Start A.J. Brown or Zay Flowers? Week 7

Our Week 7 call

Start A.J. Brown over Zay Flowers in Week 7.

Market-based projections have A.J. Brown at 15.3 points and Zay Flowers at 15.6, a gap of 0.3. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. A.J. Brown still gets the call because it also weighs where drafters take each player, ADP 17 against 24, and that outweighs a gap this size. No player market is posted for Zay Flowers this week yet, so his 15.6 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 4, 5 and 6 (18.8, 14.6 and 13.4); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 7 player market is posted for Zay Flowers yet. His market-based projections were 18.8, 14.6 and 13.5 points in Weeks 4, 5 and 6, an average of 15.6, which stands in until his Week 7 market posts.

The market-based projection for Zay Flowers is 0-1 touchdowns (9 market sources).

Player markets imply 15.3 fantasy points for A.J. Brown, with 100 percent of the markets a WR needs posted.

The market-based projection for A.J. Brown is 69 receiving yards, 5-6 receptions and 0-1 touchdowns (12, 9 and 12 market sources).

That puts Zay Flowers 0.3 points ahead of A.J. Brown on these projections.

Week 7 matchups

Zay Flowers and BAL host CIN on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.

CIN allowed 29.5 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 5 games, the 9th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 123 yards and a touchdown a game against CIN.

A.J. Brown and NE visit CHI on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

CHI allowed 31.5 fantasy points a game to WRs this season over 6 games, the 15th fewest in the league.

Receivers caught passes for 160 yards and a touchdown a game against CHI.

By points allowed to the position, A.J. Brown has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Zay Flowers is not on the injury report.

A.J. Brown is listed as questionable with a ankle injury.

Usage before Week 7

Through Week 6, Zay Flowers played 61 percent of BAL snaps, drew 31 percent of the targets, earned 35 percent of the air yards and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

Zay Flowers, Week 3 against DAL: 21 of 64 snaps, 1 carry for 20 yards, 6 targets and 5 catches for 84 yards.

Zay Flowers, Week 4 against TEN: 47 of 64 snaps, 10 targets and 8 catches for 118 yards, 1 touchdown.

Zay Flowers, Week 5 against ATL: 62 of 76 snaps, 1 carry for 13 yards, 9 targets and 8 catches for 53 yards.

Zay Flowers, Week 6 against CLE: 50 of 57 snaps, 1 carry for 1 yards, 11 targets and 6 catches for 66 yards.

Through Week 6, A.J. Brown played 60 percent of NE snaps, drew 23 percent of the targets, earned 24 percent of the air yards and had 19 percent of the red zone chances.

A.J. Brown, Week 1 against SEA: 31 of 71 snaps, 4 targets and 3 catches for 26 yards.

A.J. Brown, Week 6 against NYJ: 52 of 68 snaps, 10 targets and 3 catches for 27 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Zay Flowers played 17 games for BAL and scored 243.3 PPR points, 14.3 a game, finishing WR7.

He caught 86 of 118 targets for 1211 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 10 red zone targets and 753 air yards.

He was on the field for 86 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, A.J. Brown played 15 games for PHI and scored 220.3 PPR points, 14.7 a game, finishing WR11.

He caught 78 of 121 targets for 1003 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 12 red zone targets and 735 air yards.

He was on the field for 91 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

A.J. Brown, Week 17 of 2025 against BUF: 48 of 54 snaps, 7 targets and 5 catches for 68 yards, 11.8 PPR points.

Their other Week 7 calls

• Start Amon-Ra St. Brown over Zay Flowers.
• Start CeeDee Lamb over Zay Flowers.
• Start Chris Olave over Zay Flowers.
• Start A.J. Brown over Carnell Tate.
• Start CeeDee Lamb over A.J. Brown.
• Start A.J. Brown over Chris Olave.