Fantasy football projections, Week 7: Saints-Chiefs featuring Drew Brees, Brandin Cooks, Spencer Ware, more

The Week 7 matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Kansas City Chiefs features a highflying offense against a pretty solid defense. We've got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

New Orleans Saints

After a difficult start to the season, the Saints find themselves right back in the thick of things in the NFC South. Quarterback Drew Brees managed to successfully outgun the Carolina Panthers and Cam Newton in Week 6. Brees finished the game with a whopping 465 passing yards and four touchdowns, leading the team to a 41-38 victory. It will be tougher for him to repeat that performance on the road in Kansas City, but overall it’s been business as usual for Brees and his fantasy owners in 2016. Even a great corner like the Chiefs’ Marcus Peters is no match for a Hall of Fame quarterback like Brees. He should be up to the usual in Week 7.

Brandin Cooks will be cool with that. He woke up against Carolina at home after stringing together multiple quiet efforts. Cooks caught seven passes for a season-high 173 receiving yards and a touchdown against the Panthers. He’s more of a deep threat than a possession receiver but he’s got all the speed and talent in the world. Facing the aforementioned Peters on Sunday will be a tough task, but with Brees calling the shots, Cooks will get his share of opportunities. He’s not the most consistent player, but fantasy owners won’t bench him. That would be crazy. Even at Arrowhead Stadium.

Kansas City Chiefs

Running back Jamaal Charles may indeed be back, but teammate Spencer Ware is still getting the majority of the workload. Ware received 24 carries against the Oakland Raiders in Week 6. He parlayed his opportunities into 131 rushing yards and a touchdown in the win. By contrast, Charles received just nine carries in the game. New Orleans has given up more points to fantasy running backs than any other team in the league, so Ware is likely to crush his projected totals in Week 7. Charles’ owners shouldn’t rush to drop him, but for now it looks like he’ll have to take a back seat.

Perhaps wide receiver Jeremy Maclin can help out both of his running backs. Maclin was largely held in check against Oakland. He did catch all of his targets but there were only three of them and he finished with 49 yards. Anyone expecting a big season from Kansas City’s No. 1 wideout has to be disappointed. He has just one touchdown this season and that came in the opening week. Perhaps a matchup against a soft Saints secondary unit will reinvigorate the veteran pass catcher. At the moment it’s hard to bet on Maclin surpassing his projections in any particular week. It’s not all his fault. Kansas City’s passing game has been a conservative one since Alex Smith and Andy Reid arrived years ago.