Week 7 Fantasy Football Stock Report: Chase Brown Struggles, 3 RB2s Thrive

  • October 26, 2026

As I pen this on Sunday evening, 13 out of 14 Week 7 games are completed (with Monday night still to come), and the fantasy season is approaching its midpoint. Nonetheless, circumstances are evolving weekly. There are encouraging advancements, worrisome patterns, and performances that alter our preliminary perceptions of players and teams. As is customary, some of these changing viewpoints will undoubtedly have lasting effects in fantasy leagues.

Keeping that in mind, I’ve assembled another comprehensive fantasy stock report. Here are the most significant risers and fallers as we head into Week 8.

Here are the wide receivers I would prefer for the remainder of the season over Zay Flowers: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Puka Nacua, CeeDee Lamb, and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Malik Nabers is a toss-up. That’s the list. The Ravens’ top WR recently caught eight of 11 targets for 137 yards and a touchdown from Tyler Huntley. He ranks second in the league in yards per route run, trailing only Smith-Njigba, and is third in the league for fantasy points per route run, behind JSN and Mike Evans (shoutout to Evans, by the way). It’s increasingly clear that he’s currently the premier YAC threat at the position. Without his early injury and a handful of mediocre games managed by Huntley, he would almost certainly be the WR2 overall. With Lamar Jackson nearing a comeback and Flowers back to full health — and with several outstanding matchups on the horizon — he is poised for an elite second half of the fantasy season.

Bucky Irving has had a volatile stretch as of late, but Sunday delivered a bountiful 23.5-point performance on 24 carries for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Prior to Week 7, Irving had not reached seven fantasy points in three of four games … and amassed 30.5 in the fourth (against Dallas). Nevertheless, there are indicators suggesting that this wasn’t merely another sporadic peak leading to more valleys.

Firstly, Baker Mayfield returned for this matchup (albeit with a glove on his throwing hand). Even though he had minimal impact — due to not needing to do much — it likely influences defensive strategies and Irving’s workload. Additionally, even though the fantasy results have varied greatly, Irving has consistently received at least 15 carries in six consecutive games. The only running backs with more 15-carry games this season are Jonathan Taylor and Derrick Henry. It would be beneficial if Irving were to contribute more in the passing game, which would elevate his floor, but within what seems to be a very thin RB market this year, Irving is a viable RB2.

Upon his return from a one-week absence due to an ankle injury, Quinshon Judkins delivered his finest fantasy outing of the season. He recorded 17 carries for 96 yards and two touchdowns, significantly improving from just one score all season before Sunday. While some of Judkins’ effectiveness can be attributed to the Titans defense, he also looked impressive … possibly for the first time this season. Similar to Irving, he has maintained a high volume floor — with 14+ touches in each game — but has largely been average for fantasy purposes.

Notably, Dylan Sampson also returned for this matchup and posted 77 yards on nine touches. However, it’s also crucial to note that the Browns are currently 5-2 and have secured victories in five of their last six matches, with the “most challenging” opponent remaining on their schedule, according to current standings, being the 5-2 Steelers … against whom Judkins scored 18.6 fantasy points in Week 4. The notion that Judkins cannot excel due to unfavorable game scripts for the Browns is losing credibility, and after facing Pittsburgh, he will confront the Saints (the best RB matchup in fantasy). He is a low-end RB2, which is a rare find nowadays.

This might just be the simplest “Stock Up” of the entire season. Following a week where he played only six snaps and had zero touches due to a punitive benching for fumbling issues, Cam Skattebo exploded in Week 7. He was not only the clear RB1 with 17 carries (compared to Tyrone Tracy Jr.’s six and Devin Singletary’s five), but he also achieved a career-high 124 yards on those carries, including a strong 16-yard touchdown and a 42-yarder leading up to the game-winner in overtime against Houston. He secured the ball and went “full Skattebo” multiple times throughout the contest, concluding with a season-high of 18.6 fantasy points.

Most importantly, it was abundantly clear that John Harbaugh views Skattebo as his primary RB, and the message from Week 6 has evidently resonated. Though Skattebo reportedly tweaked his hamstring towards the game’s conclusion, New York has a Week 8 bye, allowing him time to recuperate. Looking ahead, he aligns perfectly with the same tier as Irving and Judkins: high-volume running backs in somewhat questionable offenses, making them suitable for low-end RB2 positions in the later stretch of the season.

While I’m cautious to fully invest in Jets rookie receiver Omar Cooper Jr. after two impressive games, he is showcasing explosive potential that is rare in fantasy. After securing one 30-yard catch in the season opener and missing four games on injured reserve, Cooper has now achieved over 100 yards and a touchdown in successive weeks. He made a 48-yard catch in Week 6 against the Patriots and followed up with a 52-yarder and a 60-yarder in Week 7.

Crucially, he has caught 11 passes on 12 targets in these past two outings … while Garrett Wilson has only six receptions on nine targets. I wouldn’t assert that Wilson has been displaced as the WR1, but it’s noteworthy that when he faces the toughest matchups or a double-team, Cooper can excel against weaker coverage. We should observe whether the changing target distribution persists for a couple more weeks before making any bold conclusions, but Cooper is certainly worth picking up off waivers — assuming he’s still available — or you may want to pursue him in a trade before his value escalates.

Let’s commence the Stock Down section where we concluded with Stock Up. However, it’s not solely Cooper’s emergence that is diminishing Wilson’s fantasy value. He had three receptions on four targets for 27 yards back in Week 4 against the Bears (with Cooper on IR) and has now logged fewer than seven fantasy points in three of his last four outings. Frankly, this has become a pattern for Wilson. He is usually a target magnet, but he also has a tendency to underperform for various reasons in more games than we’d prefer from a WR1. He currently ranks as the WR24 in points per game for the season and the WR42 over the past month.

As I mentioned earlier regarding Cooper, I don’t believe the dynamics have flipped in New York, and I expect Wilson to maintain strong performances nearly every week. Nevertheless, with Cooper’s breakout, Wilson’s primary strength — an excellent target share — may see a decline as the season progresses. I view him more as a low-end WR2 and would consider trading him for a more reliable producer who carries a lesser name (or for Zay Flowers, though considerably more would likely need to be offered to secure that deal).

The situation has become increasingly bleak for Chase Brown in Cincinnati and in fantasy. He has failed to exceed 39 rushing yards in any of his last three games and has registered single-digit fantasy points in four of his last five outings. The only reason it’s not five in a row is that he caught 11 passes for 71 yards in an astonishing Week 4, which shouldn’t be anticipated or projected (he has averaged 3.4 receptions for 14.4 yards in his other five games). He did manage to outproduce Samaje Perine on Sunday, but Perine still managed to nab a goal-line rushing touchdown. Joe Burrow effectively shouldered the offense, accumulating 292 passing yards and four touchdowns through the air.

Brown is currently positioned as the RB25 for the season in points per game … and his best performance occurred way back in Week 1, when he achieved his sole touchdown of the year (and just 16.3 points). Since Week 2, he has been outperformed by Brian Robinson Jr., Alvin Kamara, and Emanuel Wilson among many others. That simply won’t suffice for a back who was drafted as a potential fringe RB1. Unless Brown experiences a significant turnaround — akin to what he achieved towards the end of last season — he is rapidly trending towards bust territory.

It has been a nice stretch for Aaron Jones Sr. as the primary back in Minnesota. With Jordan Mason on injured reserve from Weeks 2-5 (and a Week 6 bye), Jones averaged an impressive 24.3 touches for 110.5 yards per game and ranked as the RB13 in fantasy points per game. However, with Mason’s return on Sunday … Jones handled the ball nine times and totaled 26 yards. In contrast, Mason racked up 15 carries for 68 yards while playing 62.5% of the snaps (compared to just 26.8% for Jones).

The only flicker of hope in this situation may be that the Vikings face a notably tougher lineup of opponents moving forward and are very unlikely to maintain their unbeaten streak, at least without challenges. This could lead to game scripts that favor Jones (the more involved receiver) over Mason in the foreseeable future … but even with that dynamic, Jones will remain an inconsistent part of a committee backfield. It may be too late to trade him for solid value, but expectations for Jones to sustain RB2 fantasy worth in the future should be managed. Fortunately, the knee injury Jones sustained on Sunday is reportedly not severe.

The bright side for Isaiah Likely following his Week 7 struggle is that the Texans defense managed to shut him down — a feat they’ve achieved against tight ends all season — and that his absence from the game was likely unrelated to the J.J. McCarthy emergence at quarterback. Given that Likely had caught two of three targets for 44 yards and a touchdown during McCarthy’s previous quarter two weeks ago, it’s not unfounded optimism … but there are still grounds for concern.

Likely secured just two catches on four targets (for 12 yards) on Sunday, after having seen 11+ targets in each of the preceding three games and averaging 9.8 targets per game over the first six weeks. He had been positioning himself as a top-five tight end, only clearly behind Trey McBride and Brock Bowers, but that argument becomes a bit precarious following his performance of just 2.2 fantasy points. Heading into a Week 8 bye, Likely, McCarthy, and the entire offense will have a chance to develop greater synergy, and I anticipate a rebound in performance on the other side. However, there remains a possibility that we will experience intermittent disappearances from Likely — he also scored just 2.3 points in Week 3 — as he is not quite the towering presence that McBride or Bowers have shown to be.