Fabs Five: Jahmyr Gibbs, Saquon Barkley Among Top Week 7 Fantasy Storylines

Michael Fabiano | Oct 20, 2024

Oct 20, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (26) celebrates his touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings during the second quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

I’m still on a sports high after my beloved New York Yankees reached the World Series on Saturday, so not even a seriously disappointing week in fantasy football can bring me down.

Well, not all the way down.

As you’ll see, the number of fantasy superstars who finished with awful totals is enough to make managers sick. Like Deebo Samuel, who barely played against the Chiefs with an illness of his own. (Maybe he started C.J. Stroud and Tank Dell on his fantasy team). He certainly wasn’t alone … like I said, read on if you dare for more statistical grossness.

We also saw multiple injuries, including Deshaun Watson, who is likely done for the season with what looked like an Achilles tear, not to mention the great rookie Jayden Daniels. Brandon Aiyuk also suffered what is feared to be a torn ACL in a loss to the aforementioned Chiefs.

With that said, here’s my Fabs’ Five Storylines from Week 7 that stood out the most. For all of the latest news and fantasy advice, be sure to check out Fantasy Dirt five days a week!

Fantasy points, where have you gone?

Today was just yucky in a lot of ways, leaving managers with the same facial expression as Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber. Anthony Richardson scored just 8.8 points. Patrick Mahomes had a very middling 12.1 fantasy points and might be droppable in smaller leagues. (No, I’m not nuts … he hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass since Week 4).

Rhamondre Stevenson had 4.5 points. Our pal David Montgomery had his first bad game of the season, scoring eight points. Alvin Kamara had 8.4 points on Thursday night, and Jordan Mason was held to 8.9 points. Tyreek Hill had 2.3 points, and he had one catch! H

How does that happen?

Jayden Reed had three points, Jaylen Waddle had 2.1 points, DeVonta Smith had 0.8 and Travis Kelce had 5.7 points. Like I said, it was an awful fantasy week.  

Today in fantasy football, in a GIF... pic.twitter.com/JqD0WlPkVl

— Michael Fabiano (@Michael_Fabiano) October 20, 2024

Jayden Daniels injured against the Panthers

Daniels, one of the top three quarterbacks in fantasy football, suffered an injury to his ribs early in Sunday’s game against the Panthers. While he did return to the sidelines, he did it in “street clothes” and didn’t play again. While there was no definitive report on his status, his mother did tweet out “he’s fine” during the contest. This was a huge loss in fantasy, as the rookie had a great matchup and was a virtual must-start. If he’s unable to go next week against the Bears, Marcus Mariota would have some value in fantasy leagues.

Jahmyr Gibbs breaks out in Minnesota

Gibbs had been putting up good fantasy totals, but he hadn’t had that big, monster stat line … until Week 7. The second-year running back saw 19 touches, produced 160 total yards, scored a pair of touchdowns and 32 fantasy points in a win over the Vikings. It was the best stat line a back had produced against their defense by a mile, as the previous high was 17.4 points from Jordan Mason in Week 2. The tremendous performance pushed Gibbs’ points-per-game average to 19.2, which ranks him among the top backs in fantasy football.

Saquon Barkley gets his Big Apple revenge

Gibbs wasn’t the only running back who had a big game this week, as Barkley went off for 26.7 points against his former team, the Giants. He rushed for 176 yards on 17 carries (10.4 YPC) and produced a season-high 187 total yards in the contest. Barkley, who is averaging an amazing 6.1 yards per rush, has now scored 26-plus points in three of his first six games and is averaging 22 points per game. That’s his highest average since his rookie year, when Barkley averaged 24.1 points per game and was the best runner in fantasy football.

Houston’s pass attack, we have a problem

Do you think the Texans miss Nico Collins? Since the superstar wideout was injured in Week 5, Houston’s pass attack has been stuck in the mud. C.J Stroud, who had averaged 277 yards in five games with Collins, has now produced a combined 278 yards in his last two contests without him. In Green Bay, Stroud had a career-low 86 passing yards and had a meager 5.3 points.  Stroud’s struggles have trickled down to the receivers, as Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell combined for 23 yards (Dell had zero), and no one had more than 28 yards in the contest. Outside of Joe Mixon, it’s hard to trust any Texans in fantasy right now.