We've neared the midpoint of the fantasy football season which means we've also reached the point when it's time to start making a move toward the playoffs. That also makes all of the weekly matchups that much more important. It all starts with Thursday Night Football. This week's matchup features an NFC West rivalry what was red hot not all that long ago. While both of these teams might be 2-4 and playing for their respective seasons, it doesn't mean that this game is irrelevant for fantasy fans. There are a number of skill position players that we'll have our eye on as Week 7 kicks off.
Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers, 8:25 p.m. ET on CBS
Seattle Seahawks:
Wilson has underwhelmed so far this season, although the glaring deficiencies with his offensive line have had plenty to do with it. Nonetheless, he has thrown multiple touchdowns in a game just once this season and doesn't have a rushing touchdown. The 49ers have generally defended Wilson well, but those Niners defenses aren't this Niners defense. This year's group is allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks. That's a silver lining if you're looking for a fantasy signal-caller this week.
Beast Mode has been Least Mode so far this season. Actually, it's par for the course in a season that has seen nearly all of the top-ranked running backs disappoint. It was encouraging to see him receive a pretty heavy workload (17 carries) in his return to action. A similar workload could pay big dividends against a 49ers defense that is in the bottom eight in the league when it comes to stopping running backs. This could be a week where Lynch gets beastly again.
Banking on any Seahawks receiver is a fool's errand. But if you're really struggling at the positiion and need some help for this week, then Baldwin is your choice. He leads Seattle's receivers in targets and receiving yards but he's also averaging fewer than 50 receiving yards per game. Facing San Francisco's beleaguered secondary could help, but it's hard to expect anything more than just pedestrian production from him.
The frustration surrounding Graham is palpable, although last week's 14-point performance should have temporarily quieted some of the grumbling. Hopefully those 12 targets were the start of something big, and the dynamic tight end becomes a larger part of Seattle's offense going forward. San Francisco has been pretty ho-hum against tight ends this season, so a talented player like Graham could make a big impact if given a chance.
The Legion of Boom has had its issues in recent weeks, surrendering a pair of sizable leads in the fourth quarter. But in fantasy football, this group remains as strong as ever. Seattle's defense is the NFL's second-best unit with 69 points through the first six weeks of the season. During Pete Carroll's tenure in the Emerald City, this group has made life miserable for Colin Kaepernick and the Niners and there's little reason to think this week will be any different.
San Francisco 49ers:
Give credit where it's due, Kaepernick has been pretty good in the past two weeks with 20-plus points in each outing. But it's also worth noting that he did it against two of the worst secondaries in the league. The Legion of Boom might be a little leaky this season, but it's still a better outfit than anything the Giants and Ravens have to offer. We'd considering taking a pass on Kap against a team that has been a major impediment to his success in recent seasons.
It's been tough sledding for Hyde this season. The young running back has just 66.30 fantasy points this season with more than 30 of them coming in the Week 1 win over the Vikings. Hyde has posted fewer than seven fantasy points in four of his six games so far this season and now will take on a defense that is allowing the third-fewest fantasy points to running backs. This has the makings of another disappointing week from El Guapo.
For what it's worth, Boldin has been the top receiver in San Francisco this year. For fantasy owners, it hasn't been worth much with the veteran averaging around 7.5 fantasy points per game this season. Boldin should see plenty of targets from Kaepernick, but the Seahawks secondary has generally fared well against larger, more physical receivers. That doesn't bode well for Boldin's fantasy prospects this week.
As we anticipated, Smith has been a boom-or-bust start all season. This week seems to be lining up as a bust. We'd avoid starting the speedster if you can.
The Niners have found a playmaking tight end and his name isn't Vernon Davis. Last week with Davis back in action, it was Garrett Celek who earned the start and the bulk of the tight end snaps. The Seahawks have continually struggled to defend tight ends which could make Celek a deep waiver wire option.
Wake up and watch with the world. The NFL is live on Yahoo. For the first time ever the NFL is streaming a live game on Yahoo. Bills vs. Jaguars live from London, Sunday October 25th 9:30 am ET.
Marcas Grant is a fantasy editor for NFL.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarcasG.
