Lions Week 7 Fantasy Football: Is Amon-Ra St. Brown a viable DFS play?

The Detroit Lions are not flush with great fantasy football options, but should Amon-Ra St. Brown be on your DFS radar for Week 7?

This side of running back D’Andre Swift and tight end T.J. Hockenson, the Detroit Lions roster does not have great fantasy options. Matchups and/or game script may put Jared Goff, Jamaal Williams or Amon-Ra St. Brown on the radar some weeks.

Week 7 is a loaded bye week for fantasy managers in season-long leagues, so daily fantasy might be a soothing pivot with a better chance to win.

That loaded bye week also makes it a challeng to fill out a DFS lineup in Week 7. Allocating heavy salary to top options who are available at each position  is certainly a worthwhile strategy. But that strategy will also require finding value at other spots. On FanDuel, that will probably mean finding value (I’m saying “finding value” rather than saying “going cheap”) at the third wide receiver spot.

Lions Week 7 Fantasy Football: Amon-Ra St. Brown a DFS play?

If you’re in a season-long league, Swift and Hockenson are every-week starters. St. Brown is a depth option to possibly help navigate bye weeks in deeper leagues, but that’s all the rookie receiver out of USC is as a fantasy option in normal leagues right now.

Over the last three games, St. Brown has 18 receptions on 23 targets. He has at least five catches and seven targets in all three, and he topped 60 yards in the first two. That’s a 20 percent target share from Jared Goff over that span.

The Lions are over a two-touchdown underdog against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. So Goff should push toward 40 pass attempts easily in what promises to be a pass-heavy game for Detroit. Someone besides Hockenson and Swift will be in line for a chunk of those targets.

On FanDuel this week, St. Brown has a $5,400 salary. With 8-10 targets possible as the Lions’ No. 1 wide receiver against the Rams, there’s nice value to be had there. With that in mind, here’s a lineup I’ve done for a FanDuel Sunday main slate contest in Week 7.

QB-Matt Ryan, $7,300
RB-Aaron Jones, $8,500
RB-Darrel Williams, $6,700
WR-Cooper Kupp, $8,800
WR-Calvin Ridley, $7,300
WR-Amon-Ra St. Brown-$5,400
TE-Zach Ertz, $5,300
Flex-J.D. McKissic-$5,700
Defense-Arizona Cardinals, $5,000

In fantasy terms, there’s a line between ignoring players on bad teams because of a bad perception they’re bad players and missing opportunities that are there. St. Brown is an opportunity to supplement a money-winning Week 7 DFS lineup, firmly on the upside end of the ceiling-floor, value-bad value scale.