That much was certain on Sunday when he threw for five touchdown passes in Cleveland’s 37-34 win over their in-state in-division rival Cincinnati Bengals. Mayfield stepped up when his team needed him most, as his 24-yard touchdown toss to rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones with 11 seconds remaining in the game proving to be the game-winner. As a result, the Browns currently find themselves at 5-2 through seven games for the first time since the club returned to the league back in 1999.
Mayfield finished Week 7 as one of six quarterbacks to eclipse 30 fantasy points in Yahoo leagues. But for someone who’s supposed to be a franchise signal-caller, his 33 percent ownership rate among Yahoo players is markedly low. And despite the season-ending ACL injury to Odell Beckham, he should gain some interest on the waiver wire as Cleveland welcomes the Las Vegas Raiders to town in Week 8. They’re currently giving up the fifth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks.
Scotty Miller
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers completed a successful business trip to Vegas in Week 7 as they won fairly convincingly over the Raiders by a 45-20 scoreline. The future first-ballot Hall of Famer connected with some of his usual suspects as Chris Godwin and Rob Gronkowski both registered touchdown grabs. But Scotty Miller also had himself a game. He finished with six catches, 109 yards, and a touchdown reception of his own. This despite a relatively paltry 10 percent ownership mark in Yahoo leagues. The second-year player out of Bowling Green has been somewhat volatile from a fantasy standpoint. But he does have four games where he totaled double-digit fantasy points in 2020, including his effort in Week 7. That said, he is a risky waiver wire add with the Bucs having recently added Antonio Brown.
Jeff Wilson
The aforementioned Lockett made many a fantasy owner happy with his three-touchdown performance for one of the San Francisco 49ers NFC West rivals on Sunday night. That’s pretty clear given he was rostered on 99 percent of teams in Yahoo leagues. The same can’t be said about Jeff Wilson’s impressive outing in a 33-6 blowout of the New England Patriots. The undrafted third-year man out of North Texas scored three touchdowns of his own in San Fran’s emphatic victory. It led to him finishing with the most fantasy points among running backs using the scoring system in the LWOPF Yahoo league. But very few players benefited as his ownership rate heading into Week 7 stood at a minuscule five percent. If anything, that’s going to plummet even further as he suffered an ankle injury late in the game and is now on injured reserve. With Raheem Mostert also on IR, that makes Jerick McKinnon a possible waiver-wire option. The Niners’ Week 8 opponent, the Seahawks, are giving up 110.5 rushing yards per game despite having lost just one game so far in 2020.
Harrison Bryant
Did you benefit from Harrison Bryant’s 21.6 points which were most among tight ends in Week 7 fantasy football? Not if you play in any Yahoo leagues, as his ownership rate stood at zero percent. Both him and David Njoku caught touchdown passes from Baker Mayfield in Cleveland’s narrow win over Cincinnati. But even Njoku garnered just a three percent ownership mark. With the aforementioned season-ending injury to OBJ, they’re definitely worth considering as a waiver-wire add if your tight end situation is problematic. And Cleveland did decide to take Bryant in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. So it’s not like he came out of nowhere with Sunday’s performance. And the Browns should be highly motivated to get to 6-2 heading into their bye week. So Bryant could be worth a gamble, perhaps even as a stack with Mayfield in daily fantasy as well.
Tyler Bass
Through seven weeks, the Buffalo Bills have definitely established themselves as favorites to win the AFC East. That’s pretty big in and of itself since they haven’t done so since 1995. But the past three weeks have been a bit concerning. They laid an absolute egg against the Tennessee Titans in a game where their opponents’ preparation had been negatively affected by COVID-19. And though they were certainly competitive against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, the eventual 26-17 win from the visitors to Orchard Park was never really in doubt.
Then came Sunday’s matchup against the hapless New York Jets. The Bills came into the game as 13-point favorites yet, at one point, trailed 10-0. Ultimately, they were forced to go fishing for field goals as rookie kicker Tyler Bass would nail six kicks in an 18-10 comeback victory. He ultimately attempted eight during the game which was a Bills franchise record. And his 23 fantasy points were not only the highest among kickers in Week 7. They were seven points more than Zane Gonzalez and Matt Prater who finished in a tie for second. Now Bass has missed five kicks so far in 2020. But what he pulled off against the Jets should result in some semblance of interest from those who like to stream kickers ahead of Buffalo’s anticipated matchup with the Patriots.
