Fantasy Football 2011: Week 7 Wide Receivers Rankings

It's Week 7 of the NFL Season; can you believe it? This week and next will separate the contenders from the pretenders, especially with the bye weeks. Owners of Wes Welker will miss their stud, while frustrated owners of Mario Manningham are probably thanking the NFL Schedule Gods for the break. Let's dig into some facts and flukes of the past week, shall we?

Cleveland's Greg Little is the only bright spot in a losing effort to the Raiders with 6 catches for 72 yards and narrowly missing a touchdown. FACT. Cleveland finally wised up during their bye week and inserted their most talented receiver into the starting lineup. As promised, Little was the focal point of the passing game with a season high of 12 targets. I expect some big games in the future starting in week 7 against a weak Seattle Secondary. The rookie will have some bumps along the way, but the lack of a running game in Cleveland can only benefit the wideouts.

The 49ers' Michael Crabtree catches 9 passes in upset win over Detroit. FACT. Lost amidst all of the Coach Harbaugh-Schwartz hoopla is the fact that Crabtree led ALL receivers in the ENTIRE NFL in targets in week 6 with a whopping 15. With defenses forced to shut down the #1 target Vernon Davis, Alex Smith is looking to his other receivers. It was never a question about talent with Crabtree; he just can never stay healthy. With a healthy Braylon Edwards looming, I expect Crab to have some big games along the way as defenses will have to key in on all 3 talents.

A couple of more facts/flukes after the jump along with some long-awaited rankings...

The Falcons' Roddy White disappoints owners again with only 2 catches for 21 yards in home win against Carolina. FLUKE. Those simply looking at the box score would think to themselves that White had a terrible game, but he was targeted a team-high 5 times and drew two key pass interference calls in the red zone. The Falcons focused on the running game against a shoddy Panthers' Run D. I do think that the Falcons will open up the run game the rest of the season, but Michael Turner has pulled a Cedric Benson and is good against crappy teams and bad against good teams. The Falcons will be forced to pass again, especially with a healthy Julio Jones back after the bye week.

Noted pothead Jerome Simpson of the Bengals dominates the Colts with 6 catches for 101 yards. FLUKE. I ranked his teammate A.J. Green extremely high last week because awful cornerback Jacob Lacey was supposed to match up with Green; instead, the tiny corner "covered" Simpson. Simpson took advantage, despite some drops, as his box score looks a lot better than how he played. He will be a matchups-only play going forward, but he will get some looks with defenses respecting his uber-talented teammate Green.

Players I Like This Week: Greg Little, Eric Decker, Brandon Marshall, Doug Baldwin, Antonio Brown

Players I Don't Like This Week: Brandon Lloyd if Sam Bradford doesn't start, Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Williams

Don't Panic On: Dez Bryant, Vincent Jackson, Roddy White

Some Panic is Acceptable: Percy Harvin, Mike Williams, Denarrius Moore

Go All In On: Steelers WR's

Fold: Jaguars WR's

Rankings are below, and please let me know if you have any questions or concerns with the list. You can follow me on Twitter or ask any questions there.

For all other rankings, head on over to our friends at Fantasy Rundown and Fantasy Football Librarian.