The week of football has just about concluded, and Peter Overzet is here with the Week 7 recap for fantasy football:

It's time for Pete's Pick 6—my weekly recap column where I round up six things–the good, the bad, and the ugly–that caught my eye on the Sunday main slate.

This week's edition features more tilt than usual. Let's get to it …

Takeaway #1: The Robust RB thesis hits

If you started your 2024 draft with a bunch of RBs you probably had an incredible Week 7.D

Take a look at the stat lines from these top RBs:

Gibbs took advantage of a few extra touches when Knuckles got banged up and never looked back … Barkley had the ultimate revenge day, punishing his former team with big runs and a truck stick for good measure … Despite having a Ferrari in the garage, Bobby Slowik has zero interest in taking it for a spin. That creates a frustrating dynamic for everyone other than Mixon managers … Bijan and Walker traded blows in Atlanta despite Ken having a "birthday tummy ache" ... Kyren now has nine straight games with a TD. Incredible … Jones returned from a multi-week absence, but that hammy didn't slow him down whatsoever …And last but not least, Jacobs scored his first receiving TD of his career.

As a Zero RB bro, that was a tough section to write. Surely, it will get better, right? Right?!

Wrong …

Takeaway #2: Um, what happened to the WRs?

If the RBs were hogging all of the fantasy production on Sunday, you can probably guess what that meant for the WRs. Outside of a few notable names at the top– Amon-Ra St. Brown, Justin Jefferson, and A.J. Brown–the position was littered with major letdowns.

Let's take a quick stroll through the graveyard …

Tank Dell, who is responsible for Grandma being left in a cage, had 0 catches and one brutal TD drop.

DeVonta Smith had 1 catch for … checks notes … -2 yards.

Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle combined for 2 catches and 19 yards. Tua can't come back soon enough.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba threw for almost four times as many yards (35) than he caught (9). 

Diontae Johnson had 1 catch for 17 yards. I want a refund on the "garbage time" I thought I was purchasing.

Jameson Williams had -4 yards on 1 catch. If you played him in DFS like I did, don't look up Kalif Raymond's stat line.

It's not even worth mentioning DeAndre Hopkins (1, -2) at this point.

Ok, Pete, enough already. How about some good news? Sorry, not yet …

Takeaway #3: Injuries sour the slate

When it comes to injuries in the NFL, it can always get worse. Even with the return of Aaron Jones (and the near-return of Cooper Kupp), Sunday resulted in another painful batch of injuries to key fantasy contributors.

Jayden Daniels–the top projected QB on the slate–left the game early after taking a shot to the ribs and scored only 5 points. He was going for 30+ easily vs. this hapless Panthers defense. Vomit.

Niners WR Brandon Aiyuk is feared to have torn his ACL. He's had a bumpy season after an offseason of drama, but this is still a huge blow for the Niners. They are really going to need one of Ricky Pearsall or Jacob Cowing to step up going forward.

DK Metcalf, who was on his way to a monster outing, left the game on a cart with a knee injury. Fortunately, it doesn't appear to be serious.

And yes, we'll get to Deshaun Watson in a sec. The Browns get their own section.

Takeaway #4: The Lions & Vikings salvaged the day

If there was one bright spot to Week 7 alongside all of the RB fireworks, it was the NFC North showdown between the Lions and Vikings.

Jared Goff stayed hot, Detroit got the W and handed Minnesota their first L of the season, but this was an all-out war. Check out these comparables:

  • Total yards: 391 (Lions) vs. 383 (Vikings)
  • Passing yards: 247 vs. 244
  • Rushing yards: 144 vs. 139
  • Yards per play: 7 vs. 7.4
  • First downs: 19 vs. 16
  • 3rd down efficiency: 4/10 vs. 4.10

Unfortunately, we won't get the rematch until a (fantasy) meaningless Week 18 matchup, but I would bet these two teams find a way to meet in the playoffs, too.

Takeaway #5: Could the Browns be fun going forward?

The Deshaun Watson QB Experience is finally over. After two horrendous seasons of play, Watson tore his Achilles on Sunday in the second quarter. The Browns should have benched him well before this, but it doesn't matter now.

What does matter, however, is the prospect of the Browns being fun again. Not only did they get Nick Chubb back yesterday (he scored a TD, natch), but there's a glimmer of hope at the QB position.

For some reason, Jameis Winston was only the "emergency" third-string QB, but after backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson got injured, Winston immediately connected with David Njoku (10-76-1) for a TD.

I don't want to be in the business of predicting what this bankrupt franchise is going to do at QB because they are clearly illogical with their decision-making, but I can say with certainty that if they commit to Winston this team is going to be very fantasy-friendly. Njoku–along with Cedric Tillman, Jerry Jeudy, and Elijah Moore–would all be positioned for fantasy relevance.

Takeaway #6: The 49ers continue to lie to us

First, there was the CMC/Jordan Mason catastrophe in Week 1 where the team flat-out lied about McCaffrey's health.

Then yesterday, we got an encore with Deebo Samuel. Samuel woke up sick on Sunday morning, but it wasn't reported until a minute before the game started that he was sick and "going to play through it." Spoiler: he didn't play through it and instead left for the locker room before registering any stats.

It wasn't just the Niners either. The Rams said WR Jordan Whittington was good to go and he played zero snaps.

There's way too much money on the line for teams to get away with this. How about we spend a little less time fining players for TD celebrations and instead start ensuring that these teams report, ya know, the actual status of their players heading into the game?

Please and thank you. See ya after Week 8, when I'll hopefully be in a better mood.