Fantasy Football: Keep, Trade, Drop Week 7 2021 NFL Season

With most waivers running tonight and fantasy football playoffs on the horizon, who should you keep, trade, or drop on your team?

Author:
Ryan Frederick
Publish date:
Oct 26, 2021 10:02 AM EDT

Well, following Week 7 of the NFL season, it is safe to say we have seen just about everything this year. We had two position players throw touchdown passes. We had a game finish 31-5 for the first time in NFL history. We had awful officiating rob the Washington Football Team, not just on two plays but back-to-back plays for touchdowns that had significant fantasy implications. We had the Colts and 49ers playing through a weather event called a "bomb cyclone" that caused ridiculous drops, fumbles, and a wild Sunday night football game. Oh and, don't forget, SIX teams on a bye week that held out a plethora of fantasy stars that left people having to come up with ways to fill out their lineups.

Through all of it, what it did provide, outside of a very entertaining day of football, is a lot of clarity for some players going forward. All season long, there has been this cloud of questioning what to do with guys who should be way more relevant than they have been. A few of them helped us out a little bit, others not so much. That is what we are going to hit on now. Who helped answer some questions for us as we enter the second half of the NFL season.

TRADE: Robert Tonyan, TE, Green Bay Packers

Questions circled all offseason about what kind of role Robert Tonyan would have in this offense after a massive breakout season in 2020. He scored 11 touchdowns on only 52 catches which was very clearly an unsustainable rate. However, with the return of Aaron Rodgers, the hope was there that Tonyan, while he might not score as many touchdowns, could grow into a more significant role and be a more prominent fixture in the offense. Fast forward to the end of Week 7, and he only has two touchdowns and only two games with more than ten receiving yards. He has been borderline unplayable from a fantasy perspective. Take advantage of this week after he set new season highs in catches and total yards and see if you can trade Tonyan while his value is perceived as high. Going into the offseason this year and the rumors swirling around Aaron Rodgers departing, Tonyan's value will only fall. The time to act is now.

DROP: Trey Sermon, RB, San Francisco 49ers

As we mentioned earlier, the Colts and 49ers played through one of the craziest rain games we have seen in a long time. Primarily through the latter half of the game, both teams had difficulty throwing and catching the football with any consistency, outside of a spectacular catch from Michael Pittman late in the fourth quarter. This game was set up for ground and pound-style game. Elijah Mitchell, JaMycal Hasty, and Trey Sermon were all active for the 49ers, and only two of them played offensive snaps: Mitchell and Hasty. Sermon played minimal special teams snaps, and that was the extent that we saw Trey Sermon in Week 7 in a game that was heavy on running the football. Barring a complete flip in how the 49er's offense operates, Sermon will continue to be a nonfactor, especially when Jeff Wilson returns in November. He, unfortunately, doesn't have any trade value at the moment either, so we are stuck with moving on from Trey Sermon until he proves otherwise.

KEEP: Allen Robinson, WR, Chicago Bears

Allen Robinson has played on many bad offenses during his time in the NFL but has always found a way to break through and be an extremely relevant fantasy option. One year with Jacksonville, he scored 14 touchdowns, and over the last two years combined with Chicago, he has scored 13 touchdowns with largely underwhelming quarterback play. During the offseason, there was hope from the fantasy community that he would hit free agency and find a more relevant home where he could full breakout in a solid offense, but he stayed on a franchise tag, and then the Bears drafted Justin Fields. Robinson was looking to break out massively with a big arm, rookie quarterback, but it has not turned out that way at all. Through Week 7, he has 250 receiving yards and only one touchdown. The only thing to do with him right now is to hold onto him if you roster him. His ability as a pass-catcher makes him too valuable to drop, and his lack of production will make him impossible to trade unless you are just looking to sell off your team in a rebuild, and you will take a minimal return. Hold onto Allen Robinson and cross your fingers and hope the Bears offense finds a little bit of magic in the second half of the season or this offseason. He walks away from the Bears and signs with a team that will feed him the ball.