Fantasy Football: 5 Bold Predictions For Week 7

Brandin Cooks Will Be the WR1

This is a very bold prediction, but I have confidence that Brandin Cooks will be the top scoring wide receiver in fantasy this week. Sure, he's been a great receiver this year. He's on pace for 74 receptions, 1,346 yards and 2.6 touchdowns, and that's even with the almost-full game he missed with a concussion in Week 5. However, only one wide-out each week can take home the mantle, and so far his best overall finish has been as the WR8 in Week 4.

What makes me so certain? For starters, he's been having the best season of his career -- illustrated by those extrapolated stats I mentioned above. But offensive guru Sean McVay has been getting the most out of all of his receivers this year, and now one of them is slated to miss Week 7, leaving 21% of the team's total targets up for grabs.

Cooks is already packing a top-tier 25% target share, so we can't expect that number to increase too drastically. But even a slight bump in targets and opportunity can be a huge difference for fantasy, especially with a receiver averaging over 16.1 yards per reception over the last three seasons.

In the Week 7 Report, JJ Zachariason pointed out that the San Francisco 49ers are allowing a stingy 5.85 yards per passing play to the right side of the field, where recently-acquired cornerback Richard Sherman has been lining up (and staying) this season. On the other side of the field, the 49ers are allowing a whopping 8.98 passing yards per play. It just so happens that Cooks has seen most of his targets -- 28 of 39 -- come from the left side and the middle of the field this season, meaning he'll avoid Sherman for most of the night -- like Davante Adams did during his big performance on Monday Night Football.

Things are lining up perfectly for a league-breaking day for Brandin Cooks. You're going to want him on your fantasy rosters for this.