Can No. 44 keep it going in October? (USP)

We get one break with the Week 7 Sunday schedule: most of the games are early. As things sit right now, only three games will come after the first segment (the Pats and Jets, the Raiders and Jaguars, and the Bengals and Steelers). So game-time decisions and Sunday calls won't be as hairy this week as they normally are.

Let's get to the clipboard. Please have your copay ready.

• Ahmad Bradshaw (foot) missed all of Friday's practice after doing some work Thursday. He's questionable on the injury report and seems like a game-day decision for the match against Washington. Bradshaw's level of play has been stellar in recent weeks and he's one of the toughest pound-for-pound backs in the league, but nonetheless he's been a high-attrition player for most of his career. Andre Brown (post concussion/probable) and rebounding rookie David Wilson are good options if the Giants find themselves in a pinch.

Sunday AM Update: Kimberly Jones of NFL Network is reporting that Bradshaw will play.

• Good news if you own Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers passing options this week: they should be plenty busy Sunday night at Cincinnati. The Steelers have already ruled out their top two running backs, Rashard Mendenhall (Achilles) and Isaac Redman (ankle). There's no clear backfield winner for Pittsburgh: they'll probably give the start to Jonathan Dwyer, but Baron Batch and Chris Rainey are also around to steal snaps (especially on passing downs). I'll be surprised if Roethlisberger doesn't wind up chucking it 40 or more times.

• The bye week didn't do much for Jimmy Graham's ankle — the stud tight end was limited in the last two days of work (after sitting Wednesday entirely) and is a game-day call for the Sunday game at Tampa Bay. If you saw Graham hobbling around like Fred G. Sanford back in Week 5 against San Diego, you have every reason to be concerned now. Your depth at the tight end position will determine how you handle Graham. The modestly-talented Dave Thomas will pick up extra snaps if Graham cannot play, but I'd look for someone else to gain the target boost, perhaps slotman Lance Moore or satellite player Darren Sproles.

Saturday Update: Graham has officially been ruled out for Week 7. Get thee to the waiver wire. Go. Now. (Is Scott Chandler still floating around? He's the winner of the Tennessee tight-end lottery this week.)

Hail to the Redskins (USP)

You should know the rules by now. We'll make five picks against the Yahoo! Pro Football Pick-Em line, and we encourage you to do the same. Let's get to the Week 7 clipboard.

Redskins +6.5 at Giants: It's time for a sell high on the Giants, especially when you consider the emotions of the situation: big upset win on the road, likely to be followed by a flat performance. When you punch the situation into Spreadapedia's database (an upset win at +6 or more, then favored by 6 or greater the next week), the team in question only covers around 45 percent of the time. Mike Shanahan found a way to steal both of these games last year, and now he actually has some weapons.

Patriots -10.5 vs. Jets: Most of this pick's rationale in the Breakfast Table, if you care to mosey over there. The Jets don't have enough secondary depth to match all of New England's targets. If New York wants to run Shonn Greene into the ground, New England is capable to stop it. You can throw over the top of the New England defense, but where is the scary part of the Jets offense? Who's the Sidney Rice or Torrey Smith likely to take over this game? I don't see it. The Patriots will win, and it might be comically lopsided.

Bosom buddies (USP)

For the last decade or so, Michael Salfino and Scott Pianowski have been putting together an email exchange centered around (but not limited to) the NFL. You might enjoy listening to them haggle. You might prefer a swift kick into the stomach. The Table isn't for everyone; we hope some of you enjoy it.

From: scott pianowski
Date: Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 8:49 AM
Subject: rivalry breakfast
To: Michael Salfino

Even with six teams on holiday in Week 7, we've got a lot to chew on. The Niners-Seahawks play an important Thursday game, the Giants-Redskins meet up on Sunday, Houston-Baltimore collide for the AFC yellow jersey, and the Hatfield-McCoy feud (Pats-Jets) fires up again. We even have Salfino-Pianow squaring off in the Stopa Law Firm League (I've added New England's defense as a thematic play; I demand you start one of the Jets).

The Thursday additions are starting to annoy me. I like having an additional stand-alone game for viewing and scouting purposes, but it stinks to have teams playing it on an absurd three days of rest; every game has been sloppy and I don't think it's a coincidence. Three days can't be enough time for teams to rest and plan for another game. When I am appointed NFL Czar, every team will get two bye weeks per season, with one of the byes earmarked to precede any Thursday match. Season goes longer, the competition is more legitimate, everyone wins.

Seattle's home/road splits are at play again, as we'd expect. Russell Wilson's QB rating, small sample and all, crashes 56 points on the road. Do the Seahawks deserve more than the usual tax for any road game? Does the short turn around favor one team between the Niners and Seahawks? Seattle has to travel (albeit a modest trip), but the schemes of Jim Harbaurgh are blunted when there's no time to implement a game plan.

Stop: Hamster Time (USP)

If you could have the answer key for just one fantasy position, you'd probably opt for running back. It's a high-volatility spot, and it's a place where virtual unknowns often turn into superstars. (Somewhere, Priest Holmes is winking back at us, in-between his checkmate move.)

The lists below are not Week 7 ranks. Instead, the Shuffle Up objective is to gauge value for the balance of the fantasy season. How would I draft if I had a new league forming today? How should we rank the players for trade and pickup purposes? What's happened to this point counts as an audition, but this isn't intended to be a bland reciting of the leaders to this point. We want to figure out the next step.

Try not to flip out when players are ranked next to one another; in many cases, there's little to no difference there. And the commenting breaks are made for the spacing of the article; they don't really reflect tiers. Most of all, be sure to consider the golden rule: no one gains 10-20 percent of bonus value simply because they're on your roster.

Full commentary will follow shortly, in addition to tight end ranks. And in the even-numbered weeks, we'll sort through the quarterbacks and wide receivers. I'll tweak this list during the day; win the intelligent debate, and you might just win the rank. I also encourage your Tweets on this series; I'm at @scott_pianowski, and use the hashtag #shuffleup.

Tough day for the Ravens (USP)

The AFC North used to be three yards and a cloud of dust. These days, it's 30 points and the wink of an eye.

Has the fantasy public adjusted? Or are we still clinging to those hard-to-remove name brands?

The Houston Texans entered the year with the consensus No. 1 running back and a well-respected offensive line. These days, Arian Foster has a 3.8 YPC and the Texans line is buried in the Pro Football Focus metrics.

Has the fantasy public adjusted? Why did I see the Texans line ranked No. 1 on a fantasy site last weekend? Are analysts still clinging to those hard-to-remove name brands?

The Texans and Ravens will play an important, and fascinating, temperature game in Week 7. Baltimore's defense was already without Terrell Suggs (the only pass rusher of any consequence), and now Ray Lewis (the run-stuffer and emotional leader) and Lardarius Webb (the best cover corner) are down for the season. Even those slow to accept a changing of the guard will figure out that the Ravens are in a new place now. Baltimore used to beat you up in the sandlot; now, it's all about pinball scoring in the arcade.

[Related: Devastating news for fearsome NFL star Ray Lewis]

Will Houston be able to run over the wounded Ravens? A year or two ago, this would be a slam dunk. But the Texans front line hasn't been reliably opening holes this year. At last check on Pro Football Focus, the Houston offensive line stood 17th in run blocking and 16th in pass blocking.

Don't Mess With Texans (USP)

There's a lot to digest as we wind down a blistering Week 6. Comebacks and brickbats, surging New York teams, the logjam in the AFC East, the silence of the Niners. Worried about Darren McFadden or the Ravens defense? Excited about the Bucs or the Seahawks or the upstart Browns? Did Dez Bryant make your day or break your heart? Are you ready to name your next child after Bob Griffin? I'm here to help you sort it all out.

The chittering and chattering starts at 9:30 pm ET. Bring a good attitude, a room-relevant question and the drink of your choosing; I'll provide answers, clarity, inane polls and random comments. The Texans and Packers will provide the backdrop (with a baseball check-in now and then). When it's all over, we'll test everyone for concussion symptoms and then call it a night.

You have about an hour to get in character. See you soon. The chat applet is yours after the jump.

Winning smile, but no catches (USP)Although the Dolphins escaped with a 17-14 victory over the Rams on Sunday, it was far from an artistic success. Miami won the ballgame despite a puny 12 first downs, and the Rams found a way to lose despite a 462-192 edge in total yards. St. Louis collected 6.7 yards per play, the Dolphins just 3.9.

And Brian Hartline, you ask? He didn't have much to do with Miami's victory, either. Winning smile, no stats.

Two weeks ago, it was Turn On Your Hartline as the Dolphins wideout went ballistic in Arizona (12 catches, 253 yards). Sunday, it was Turn Off Your Hartline. Miami's No. 1 wideout went without a catch and without an official target for the afternoon. Oh, there was one pass aimed his way — it turned into a pass interference call — but otherwise there's no trace of Hartline in this game.

I don't want to say too much about Hartline's no-show until I review the game tape. Ryan Tannenhill handled Hartline's absence just fine, going 21-for-29 for 185 yards and two scores. Unheralded Marlon Moore and Anthony Fasano collected the touchdowns, and Reggie Bush (5-44) and Davone Bess (6-42) had passable days in PPR formats. It wasn't the 1980 Chargers, but it was good enough.

The Rams aren't an easy bunch to beat on the outside, with cornerbacks Cortland Finnegan and Janoris Jenkins playing well. I'm eager to see how much those guys had a hand in the Hartline bagel. But name-brand cornerbacks generally aren't enough to steer fantasy owners away from a sound option. A.J. Green carved up Joe Haden and friends in Cleveland on Sunday, posting pinball stats (seven grabs, 135 yards, two scores). Reggie Wayne scraped together a 5-87 day in the Meadowlands. The Patriots went for 395 passing yards against Seattle's well-regarded secondary, with Wes Welker (10-138-1) leading the way.

Sweet music for Foster in Week 6? (USP)

The public's out there throwing darts at a board, sport. I don't throw darts at a board.

Wait a minute, yes I do.

Packers +3.5 at Texans: How good is Houston, really? Arian Foster is currently a 4.0 YPC back, and the much-ballyhooed offensive line (still ranked No. 1 on some subjective lists) doesn't look good on the spreadsheet; Pro Football Focus has the Texans 18th in run blocking this year and 15th in pass blocking. Houston comes into this game on short rest and without Brian Cushing, and the Packers are the more desperate team (an angle Bill Parcells would often bring up).

Dolphins -3.5 vs. Rams: While I have much respect for the Rams defense, I'm having trouble seeing how St. Louis scores more than 10 points on the road (unless something fluky happens on defense or special teams). Sam Bradford has once again been sold out by his receivers and offensive line. Meanwhile, Ryan Tannehill is the best rookie quarterback that you're hearing almost nothing about. His familiarity with the offense, dating back to the Texas A&M days, clearly shows on the tape. Miami rolls.