It's already Week 7, and some fantasy managers are in heaven.
Come for the fantasy advice, stay for the poetry.
The season has been a delight for managers who drafted Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Kansas City Chiefs running back Ken Walker III, Green Bay Packers wideout Christian Watson, New York Giants tight end Isaiah Likely, and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy. All of those players are rolling. Their lineups are like a Ronco Showtime Rotisserie and BBQ—set it and forget it.
Order today, and he'll throw in a free can of spray hair.
However, while some fantasy managers have been in heaven, others have been in…the other place. The injuries that have ravaged the wide receiver position this year have swept through their teams like a typhoon. Their starting running backs to open the season were Omarion Hampton of the Los Angeles Chargers and Cam Skattebo of the New York Giants. They drafted Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles at quarterback and Kyle Pitts Sr. of the Atlanta Falcons at tight end.
You think Michael Myers is scary? Setting their lineup is terrifying.
It's not just that they are forced to sift through middling options as potential fantasy starters. As the losses have piled up, their margin for error has vanished. Miss on many more lineup decisions, and their season will be as cooked as one of those spinning chickens.
Well, Close Calls is here to make sure that your 2026 campaign doesn't wind up crispy and golden-brown.
Every week, we're going to look at some of the closest calls. Make the case for both players. And then offer up this analyst's take on which player is the correct play.
For the sake of this exercise, we'll only consider quarterbacks and tight ends outside the top 10, running backs outside the top 20, and wide receivers outside the top 30 in Footballguys' Weekly Rankings. If you are trying to decide between Smith-Njigba and Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams, then I hope a Killer Klown from Outer Space turns you into a giant ball of cotton candy.
Extra credit if that makes sense to you.
Week 7 Close Calls
Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh (QB13) vs. Kirk Cousins, Las Vegas (QB14)
The Case for Rodgers: In many respects, Rodgers has turned back the clock in 2026—he's arguably playing his best football since his last MVP season in 2021. Six weeks into the season, Rodgers sits at QB14 in fantasy points, and SI's Michael Fabiano sees even bigger and better things in store for the 42-year-old in Paris this week.
"Rodgers has scored 17-plus fantasy points in four straight games, including three with more than 20 points, so the Steelers' quarterback is certainly a viable fantasy option, especially with four teams on a bye and injuries affecting the position's depth," he wrote. "He has a plus matchup against the Saints, who have allowed the fourth-most points per game. Last week, their defense gave up 16.3 points to J.J. McCarthy in the fourth quarter alone."
The Case for Cousins: Many expected that by now Cousins would have given way to rookie Fernando Mendoza under center in Vegas. But while the Raiders have dropped three straight, Cousins has played at a high level—something that Jamey Eisenberg of CBS Sports expects to continue this week against the reeling Los Angeles Rams.
"Cousins scored 22.5 Fantasy points in Week 6 against Buffalo and has now scored at least 19.8 points in all but one game this season," he said. "This isn't an easy matchup against the Rams, but Los Angeles won't have defensive linemen Poona Ford (triceps) and Kobie Turner (groin) for this game, along with cornerback Trent McDuffie (groin) potentially out. The Rams have allowed three quarterbacks this season to score at least 27.1 Fantasy points -- Brock Purdy in Week 1, Bo Nix in Week 3, and Josh Allen in Week 5 -- and Cousins should have another solid outing in Week 7."
The Verdict: Cousins. The 38-year-old has been solid for fantasy managers this year—he's quietly seventh at the position in fantasy points. Rodgers draws a slightly more favorable fantasy matchup, but it's easier to imagine the Raiders with the kind of negative game script that will force Cousins and Vegas to the air Sunday.
RJ Harvey, Denver (RB25) vs. Tyler Allgeier, Arizona (RB26)
The Case for Harvey: The Denver run game is admittedly a mess—the Broncos are 26th in the NFL against the run, but in some respects Harvey's role as Denver's pass-catching back gives him the highest fantasy floor. It's a tad ironic, given that as Harvey told reporters, he barely got to show off his receiving chops while in college.
"It's crazy. I used to tell my college coach, 'I can catch the ball, coach, throw the ball to me,''' Harvey said. "But for some reason, he barely threw the ball to me. Coming here, this past offseason I really wanted to work on my route-running and work on my catching more. That was one of my main focuses during the offseason. I feel like I've gotten much better at it. I just want to continue to develop and keep getting better at it."
The Case for Allgeier: Allgeier's first week as Arizona's "lead" back in Week 6 didn't go great—he split backfield work evenly and was outplayed by Bam Knight. But with Jeremiyah Love likely out again in Week 7, Allgeier should once again see significant work, and as he told reporters, he's not averse to sharing carries.
"It's probably the best thing you can do, and obviously, it saves the body," Allgeier said. "That's a privilege. Being able to have two or even three great guys in the room and being able to compete and being able to be a running back community. Just having that rotation, because it's pretty taxing."
The Verdict: Harvey. He's admittedly the riskier play even after Allgeier laid an egg last week—in Week 5, Harvey all but vanished from the Denver offense. But with J.K. Dobbins doing little more than falling forward and Jonah Coleman returning from injury, Harvey's is Denver's best option in the backfield—a fact that should be obvious to head coach Sean Payton.
In other words, if this doesn't work, I blame him.
