In the immortal words of American poet John Francis Bongiovi Jr., “we’re halfway there.” Week 7 marks the midpoint of the fantasy season. Of course, there’s still the playoffs, but in leagues with a traditional three-round bracket, the “regular season” ends in Week 14. Anyone who’s kept up with this series is absolutely prepared for the second leg and ready to make a push.
But if this is your first visit, here’s the lowdown: Each week, we’ll talk through the five most important things to be aware of for the NFL week ahead and how it matters for fantasy football in a straightforward, teachable way. My goal is for you to elevate from beginner status to being a top-notch team manager who can win a championship.
Now, I acknowledge not everyone has a successful team. Some are fighting to stay competitive, while others might be nearing the point of being out of it altogether. As such, we’ll be speaking directly to struggling managers in this edition. Here’s what you need to know headed into Week 7, and what you can do if you’re stuck:
Thing #1: How To Manage A Middling Roster
Best-laid plans often go awry. Injuries, draft busts, and bad lineup calls happen. Don’t feel defeated because the going’s gettin’ tough. Even the most experienced fantasy aficionados and high-stakes rollers make missteps and need to adjust on the fly. It’s not too late if your team is hovering near .500.
There’s a gaming term called tilting, which refers to what happens when folks get agitated and start performing poorly due to frustration. Don’t do that. Avoid the tilt at all costs. Keep it simple, and stick to the daily manager’s routine as usual. Doing so is the bulk of the solution.
Beyond staying chill, consider trying to make some player upgrades through roster consolidation. Simply put, the idea is to package multiple “pretty good” players together to go after a star-level asset on another team. Bringing in a more robust producer both elevates your lineup’s scoring chances and reduces the number of lineup decisions you make weekly.
Pulling off a two-for-one deal is super doable with bench depth, too. If you’ve been lucky to avoid the injury bug, opposing managers who haven’t are likely to be receptive to working a deal if you can help them out of jams in multiple spots. It’s all about being savvy, making upgrades wherever you can (via trade or waivers), and staying engaged.
Thing #2: What To Do When It’s Obvious You’re Out Of Contention
For those on the brink of irrelevance, chin up. I didn’t make the playoffs the first time I played in a league either. Honestly? The best action in this circumstance is to keep working your roster. After all, the only way to get better at something is to practice.
Yeah, it might feel pointless, but the cyclical nature of tracking news, absorbing information, and applying research is what develops process. That’s what you’re ultimately building through keeping a daily manager’s routine. The ability to adapt and make smarter moves is honed through repetition. Checking out completely stunts growth.
Hee-haw, it’s the ol’ “don’t give up” speech again — nope, not at all. A playoff bid might actually be just out of reach. But gaining experience increases the chances of eventually winning. The delayed gratification is absolutely worth it. A championship will happen with persistence.
Thing #3: Why Continuing To Pay Attention Matters
Beyond gaining reps, the NFL isn’t stopping because your pretend squad is out. Real head coaches and general managers keep going and frequently make choices that’ll matter in the future. Being aware of these shifts will make next year’s campaign easier to navigate.
For starters, teams might replace starters! It’s not uncommon for struggling franchises without established quarterbacks to turn toward backups to see if they can hang. These late-season auditions might earn someone QB1 status in 2026, so watching how that team performs with X name is key. You’ll already know what to expect from said offense moving forward.
Also, injuries happen if you’re paying attention or not. I won’t use any specific names in the interest of karma, but some random NFL player will tear a ligament or break bones in November or December that’ll keep ‘em out into next fall. These ailments will affect their specific 2026 outlook and the overall ecosystem of the offense they’re not part of. Why do you think fantasy diehards are obsessed with knowing depth charts and backups? They always matter.
All of this doesn’t even sniff how results will impact free agency and the NFL Draft in the spring, but rest assured, the snowball effect is always at play. Again, checking out completely stunts growth. You’ve gotta know what's happening league-wide in a macro sense.
Thing #4: Keep Track Of Your Choices/Reasoning
Let’s zoom back into the “now” and highlight a simple exercise that guarantees progress. Tracking the results of different roster moves is a great form of self-assessment that confronts biases and highlights pitfalls. Knowing what worked, what didn’t, how, and why is classic scientific method stuff and applies well to fantasy football. Your “process” is a bit of a formula.
Build a captain’s log on Google Docs or take pen to paper in a physical notebook. It might feel silly, but the act will ensure lessons are learned. You’ll also start to form various perspectives that make sense of the content you consume, and it is crucial to find analysts who can challenge perspectives and speak to these observations. Iron sharpens iron, right?
Thing #5: Learn From What Winning Managers Are Doing
Finally, the writers and podcasters in the fantasy biz aren’t the only people who can teach things. Successful league mates that win championships are probably doing something right, so keep up with their actions. Dig around on your league host’s platform to find waiver wire history. Maybe not right now, but look back at the results of the draft in a few weeks. See what worked.
Being open to learning from multiple angles increases your breadth of knowledge. Some of fantasy football is numbers, although plenty boils down to decision-making and timely execution. No algorithm or spreadsheet can tell you with absolute certainty when to make a particular trade or give up on a player, but balancing data and observing others will give hints.
Conclusion
Keep the wheels turning, and remember that an open mind pays dividends. I’m aware that folks who didn’t enjoy playing fantasy football and washed out might not be coming back, but if you’re reading this and still trying, that means something about this game resonates with you. Fantasy Points is glad you feel that, because we do too. We’ll talk again next Thursday, alright?
