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Week 7 Fantasy Football Picks: Start 'Em, Sit 'Em for Pittsburgh Steelers vs Tennessee Titans

Max Staley
Ryan Tannehill fantasy outlook could make him worth a Week 7 start against the Steelers.
Ryan Tannehill fantasy outlook could make him worth a Week 7 start against the Steelers. / Frederick Breedon/Getty Images
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Week 7 brings us a clash between the AFC's only remaining undefeated teams, as the 5-0 Pittsburgh Steelers take on the 5-0 Tennessee Titans. Ryan Tannehill and the Titans are slim 1.5-point favorites in this one, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

If you need some help with your lineups, here's some start 'em, sit 'em advice for what's shaping up to be one of the best games of the week.

Who Should I Start Fantasy Football

Start Diontae Johnson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers: Diontae Johnson is reportedly back to full health, and that could have huge implications for his fantasy outlook. Remember, Johnson was the team's clear-cut WR1 over the first two weeks, racking up an astronomical 23 targets in that span. He hasn't been able to play more than 20 snaps in any game since then, however. Now back to 100%, Johnson has a real shot to lead Pittsburgh in targets against a bottom-10 pass defense in Football Outsiders' DVOA metrics. He has legitimate blowup potential in this one.

Start Ryan Tannehill, QB, Tennessee Titans: This is about as tough of a spot as it gets for the Titans, facing the league's second-best defense by DVOA. Tannehill has been downright incredible since taking over as Tennessee's starter, though, and he has continued that trend this year. He's fantasy's QB6 on a per-game basis, putting up at least 26.0 in three of his five starts and at least 19.0 in four of five. The Titans' signal-caller is just on fire right now, and a matchup with the Steelers might not even be enough to warrant benching him. His value would take a hit if AJ Brown and Jonnu Smith are ultimately inactive, however.

Sit JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers: JuJu Smith-Schuster isn't worth starting right now, and we actually made the case that he's outright droppable in most leagues. Struggling to see volume right now, JuJu has seen fewer targets (14) than Chase Claypool (19), James Washington (18) and even Eric Ebron (17) over the last three weeks – and that was all while Johnson was sidelined. The targets JuJu is seeing aren't particularly valuable either, posting average depth of target (aDOT) of just 4.7. That's running back-level bad. Barring a catastrophic change, JuJu should remain on your bench.

Sit Jonnu Smith, TE, Tennessee Titans: Jonnu Smith has been one of the breakout stars of the season, as he was fantasy's in PPR leagues TE4 entering last week. Unfortunately, he left Week 6 with an injury and his status for Sunday is still up in the air. Even if he does play, though, it's hard to like him in this spot. Playing at less than 100% against the dominant Steelers' defense is not a recipe for success. Plus, his backup Anthony Firkser exploded for 8 catches and 113 yards and a score while stepping up in Smith's absence. His emergence could allow Tennessee to play it safe with Jonnu, making him a risky start in this one.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

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