Fantasy Football Week 7 Start 'Em Sit 'Em: Jaylen Warren vs David Montgomery
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The league has many different running back by-committees'. This includes is the duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. We have Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. There is also Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason, Alvin Kamara with Kendre Miller, and Jaylen Warren with Kenneth Gainwell. All offenses thrive in their own ways and this drastically affects the fantasy football upside of said player(s). Two borderline running back two's in that type of backfield are Jaylen Warren and David Montgomery. Today, we debate the start-ability of both.
The Case for Jaylen Warren
Fantasy Sports On SI Week 7 Ranking: RB17
Warren has been the lead-back in Pittsburgh by a slim margin. On a per game basis, Warren has about 56% of team carries. Meanwhile, Gainwell has 43%, but skewed by his one start where Warren was out. Gainwell trends closer to 35%. The balance goes to the mostly irrelevant, Kaleb Johnson.
This was my favorite play from Sundays game and possibly favorite Jaylen Warren rep ever
— Steelers Blitz (@Steelers_Blitz) October 15, 2025
Wins the 1 on 1 (against Garrett), breaks into a pass pattern to bail out Rodgers, then makes the diving catch on a critical down#Steelers x
pic.twitter.com/6mBZm5P8Vx
When it has come to the red zone, Warren has maintained the same snap-share — 56%. However, he has resided in a world of bad luck. Warren has zero touchdowns while Gainwell has three. I would amount this to nothing more than bad luck. In due time, it should even out.
When it boils down to it, Warren has touched the ball of 31% of Steelers plays that did not result in a sack or turnover. This is with one game missed, which skews him closer to 37%, or so. His involvement in this pass game is to thank as he has 13 Receptions on the year.
The Steelers are the 30th ranked offense in total yards, but Warren does still have high-upside. On any given week, he can pop for a big game given his involvement in the offense.
This week, the Bengals will oppose the Steelers. They rank 28th in Rushing Yards Allowed per Game. They rank 32nd in Fantasy Points Allowed to Running Backs.
The Case for David Montgomery
Fantasy Sports On SI Week 7 Ranking: RB26
This snap-split is the opposite of Warren. Jahmyr Gibbs has 50% of team rushes while Montgomery has 37%. The balance goes to Goff scrambles and jet sweeps.
The red zone has become an interesting place for this backfield Gibbs has 62% of team rushes when in that area, opposed to 38% for Montgomery. One would think that Montgomery, the bigger back, would have a nice split, but he does. However, Montgomery does have three touchdowns in the red zone while Gibbs has four.
The offensive touches do not matter so much for Montgomery as this offense is arguably the best in the NFL. While a team like Pittsburgh has two viable players per week, Detroit has five, or so. This lets Montgomery have value even in a much lesser share of touches.
Campbell: Lions would like to get David Montgomery more carries.
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) October 14, 2025
"I would like to balance (the backfield) out."
The good news is that Detroit is planning to get Montgomery more involved in the offense. This is not very surprising as they have had much success in a closer split. In an ideal world, they are closer to 55-45% on the ground with Gibbs, of course, getting much more targets in the passing game.
The Lions will travel to Tampa Bay this week to face the 5th ranked Buccaneers run stop. However, the Buccaneers do rank just 18th in Fantasy Points Allowed per Game. The over/under in this game is 52.5, projecting a shootout, so Montgomery may yet have value despite a much tougher matchup.
Start 'Em Sit 'Em: Jaylen Warren vs David Montgomery
Given the higher workload and upside of Warren, I would venture to go with the Pittsburgh running back. The Steelers may not be as explosive as the Lions, but they do imply to score 25 Points on Thursday Night. Warren has about a 3:2 advantage in team touches to Montgomery, so combining this with a favorable matchup, it only seems right.
We are capitalizing on opportunity X matchup to = ultimate value. Jaylen Warren is a must-start in Week 7.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.