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    Jaguars Start-Sit: Week 7 Fantasy Advice for Tank Bigsby, Travis Etienne Jr., Brian Thomas Jr., Christian Kirk, and Others

    Here's all the fantasy football advice you need in Week 7 to determine whether you should start or sit these players on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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    The Jacksonville Jaguars will face the New England Patriots in Week 7. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Jaguars skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.

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    Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 7 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.

    Trevor Lawrence, QB

    Lawrence has three straight games with multiple touchdown passes; yet, he still doesn’t have a top-10 finish on his ledger this season. There’s some upside to flirt with here from a profile point of view (career-highs in average depth of throw and yards per deep pass attempt), but I prefer him in a catch-up spot, something that is hard to envision happening Sunday morning.

    There will be a spot to grab some DFS exposure (maybe Week 16 at Las Vegas), but outside of that, you don’t need to devote much brain power in this direction.

    Tank Bigsby, RB

    With Travis Etienne Jr. now being labeled as “week-to-week,” this is the time for Bigsby to shine. The game script won’t be an issue because the Patriots have yet to prove capable of scoring points in a neutral game state against just about anyone, meaning a career touch count isn’t just possible, it’s projected.

    Despite limited usage, he already has four gains of 25+ yards with plenty of that work coming after the defense got to him. On his 41 carries this season, 80.8% of his yards have come after contact. That could be spun a variety of ways, but in this matchup, I’m not sure it matters as the Pats rank 26th in running back yards allowed both before and after contact.

    The lack of prowess in the passing game (one target this season) is what keeps him outside of my top 15, but he’s pretty clearly a strong RB2 in all formats for as long as Etienne is on the shelf (Jacksonville gets Green Bay next week and travels to Philadelphia for Week 9).

    Travis Etienne Jr., RB

    Doug Pederson came out on Monday and labeled Etienne as “week-to-week” as a result of a hamstring injury suffered early in Week 5.

    Thank God.

    Not that he’s hurt, but that we don’t have to worry about touch distribution in Jacksonville’s backfield for Week 7. When both Etienne and Tank Bigsby are healthy, this is going to be a difficult situation to project, but it’s rare for a player to be labeled “week-to-week” and not miss at least some time.

    As for Etienne’s profile, your eyes aren’t deceiving you — he’s not the same guy he was last season:

    • -17.2% production compared to expectation (2023: +8.5%)
    • 1.09 fantasy points per target (2023: 1.58)
    • 2.43 yards per carry after contact (2023: 2.87)

    We will have to struggle with his ranking in future weeks, but Etienne should remain rostered as he recovers from this injury.

    Brian Thomas Jr., WR

    This kid is all sorts of special, and we’re seeing the sparks of that potential, even in a Jaguars offense that as a whole is struggling.

    Thomas had two catches in Jacksonville’s first seven plays last week, but he only had one grab the rest of the way, resulting in fantasy frustrations. Still, the foundation remains.

    Thomas dropped what should have been a 15-yard touchdown. If he collects that pass, the story of his Week 6 changes in a significant way.

    Remove a slow NFL debut and BTJ is averaging 93.6 air yards per game. Obviously, not all air yards are created equal, but that metric alone has proven pretty predictive. In fact, last season, 13 of the top 19 per-game PPR receivers got to that number on a per-game basis. Thomas is going to be an asset for years to come, but what about Week 7?

    Well, it depends on what version of the Patriots shows up. Twice this season (Seattle and Houston) has a team seen multiple receivers clear 18.5 PPR points, a level of production that is off the charts and within the range of outcomes if you’re buying the signs of growth this Jaguars passing game has shown recently (multiple TD passes in three straight games, 73.9% complete over the past two weeks).

    Of course, there are two sides to both coins that we are flipping here. Outside of those two matchups, the Patriots haven’t allowed a single receiver to reach 14.5 PPR points, including games facing the 49ers, Bengals, and Dolphins.

    While there have been some positive signals for Jacksonville, this is still a 1-5 team that is struggling to put together 60 good minutes. I’m generally bullish on Thomas and have him ranked as a fringe top-20 option at the position in this spot.

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    Christian Kirk, WR

    I was optimistic about this Jags passing attack entering the season, and while that has resulted in some nice production from Brian Thomas Jr., Kirk has left me unsatisfied in half of his games this season (including a 3-39-0 stat line against the Bears last week).

    We are approaching Halloween, and yet, 25% of Kirk’s fantasy points have come on two single receptions. In theory, his slot role next to BTJ on the perimeter should come with a reasonable floor, but that just hasn’t been the case in a sporadic Trevor Lawrence season.

    With a sub-62% catch rate (2023: 67.1%), Kirk offers more risk than reward weekly. The Patriots have allowed the 10th-highest passer rating when opponents target the slot this season, so there is certainly a path to a WR2 finish for Kirk. That’s enough for him to move into my Flex ranks, though the low floor of this offense as a whole prohibits him from graduating into my WR2 tier in anything but a perfect matchup.

    Evan Engram, TE

    There’s a return to action — and then there’s what Engram did in London last week. After sitting out four straight games due to an injury suffered in warmups ahead of Week 2, Engram turned a 61.7% snap share into 10 catches on 10 targets (his seventh game with double-digit receptions) and 102 yards (his sixth 100-yard game of his career).

    No big deal. He was targeted on 31.3% of his routes (2023: 23.4%), and that rate jumped to 40% on first downs. Lawrence clearly was happy to have his most reliable weapon back (all other Jaguars: 52% catch rate in Week 6), and fantasy managers should rejoice that we’ve added a lineup lock to a position that lacks such options.

    I will caution daily players — assuming that future players returning to action will be thrust into such a role is dangerous at best (and more likely reckless). I can’t imagine that T.J. Hockenson’s recovery plan mirrors that of Engram, so use this as a nice data point for Jacksonville’s TE, not one that is broadly predictive.

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