Indianapolis Colts running back Marlon Mack was the 15th running back chosen in the 2017 NFL draft, which is not special, and one could certainly argue he did not get much opportunity to succeed his first season. The Colts were terrible sans quarterback Andrew Luck, a 4-12 team that gave most of the rushing attempts to ancient Frank Gore and rarely threw the football downfield. Mack looked like an intriguing player when he got the chance, but playing time and a shoulder injury made him irrelevant to fantasy managers that expected more.
Expectations turned high for Mack after his 93-yard performance in Week 6, perhaps the first time he was truly healthy, and Sunday against the terrible Buffalo Bills was an even greater performance. Mack turned his 21 touches into 159 total yards and a pair of touchdowns, and seeing that he remains available in nearly half of ESPN's standard leagues, he should continue his progression to become the most added player in leagues and a likely RB2 choice for Week 8 against the struggling Oakland Raiders.
Fantasy managers likely were not thinking much about Mack a few weeks ago. Perhaps they presumed he was brittle and could not succeed, especially with pass-catching rookie Nyheim Hines emerging as a weekly flex choice. The Colts hardly seemed to trust Mack a season ago, and then they drafted Hines and Jordan Wilkins in the next draft. Luck was certainly no guarantee to perform well after missing all of the previous season.
Well, Luck looks great, as his four touchdown passes against what had been a stingy Bills defense -- only two defenses entered Week 7 permitting fewer fantasy points to quarterbacks -- gave him his fourth consecutive game with at least 22 fantasy points, with three or more touchdowns in each. Luck began play averaging a cautious 6.22 yards per pass attempt, a lowly 32nd out of 34 qualified passers; and truth be told, he did not pile on the yards Sunday, as each touchdown was a short one. Still, he is a threat and playing well, and it aids the running game.
The Colts still do not appear to be a good team, and the schedule shows several difficult defenses pending (the Jaguars and Titans twice, for example), but Mack has graduated to the point he should be rostered in all formats, and trusted in Week 8. After that is the bye week and then a Jaguars matchup, and we can revisit. Still, the Jaguars have issues, and they just permitted Houston's Lamar Miller, of all people, to rush for 100 yards and a score. If Miller can do this, Mack can do this. Go get Mack. It took a while, but this has become an intriguing, top-20 running back, finally, joining Luck, T.Y. Hilton and perhaps Hines as Colts worthy of weekly activation.
Second down: Mack led all players in PPR points for the week entering the Sunday night Bengals-Chiefs contest, with Los Angeles Rams star Todd Gurley II and New England Patriots pass-catcher James White the only others to surpass 23 PPR points at the position. White was able to do this, in part, because colleague Sony Michel, a fantastic rookie who had averaged more than 100 rushing yards per game over his past three and was scoring weekly touchdowns, suffered a knee injury that appears to be serious. Expect more clarity on Monday, but do not expect Michel to play anytime soon. The Patriots might explore the free-agent route (Mike Gillislee, perhaps?) for depth after White and Kenjon Barner. White, meanwhile, handled a career-high 11 rushing attempts, and he could handle a larger role.
In other injury news, Bills running back LeSean McCoy, New York Jets running back Bilal Powell, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Albert Wilson and Houston Texans wide receiver Keke Coutee exited their respective games prematurely. McCoy entered concussion protocol, and the statistical momentum from his past several weeks seems gone now, especially as his club was embarrassed on Sunday. Chris Ivory ran well in McCoy's place. Powell suffered a neck injury, but no Jets had success running against the Vikings. Wilson hurt his leg, quickly extinguishing his momentum after a monster Week 6 game. And expectations are that Coutee is likely to miss the Week 8 game, slated for Thursday, due to a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, the big Sunday morning news also centered on injuries, as Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon and Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski were officially inactive for their games. Austin Ekeler replaced Gordon and turned 17 touches into a rather disappointing 11.8 PPR points, which was only his fifth-best fantasy game of the season, and Gordon played in all the others. The Chargers have a Week 8 bye, and Gordon should be fine for Week 9. Gronkowski has ankle and back woes, and he could sit more games, so be prepared -- and not with his teammate Dwayne Allen, either.
Third down: Many eyes were on the Cleveland Browns-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game for myriad reasons, not the least of which were because the Browns traded running back Carlos Hyde to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday, opening playing time for rookie Nick Chubb and pass-catching Duke Johnson Jr. Well, it took most of the game, but Chubb scored a fourth-quarter touchdown and produced 80 yards, all rushing the football, and 14 PPR points. Chubb should be a solid RB2 from now on. Johnson, meanwhile, continued a frustrating campaign in which his own offense, for which he starred in last season, ignores him this season, as he caught four passes for middling yardage.
Chubb getting a shot at meaningful touches and the unfortunate Michel injury was hardly the only news surrounding rookie running backs. Detroit Lions starter Kerryon Johnson broke a 71-yard run early in the game and finished with 158 rushing yards on 19 attempts, the second time he had eclipsed triple figures in four contests. Johnson would have crossed 20 PPR points had he converted a short touchdown run in the second quarter, but he did not -- and LeGarrette Blount did on the next play. Still, Johnson looks like a RB2 as well, and he remains available in roughly 20 percent of ESPN standard leagues.
Hyde was not active for the Jaguars, who struggled mightily in a 20-7 home loss to the division-rival Texans. Quarterback Blake Bortles was terrible and then benched for Cody Kessler, and it will be hard to recommend any Jaguars for the Week 8 game in London against the similarly sputtering Philadelphia Eagles. Hyde figures to share running back duties with T.J. Yeldon, who rushed 12 times for 28 yards on Sunday but also caught a touchdown pass to salvage his fantasy performance. The Jaguars D/ST, also notably, has failed to score as many as four fantasy points in a game for three consecutive games, and some might look elsewhere, for good reason, over the next few weeks.
Fourth down: As for conventional quarterback-receiver tandems making Week 7 news, the top duo was Chicago Bears Mitchell Trubisky and Trey Burton. The quarterback led the position with 31.4 points (several on a last-second Hail Mary pass that was completed but fell one yard short of a touchdown). And the tight end caught nine passes for 126 yards and a score, with his 27.6 PPR points eclipsed for the weekend solely by his quarterback, Mack, Gurley and White. Burton has scored a touchdown in four of five games, but this was his first game with more than four receptions. Trubisky struggled to connect with wide receivers Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel, as they combined for four receptions and 30 yards. The Chicago offense bears watching in future weeks, as Trubisky has averaged more than 33 fantasy points for the past three games, Burton has solidified himself a top-10 tight end and running back Tarik Cohen continues to outshine Jordan Howard for backfield supremacy.
The top wide receiver scorer in PPR formats from Sunday, entering the night game, was Baltimore Ravens surprise John Brown, with Minnesota Vikings star Adam Thielen and the Browns' Jarvis Landry close. Denver's Emmanuel Sanders scored 27.3 PPR points in Thursday's win. Brown scored his fourth touchdown and topped 100 receiving yards for the second time this season, and he remains among the leaders in air yardage. Thielen became fantasy's top wide receiver a month ago, and he has eclipsed 100 receiving yards in every game. He can tie the NFL mark by doing so again in Week 8 against the New Orleans Saints. Landry scored a season-best 25.7 PPR points, getting to 10 catches in a game for the first time with rookie passer Baker Mayfield and scoring an acrobatic touchdown. Like most rookie quarterbacks, Mayfield remains too inconsistent to trust for fantasy, especially when so many quarterbacks are elite and reliable; but Landry remains a reliable WR2 option.