Latavius Murray’s soft matchup against San Diego and reasonable price make him a compelling play

Whether constructing a cash game lineup or preparing for tournament play, you will need to be able to sort out the value options that are available each week. These plays can arise from a variety of reasons ranging from an injury to simple mispricing. Finding the diamonds in the rough can be the single difference between you and a high-scoring lineup.

We are already in Week 7 of the NFL season as we head towards the final Sunday in October. There are four teams on the bye and a shortened main slate due to an early kickoff in England. Last week’s top value plays included Blake Bortles, T.Y. Hilton, Delanie Walker and Antonio Gates while some others were complete letdowns in good situations. Let’s get things rolling again as we take a look at some value plays for Week 7.

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Quarterbacks

Zach Mettenberger – TEN vs. ATL – $4,800
Mettenberger is a fine QB2 option for tournaments this week, and I could see the argument for using him in cash games as well. Mettenberger isn’t an overly exciting option, but quite frankly he doesn’t need to be at this price. He only needs 13.44 FantasyAces points to hit value, and he projects four above that. He’s the top value in terms of dollars per projected points and certainly opens up a lot of options in terms of where you can go with roster construction.

Matt Cassel – DAL @ NYG – $5,000
Cassel projects as the second-lowest scoring quarterback this week, but again he doesn’t need to do much to justify using him. I would utilize this play more for GPPs as the Giants have allowed the third-most passing yards, but they’ve done a decent job limiting passing touchdowns. Cassel appears on track to take over the starting job this week, and he could see a boost if Dez Bryant makes his return to the lineup.

Landry Jones – PIT @ KC – $5,300
We likely won’t know Ben Roethlisberger’s status until the week draws to a close as he intends to see how his knee responds to practice before making a decision to play. If Roethlisberger sits another week, Jones would emerge as a viable source of salary relief against the Chiefs. It’s a plus matchup, and Jones showed some competency last week filling in for Michael Vick, making him a solid value this week.

Running Backs

Theo Riddick – DET vs. MIN – $4,300
Ameer Abdullah’s ball security issues from his college days have resurfaced and with the Lions thin at RB, Riddick could be seeing more touches. He has started to establish himself as a prime option as a receiving back, but he did see an increase in rushes last week. This was partly due to Abdullah and Zach Zenner leaving the game due to injuries and Joique Bell being inactive. If Bell remains inactive, I think there’s a good chance Riddick still sees a healthy amount of work. It’s not the best matchup, but there’s some profit potential in this price.

Christine Michael – DAL @ NYG – $3,700
The Cowboys are set to “take the reins off” of Michael this week, but what that exactly means remains to be seen. With that being said, the matchup is neutral, and Michael only needs around 10 FantasyAces points to pay off his salary. I am still a bit weary of a committee approach, but he’s certainly worth a flier in tournaments this week.

Latavius Murray – OAK @ SD – $4,950
Eddie Lacy couldn’t take advantage of a juicy matchup last week, but James Starks did, and I think Murray will as well. The Chargers have been tough against the pass, but they are dead last in fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs, and the Raiders will likely try to exploit this weakness. Murray’s price is fair, but the value here is in the dollars spent per projected fantasy point. He’s a top-10 running back this week while coming at a meaningful discount to a Le’Veon Bell or Adrian Peterson.

Wide Receivers

John Brown – ARI vs. BAL – $4,850
Brown is coming off of a career day last week, and he’s been getting more involved as the season has progressed. He’s emerging as the second option in the Arizona passing attack behind Larry Fitzgerald, and he provides exposure to a horrific pass defense at a reasonable price. Baltimore ranks behind only the Chiefs in fantasy points allowed to opposing wide receivers and they made Colin Kaepernick look good last week. Carson Palmer is far better than Kaepernick and Brown emerges as a top five value play in terms of dollars per projected point as a result.

Stefon Diggs – MIN @ DET – $4,000
Diggs had quite the run over the last two weeks, as he caught 13 passes on 19 targets for 216 yards. It remains to be seen whether or not Diggs has officially won the starting job next to Mike Wallace, but things look good for the rookie. With Charles Johnson close to returning from injury, there could be some risk here in Week 7. All things considered, the matchup is a good one and Diggs is a good source of salary relief in tournament lineups.

Jarvis Landry – MIA vs. HOU – $4,550
This is a GPP only play as it remains to be seen if Landry’s role will remain the same under new coaching. He saw single-digit targets for the first time last week, but Landry can beat defenses in a lot of ways out of the slot. While the drop in targets could be a fluke, I’d still keep this for tournament lineups in a neutral matchup against the Texans.

Tight Ends

Antonio Gates – SD vs. OAK – $4,800
Gates’ price is on the rise, but he’s still a top value this week. In fact, he checks in as the top option in terms of dollars per projected point, and he gets a juicy matchup against the Raiders. Oakland has allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends, and Gates will have a great chance to continue that trend.

Delanie Walker – TEN vs. ATL – $4,350
Walker saw 10 targets last week and despite not finding the end zone, he still hit value. The Falcons rank in the bottom third in fantasy points allowed to opposing tight ends, making Walker a solid target again this week.

Benjamin Watson – NO @ IND – $3,900
Watson saw a whopping 12 targets last week and responded with 10 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. While this type of performance shouldn’t be expected weekly, he does have a positive matchup against the Colts this week. If you’re looking for a cheap filler at tight end this week, you can certainly do worse.

Defense/Special Teams

St. Louis Rams vs. CLE – $2,650
The Rams are the top defense in projected fantasy points and dollars spent per projected point, making them the top value across the board. The Browns have a low projected team total of 18 points, and I expect the Rams to be highly owned as a result. That’s something to keep in mind when constructing tournament lineups, but the Rams are an excellent cash game play.

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Adam Sutton is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Adam, follow him @DraftStars_Adam. You can find more of Adam’s work at DraftStars.net.