With the San Francisco 49ers and their top-five rushing defense coming to Minnesota, which running back on the Vikings should be your pick to start on your fantasy football team for Week 7? Here’s a breakdown of the top candidates.
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Fantasy Outlook for Alexander Mattison This Week
After back-to-back games with at least 90 rushing yards in Weeks 3 and 4, Alexander Mattison’s numbers have tailed off the last two games. Mattison has just 70 rushing yards on 26 carries (2.69 yards per carry) over two games.
In last week’s game vs. the Bears, Mattison had his second-most carries this season (18) but finished with a season-low in yards per rush attempt (2.4).
MORE: 2023 RB Fantasy Football Rankings
The good news is that Mattison is still a candidate to catch some passes out of the backfield. Despite his struggles running the ball last week, Mattison still had four receptions for 28 yards — the second-highest total in a game for him this season.
He also has a pair of touchdown receptions this season, which is more than we can say for his touchdown runs, of which the Vikings are still waiting for that initial score from him.
His lone appearance vs. the 49ers came back in 2021, and he finished with just 21 yards on seven carries, but he did have a rushing touchdown.
Fantasy Outlook for Cam Akers This Week
The downward spiral that has become Cam Akers’ career has not slowed since being acquired by the Vikings. In three games, Akers has 11 total rush attempts, and his rush yards have gone from 40 in Week 4 to 15 two weeks ago to just eight yards — on one rush attempt — last week.
And after being on the field for 21 snaps vs. the Chiefs two weeks ago, Akers only participated in nine snaps last week — the fewest he’s had in a single game since Week 7 of the 2020 season (three snaps), which was his rookie season.
MORE: PFN Consensus Rankings
Akers had a brilliant game in his first matchup with the 49ers back in 2020, as he rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries, a yards-per-carry average over nine (9.3). But in his last two meetings vs. San Francisco, Akers has 13 carries for a total of 16 rushing yards.
Which Vikings RB Should You Start?
Barring something unforeseen, Mattison should get the most carries for the Vikings in this matchup, or at the very least get more carries than Akers. Whoever carries the ball figures to have a difficult time against a 49ers defense allowing just 80 yards a game on the ground.
The Pro Football Network Start/Sit Fantasy Optimizer projects Mattison to finish with twice as many points (11.0) as Akers (5.4).
If it comes down to one of these two running backs to start on your team this week, the choice should be obvious (hint: start Mattison).
