The biggest development in Fantasy Football leagues in Week 7 happened in Pittsburgh. The Steelers' decision to bench Justin Fields for Russell Wilson has altered the outlook of this offense, and that was apparent in his first start vs. the Jets. Wilson completed 16-of-29 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns while also adding a rushing touchdown. Want a fun, small sample size stat? Wilson now leads all quarterbacks in Fantasy points per game. Wilson threw 29 passes in Week 7. Justin Fields averaged 26.7 passes per game in his six starts. Wilson had 26 pass attempts in the first three quarters of the game, which is what Fields averaged throughout an entire game in his six starts.
We'll dive deeper below into more stats from Wilson's debut, what it means for George Pickens and Najee Harris specifically, takeaways from the new-look Jets with Davante Adams, and more.
For a larger discussion on all of these players and more, be sure to check Fantasy Football Today Beyond the Boxscore show:
Pickens and Najee
Pickens had his best game of the season in Wilson's debut. He was given the opportunity to go up and use his ridiculous body control and skills at the catch point to make plays in one-on-one situations. In the red zone, Pickens was the featured receiver and nearly came away with two more touchdowns. Pickens is now second in the NFL in target share among all wide receivers and a must-start player with Wilson at quarterback. Pickens could challenge for every-week WR1 status if the red zone looks continue to go up and the target share stays around the rate it's currently projected at.
Harris racked up 102 yards rushing and a touchdown. One negative note about Harris' outlook moving forward is that he has played 46% and 49% of the snaps in his last two games, as Jaylen Warren has played 37% and 51% of the snaps. He has seen a lower snap share when Warren has been healthy this year. However, this might be outweighed by the Steelers' providing more scoring opportunities and better game script for Harris with Wilson at quarterback.
As Jacob Gibbs pointed out, Harris is working against lighter boxes now that defenses are forced to respect the deep passing areas:
Steelers' upcoming schedule: NYG, BYE, @WAS, BAL, @CLE, @CIN, CLE, @PHI, @BAL, KC, CIN
New look, Jets?
One of the biggest changes we saw from the Jets following their acquisition of Davante Adams was using Garrett Wilson in the slot more. Wilson had a 40.0% slot rate (season-high). Davante Adams had a 50.9% slot rate (his highest since at least 2017, when TruMedia started calculating it). Adams also had a 5-yard aDOT (among the lowest of his career).
One thing that continues to hold back the Jets offense is how condensed the pass game is. The Jets are tied for the second-fewest pass attempts (4) of 30 or more air yards. Their only completion on those four pass attempts was a Hail Mary to Allen Lazard. Over the previous three seasons, among the 16 teams that finished bottom-five in completions of 30 or more air yards (there was a tie), we had teams finish 13th, 17th, 19th, 12th, 17th, 18th, and 11th in total offense.
Gibbs threw cold water on the entire idea of the Jets bouncing back and becoming a Fantasy factory for points scored in the second half with one key stat -- the Jets are the slowest-paced offense in the NFL by far. No one uses more time on the play clock than Rodgers right now. That's not a recipe for Fantasy success.
Jennings a league winner?
Gibbs' No. 1 pick for one sleeper player that could end up a league winner in the second half is 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings. With Brandon Aiyuk possibly headed for an extended absence after suffering a major injury in Week 7, Jennings could take over in the second half. Jenning is fourth in the NFL in yards per route run behind studs like Justin Jefferson, Nico Collins, and Chris Godwin.
If he was dropped this past week due to injuries and/or his placement on the depth chart, make sure he's your No. 1 priority on this week's waiver wire.