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Week 7 saw some exciting finishes and many fantasy matchups were just as exciting as a result.   The Docs had another very strong week picking the fantasy bench / start players.   We hope that you were able to take advantage of these calls and pull off a fantasy win or two.   As always, we own up to our calls in the weekly bench / start wrap up.   Sit back in your chair and enjoy this look back at week 7.

Nostradamus (a.k.a. psychic)
Start:
Mark Brunell – Brunell had another solid game this week.   Brunnell had zero turnovers , 252 yards passing, and an impressive 3 TDs.   Brunell was a welcome sight on almost every fantasy roster.   Brunell has the hot hand right now, so we don’t see any reason to jump off his bandwagon any time soon.

Aaron Brooks – Brooks posted another solid game against the Rams.   Brooks continues to be a consistent performer (consistent in the fact that he has up and down weeks and he can have a good fantasy game while losing his actual NFL game).   If you are a Saints fan and he quarterbacks your team, he will drive you crazy.   If you just own Brooks in a fantasy league, he continues to be a discounted fantasy player that can help your team.   This week Brooks threw for 230 yards, ran for 28 more, threw two TD passes, and only threw 1 INT.   Brooks was a solid start for fantasy squads in week 7.

Steven Jackson – Jackson continues to be a great option.   We don’t know whether it is because Mike Martz isn’t calling the plays or because Jamie Martin is under center, but Jackson had another great fantasy week. Jackson had over 100 yards of total offense and 2 rushing TDs.   We told you that the Saints would move out of the way for anything moving on the ground and they did just that.   Next week Ronnie Brown plays against the Saints.   You can go ahead and put him in your lineup now.

Brian Westbrook – If you are in a TD heavy league, you probably weren’t that impressed with Westbrook in week 7.   If you were in a standard league, you probably thought that his 100+ total yards of offense were pretty good.   However, those of you in leagues that award points for receptions found out that Brian Westbrook is a machine.   In an ugly win for the Eagles, Westbrook showed how he will be a factor each and every week.   Westbrook had 10, count ‘em, TEN receptions.   That is an exceptional day in reception leagues.   If you own Westbrook, we would continue to get him in your lineup in most formats every week.

Santana Moss – 5 receptions, 112 yards receiving, 1 TD, and another win for his team.   It’s just another day at the office for this new superstar. We told you that the 49ers would have trouble stopping Moss week 7.   Apparently, they had a lot of trouble stopping the whole Redskins team.   Washington racked up 52 points against the hapless 49ers.

Larry Fitzgerald – Fitzgerald may not always have a bigger game than Anquan Boldin, but he is a more valuable fantasy player than Bolding in 2005.   He is starting to establish himself as a touchdown threat each and every week.   Fitzgerald has scored in four out of his 6 games (while Boldin has only scored twice).   With that type of consistent production from your WR, you can win fantasy championships.

Donte Stallworth – As long as Joe Horn continues to be limited by his injury, Stallworth will continue to be a fantasy factor.   There is also the chance that Stallworth can start to establish a relationship with Brooks that can continue on even when Horn returns.   This would be the best cast scenario for Stallworth owners.   Horn had reasonable yardage, a decent number of receptions, and another TD.   We wish he wouldn’t have fumbled, but he still posted a solid game.

Jake Plummer – Jake “no mistake” Plummer continues to turn in decent starts.   This past weekend he posted nearly 200 yards passing, he rushed for 11 yards, and he threw a TD pass.   Plummer continued his streak of quarters without an interception.   Plummer also had no fumbles.   It might not be that exciting to watch, but he gave fantasy teams just enough to be a good start week 7.   However, the Broncos will continue to use Plummer in this fashion, so we don’t expect to see anything close to the explosions that he had last season.   This makes Plummer a good spot start and a backup in most leagues on a regular basis.

Edgerrin James – We don’t want to take credit for this one because James is a must start in all formats, and we told you as much in the weekly bench start.   However, we just saw this explosion coming and we couldn’t keep our mouths shut.   He had over 140 total yards and 2 TDs.   James has a bye week 8.   In week 9 and beyond, you should put James in your starting lineup and just forget about that roster spot for the rest of the season.

Curtis Martin – Martin only had 54 yards of total offense on Monday Night Football, but he did score.   We all know that a TD can make all the difference.   Martin was also a good start week 7.

Warrick Dunn – Dunn rolled up over 160 yards of total offense on Monday Night Football.   He was a very good start call.

Bench:
Muhsin Muhammad – The Bears O isn’t going to be able to overcome tough defenses for big games anytime in the near future.   Muhammad only had 39 yards on Sunday, so you were better off leaving him on the bench week 7.

David Carr – Carr was (you choose: terrible, awful, dreadful, very bad, appalling, poor, horrible, horrifying) again.   How bad could he have been?   He threw the ball 9 times.   9 times!   You can go ahead and stick a fork in Dom Capers, David Carr, the Texans’ WRs, the Texans’ season, the Texans’ D, and just about anything else Houston Texans other than Domanick Davis.

Joey Harrington – Harrington lost his job to Garcia.   If you own a Lions offensive player other than Garcia, this is some of the best news you have heard all season.   We told you to feel free to drop Harrington, so hopefully you did.

Jamal Lewis – We jumped on the bench Lewis bandwagon and he did just what we expected.   With only 40 yards of total offense, Lewis was a great call for your bench in week 7.

Michael Jenkins – 1 catch for 8 yards is a very ugly fantasy game.   Hopefully you left Jenkins on the pine.

Maurice Morris – Morris had a great week 6, but we told you that things didn’t look as good for him in week 7.   If you started Morris, he got you a zero week 7.

Julius Jones – Jones didn’t play week 7 and was a good player to leave out of your lineup.   We hope that he returns soon because you will have a tough time playing Russian roulette with the three guys who could get the carries with him out (Tyson Thompson week 5, Anthony Thomas week 6, and Marion Barber week 7).

Cedric Benson – Benson was a high draft pick for the Bears and is probably on a few fantasy rosters out there.   However, we told you to avoid him this week.   Benson played and racked up all of 6 yards on 2 carries.   Benson doesn’t look like he will be in the Bears plans anytime soon.

Tyson Thompson – We though that their was a good chance that Julius Jones wouldn’t play this week, so we told you to avoid this rookie who got the carries week 5.   another rookie, Marion Barber, carried the load week 7.   Thompson only had 40 yards of total offense on Sunday.   It was a good decision to leave him on the bench.


Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
Rod Smith – Smith had 3 receptions for 51 yards.   Don’t expect too many huge games out of Smith, but he should remain a consistent #2 or #3 WR in fantasy leagues.   His two “bad weeks” this season were probably more related to his concussion than anything else.

Baltimore Ravens D – In leagues that award fantasy points to Ds that keep the score low, Baltimore helped out fantasy rosters.   We are surprised that Baltimore didn’t have more than just one sack.   Their lack of big plays made them only a so-so start week 7.

Chicago Bears D – The Bears D only allowed 6 points and they had 4 sacks.   In most leagues sacks are only worth 1 point, so the Bears were only a so-so start.   However, those of you in leagues that award more than 1 points per sack were very pleased with the Bears.

Willis McGahee - McGahee had 3 receptions and some decent yardage, but he didn’t break 100 total yards and he didn’t score.   This isn’t what we expected from this high caliber fantasy player.   We were really surprised that McGahee couldn’t get more going against the Raiders.

Kevin Jones – Jones had a day very similar to McGahee’s, so he too was a so-so start.   We told you that we didn’t expect a huge day from Jones, but we expected a decent start from him.   He was pretty close to our prediction, but he fell just a hair short.

Bench:
Kyle Orton – Orton didn’t break 150 yards passing and he had -2 yards rushing, but he did throw a TD pass and he didn’t throw an interception.   Orton did MUCH better than we expected, but that still wasn’t a great effort.   Orton ended up being a so-so start week 7.


Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Josh McCown – McCown was a pretty big disappointment.   He didn’t complete even half of his passes and he threw an interception.   He was fresh off a couple of weeks of ridiculous passing stats, but he came up short with only 140 yards passing, 1 INT, and a TD pass.

Steve McNair – McNair did not play on Sunday.   He was a late week scratch.

Chris Brown and Ahman Green – Both of these players were having good days until they got hurt.   As a result, their fantasy stats weren’t very impressive.

Anquan Boldin – Bolding only had 15 yards RUSHING.   He was thrown to 5 times, but he didn’t haul any of those in for fantasy stats.   This performance was a huge disappointment for many fantasy owners.

Bench:
Domanick Davis – Apparently, no matter how bad the matchup might look, Davis has a chance to get his numbers.   Davis had a very solid game in a losing effort.   We expect the Texans to lose lots of games this season, so it is a good thing that Davis can have good numbers in losing efforts.

Kevan Barlow – Barlow busted out for a 17 yard TD run in this game and he busted up our bench prediction.