4 FanDuel NFL Studs to Target in Week 7

Hitting on high-salary players is the first step to having success in daily fantasy football on FanDuel.

These players take up the biggest chunk of your salary cap, and they need to deliver quality performances for your lineup to reach its ceiling.

Here are four studs to target on this week's main slate.

All betting odds come from the NFL odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

FanDuel Salary: $9,200

Patrick Mahomes hasn't been the Mahomes we've grown used to seeing so far this year, but things could be (finally) changing this week.

His best week-to-date in terms of fantasy output came in Week 3 when he played against a league-worst Chicago Bears offense, scoring 25.68 FanDuel points. That's certainly a good outing, but after having five 30-plus points performances in 2022, he's still looking for that true MVP-like game.

His problems have been mostly due to the offense learning along the way. While it may not matter this week, the reacquiring of Mecole Hardman could bring some much needed familiarity back to the offense. They've also had to navigate matchups with four of numberFire's top-10 overall defenses.

The good news for the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback is that he has the best possible matchup in Week 7 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Los Angeles has allowed the following totals (and positional finishes) to quarterbacks since Week 1: 28.1 (QB1), 21 (QB15), 26.7 (QB4), 10.8 (QB23), and 24.9 (QB1).

The finishes that were outside the top five were Ryan Tannehill, who still had a strong outing, and rookie Aidan O'Connell. The finishes in the top five are what should be expected from Mahomes this weekend with the Chargers allowing most fantasy points per game overall to quarterbacks (22.3), and Patrick is a bit better than average I'd say.

numberFire's model projects Mahomes to finish with 21.9 FanDuel points -- the top quarterback for Sunday's slate.

Josh Jacobs, RB, Las Vegas Raiders

FanDuel Salary: $8,000

It hasn't been easy for Josh Jacobs so far this season, but if he's going to turn things on, this is going to be the game to do so -- and it should be expected.

The Chicago Bears haven't been all too good this year at anything -- especially on the defensive side. Chicago is allowing the fourth-most FanDuel points to running backs per week at a 24.5-point clip. Those are insane numbers that Jacobs, who hasn't run the ball efficiently this year, will happily welcome.

Las Vegas knows what their situation is going to look like at quarterback in Week 7 -- and it's certainly not ideal. Jimmy Garoppolo will not play in this week's game due to a back injury, meaning that either Brian Hoyer or the aforementioned Aidan O'Connell will be at the helm against the Bears. Airing the ball out won't be and shouldn't be option one if they can help it, so it's going to be a Josh Jacobs day from start to finish.

Jacobs has averaged just 2.9 yards per carry so far -- a putrid number for the amount of times he touches the ball. Despite this, he's been able to find his footing in fantasy over the past three weeks with 23.9, 17.4, and 10.3 points. It's nothing to write home about, but they're double-digit efforts and numbers we expect at the very least from a player as talented as Jacobs.

The good news about Jacobs is that he's averaging 17.8 carries and 4.2 receptions a game. Opportunity is key, and eventually, he's going to break out.

Jacobs is projected for 16.8 FanDuel points, per numberFire. This is 1.9 points than the second-highest running back on the slate.

Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

FanDuel Salary: $9,700

Isn't it great to see Cooper Kupp back on the football field?

The Los Angeles Rams wideout has been nearly unstoppable since being activated from injured reserve. In just two weeks, he's amassed 21 targets, resulting in 15 receptions, 266 receiving yards, and a touchdown. It's an insane output that we've come to expect of him when he's healthy.

Matthew Stafford looks his way a lot, but it gets even bigger when diving deeper. Kupp has an insane 38.2% target market share and an even more impressive 47.5% air yards market share, making him the slam-dunk start of the Sunday slate.

Kupp and the Rams will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are coming off a bye, but prior to that, they've been terrible at stopping wide receivers. Pittsburgh is allowing the fourth-most FanDuel points to receivers per game (35.6), and that should only help the Rams navigate their injury issues in the backfield.

Pro Football Focus has the Steelers at a 63.6 grade for their coverage, the 11th-worst mark in the NFL. It's not like we needed more reasons to turn toward the former Super Bowl MVP, but they're mounting quickly.

Like Mahomes and Jacobs, Kupp is also the top-projected player at his position with 15.3 FanDuel points by numberFire's model.

Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs

FanDuel Salary: $8,500

The best tight end in football continues to be the only stud worth considering at the position.

Travis Kelce started off the season rocky when he hyperextended his knee and had to miss Week 1. Since then, however, he's steadily built himself up. He's now at the level we're used to seeing from Kelce.

Between Week 2 and Week 4, Kelce was averaging just 5.7 receptions and 51.7 receiving yards with a 24.8% target market share and 23.8% air yards market share. Over the last two weeks, Kelce has put together 9.5 receptions, 95.5 receiving yards, and a touchdown. The target market share and air yards market shares have also both gone up (25.6% and 31.5%) for Taylor's guy.

These numbers at tight end are unmatchable by anyone else at the position. The only tight end close to Kelce is Mark Andrews. The difference between the weighted target market share for these two are 25.8% and 23.5% -- a difference of 2.3 percentage points. Even then, the receptions and yards are vastly different since Kelce has returned to form the last two weeks; Andrews has just 5.0 receptions and 67.0 yards per game in that same span.

If you're going to start a stud, Kelce is the remains the game-changer that no other position has compared to its alternatives. Fire him up against the Los Angeles Chargers in a game that can be a high-scoring shootout between the two teams. The NFL odds at FanDuel Sportsbook have a 47.5-point total assigned to this AFC West showdown.

Kelce is projected for 4.9 FanDuel points than the next best tight end at 15.5 overall. He's truly the only stud at his position in the day's best game.

Interested in playing NFL DFS? Head over to FanDuel’s daily fantasy football lobby to see all the offerings for this week's slates.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.