One Thing We Learned From Every Week 7 Game: Quinshon Judkins, Chris Olave and More

The blown fourth-quarter lead by the Giants grabbed the headlines across the NFL, with the Broncos scoring all 33 points in the fourth quarter. From a fantasy perspective, Jaxson Dart proved a lot in a 33-32 loss. Many people benched Dart with the daunting task of playing on the road in Denver in a difficult test with the Broncos, allowing the second-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks entering the week.

Dart showed he can perform well against top-tier defenses. While he threw a back-breaking interception in the fourth quarter that helped Denver rally, Dart passed for 283 yards, three TDs and rushed for 11 yards with a score. Only one quarterback hit double-digit rushing yards against the Broncos before Dart, who rushed for at least 54 yards in each of his first three starts. Dart has been successful without an elite wide receiver. Dart is a QB1 the rest of the way.

What are the other major takeaways from the weekend? Let's dive in.

Colts 38, Chargers 24

The Colts are one of the most reliable offenses in the NFL. Jonathan Taylor is a league winner and already has 10 TDs. He scored three for the third time this season, rushing for 94 yards on 16 carries and catching three passes for 38 yards. Tyler Warren is one of the top tight ends after catching four passes for 69 yards with a TD. Michael Pittman had seven catches for 58 yards with a TD and is a WR2. Even Alec Pierce can be considered in lineups with six teams on bye next week. He led the team with 10 targets and caught five passes for 98 yards.

Cowboys 44, Commanders 22

While Dak Prescott won’t run much, he’s one of the few pocket passers who can be relied upon weekly. The Cowboys offense is clicking and the return of CeeDee Lamb (5-110 TD) makes it better. Dallas has scored at least 27 points in five of the last six games. Prescott has at least three TD passes in four consecutive games and is completing 71.6% of his passes.

Eagles 28, Vikings 22

While A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith have frustrated fantasy players with their inconsistency, they showed why it’s difficult to bench them. Smith led the way with 11 targets and had a career-high 183 yards on nine catches with a TD. Brown had four catches for 121 yards with two TDs. The running game continues to struggle with Saquon Barkley getting little running room. He rushed for 44 yards on 18 carries and caught one pass for negative two yards. Barkley has yet to produce 100 yards from scrimmage in a game this season. He had 13 in 16 games last season.

Panthers 13, Jets 6

All eyes were on the Panthers backfield with Chuba Hubbard returning after missing two weeks with a calf injury. Hubbard got the start and alternated drives with Rico Dowdle. Hubbard had 14 carries for 31 yards and caught two passes for 24 yards. Dowdle looked better with 17 carries for 79 yards and a 17-yard catch. The Panthers ran 70 plays and had 36 rushing attempts. This isn’t ideal for either running back, but Carolina will rely on the run.

Rams 35, Jaguars 7

Puka Nacua was out with an ankle injury and Davante Adams took advantage. While Adams didn’t pile up the yards, he scored three TDs and had five catches for 35 yards on eight targets. While Nacua will be the top target when he comes back following a Week 8 bye, Adams is getting looks in the red zone and has scored six times.

Bears 24, Saints 16

D’Andre Swift doesn’t get talked about often and has become a solid RB2. Swift had his second consecutive 100-yard game with 124 yards on 19 carries with a TD and caught a 14-yard pass. The Bears relied upon the run, and Kyle Monangai rushed for 81 yards on 13 carries with a TD and caught two passes for 13 yards. He’s the handcuff for Swift.

Browns 31, Dolphins 6

There was a lot of rain and wind and it was all Quinshon Judkins. He rushed for 84 yards on 25 carries with three TDs. Judkins was coming off his worst game of the season with 12 carries for 36 yards. Despite playing in a bad offense, the rookie has rushed for 467 yards on 109 carries with five TDs. He’s a borderline RB1. Start every running back against the Dolphins.

Patriots 31, Titans 13

Instead of seeing more touches in the absence of Antonio Gibson, TreVeyon Henderson is seeing less. He played 14% of the snaps and had two touches. This is Rhamondre Stevenson’s backfield. He rushed for 88 yards on 18 carries with a TD and caught two passes for no yards. Terrell Jennings had five carries for 18 yards when the starters were pulled. Henderson can’t be near starting lineups. He’s not getting on the field enough.

Chiefs 31, Raiders 0

The Chiefs offense is as good as we have seen from them in a few years. Patrick Mahomes is in the conversation for the No. 1 QB overall the rest of the way. He passed for 286 yards with three TDs and rushed for 28 yards on four carries and rested in the fourth quarter. The return of Rashee Rice makes the offense more potent. Rice had seven catches for 42 yards with two TDs on 10 targets.

Packers 27, Cardinals 23

Trey McBride can score TDs in bunches as long as Kyler Murray isn’t the quarterback. McBride had one TD in the first four games with Murray. Jacoby Brissett started the last two games and McBride has scored three times. McBride has been targeted 24 times and caught 18 passes for 146 yards with three TDs with Brissett. Against the Packers, McBride had 10 catches for 74 yards with two TDs. The Cardinals are on bye next week and Murray is expected to return in Week 9.

49ers 20, Falcons 10

There were rumors that George Kittle was taken off injured reserve and played. Seven players caught a pass for the 49ers and Kittle wasn’t one of them. He had two targets. The 49ers relied upon Christian McCaffrey to carry the offense, but it’s perplexing not to even draw up an easy play to get Kittle involved in his first game back. McCaffrey had eight targets and Jauan Jennings had seven, and no one else had more than two. Expect Kittle to be way more involved going forward ... I hope.

Ronis Bonus

Travis Hunter had his best game of the season with 14 targets and caught eight passes for 101 yards with a TD. The Jaguars fell behind early and relied on the pass. Trevor Lawrence attempted 48 passes. Hunter has 21 targets over the last two games and can be used in starting lineups. There’s a chance he leads the team in targets the rest of the way.

Oronde Gadsden has been impressive and the one concern was if there were enough targets to go around with three solid receivers on the team. Justin Herbert attempted 55 passes with the team falling behind early, and Gadsden had 75% of the snaps last week and followed it up with 78.9% against the Colts. He was third on the team with nine targets and caught seven passes for 164 yards with a TD. Last week, Gadsden caught seven passes for 68 yards. Add him in all leagues. The Chargers aren’t going to have a lot of success on the ground and will rely on the pass.

The Washington offense came in short-handed with Deebo Samuel and Terry McLaurin out and Jayden Daniels left the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. Daniels was on his way to a big day with 156 yards and a TD and rushed for 35 yards with a TD. He will have an MRI on Monday. Jacory Croskey-Merritt was a letdown in a smash spot. Once the Commanders were down big, he wasn’t on the field. Bill finished with 13 carries for 33 yards and caught one pass for negative one yard.

Chris Olave has been one of the best values in drafts. The Saints wide receiver has at least six targets in every game and double-digit targets in five games. The downfield targets have started to come in the last few games. He had five catches for 98 yards with two TDs. He had a 57-yard TD and caught a 53-yard pass last week.

The Jets offense was abysmal for the second straight week. The absence of Garrett Wilson due to a knee injury was an issue. Justin Fields was benched for the second half, but Tyrod Taylor wasn’t good, going 10 of 22 for 126 yards with two interceptions and was sacked three times.

While the Raiders bye is next week, it felt like it was this week. The Raiders ran 30 plays, had 95 yards and had the ball for 17:52.