Week 7 Fantasy Football Sneaky Starts & Sleepers

Oct 21, 2026

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

All but the luckiest fantasy owners at some point need to find the proverbial diamond in the rough, a waiver wire or bench player capable of putting up some points in a pinch. This weekly feature is dedicated to that part of fantasy football. It’s not pretty, but it’s part of the game.

Since Week 4, we’ve been using 2026 data only for our signature strength-of-schedule metric, adjusted fantasy points allowed (aFPA). The higher, the better the matchup.

Quarterbacks

Kyler Murray, Vikings (vs. IND, 22)

Kyler Murray’s first season in Minnesota hasn’t gone exactly to plan. He left the opener after 11 snaps, sat out Week 2, and has just two touchdown passes in three full games since. But he’s trending up, posting 18.3 fantasy points at New Orleans in Week 5, and the Vikings are coming off their bye, where he presumably had more time to get acclimated to the offense. The matchup is great too: The Colts have allowed an average of 240 passing yards, 1.7 passing touchdowns, and 22 rushing yards per game to enemy quarterbacks.

Bo Nix, Broncos (@ ARI, 31)

The Broncos’ passing game has been one of the weirdest stories of the season. With the same quarterback and head coach plus the addition of Jaylen Waddle, this should have been one of the easiest offenses to trust. Instead, Bo Nix is averaging just 175 passing yards and 1.0 touchdowns per game after averaging 227 yards and 1.6 touchdowns over the previous two seasons. Part of that is the schedule. Thus far, he’s faced four bad matchups and two neutral ones, and he’s now set to see three good matchups in his next four games. None is better than this one against the Cardinals, who have allowed an average of 247 passing yards and 2.7 passing touchdowns per game to opposing quarterbacks, and every quarterback except Justin Herbert has thrown at least two touchdowns against them. Brock Purdy threw four in Week 3, and Jared Goff and Drew Lock threw three apiece. This is the week Nix (and Waddle) should get back on track.