- More ugliness from Jake Delhomme (325 yards, 3 INT). Anytime your fantasy defense faces him it’s a good thing.

- Matt Cassel (97 yards, TD, 3 INT) looked awful. Still worth rostering, but proceed with caution.

- Alex Smith (206 yards, 3 TD, INT) came off the bench to lead the 49ers’ comeback. Showed a great rapport with Vernon Davis.

- Carson Palmer (233 yards, 5 TD) was on fire against a normally decent Bears pass defense.

- Tony Romo (311 yards, 3 TD) played very well against a pretty good Falcons defense.

- Drew Brees (298 yards, TD, 3 INT) didn’t have the sharpest passing day, but he found the endzone twice on the ground.

- Steven Jackson (23 carries, 134 yards) still hasn’t found the endzone, but he continues to rack up a ton of yards from scrimmage.

- LaDainian Tomlinson (23 carries, 71 yards) has a disappointing day against the Chiefs. He failed to score on several goal line carries.

- Steve Slaton (22 touches, 89 yards, 2 TD) starting to perform up to first round expectations.

- Frank Gore (15 touches, 47 yards) had a surprisingly quiet day against an inconsistent Texans defense.

- Ryan Grant (27 carries, 148 yards, TD) had his first big fantasy day of the season.

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- Reggie Wayne (7-81-1) left the game with a groin injury after a nice start. If he misses any time, Austin Collie (4-36-1) and Pierre Garcon (3-24) would get a boost.

- Vincent Jackson (5-142-1) is pretty much a must-start in most scoring formats.

- Dwayne Bowe (2-11-1) found the endzone, but otherwise had a quiet day against a sketchy Chargers secondary.

- The 49ers have a couple of good prospects in Josh Morgan (4-62) and Michael Crabtree (5-56).

- Andre Johnson (2-62) had one big catch but left the game with a chest injury. He’s not expected to miss any time.

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- Owen Daniels (7-123-1) continues to tear it up. He’s an every-week start.

- Vernon Davis (7-93-3) really started to get it going after Alex Smith entered the game.

- Jermichael Finley (1-16) injured his knee on his only catch, early in the first quarter. If he misses time, Donald Lee (3-39) becomes backup-caliber again.

- Jeremy Shockey (4-105) looks like his old self. His 66-yard catch and run was a thing of beauty.

Be sure to check back in a few minutes for the WR, RB and QB positions.

Every week, I’m picking one question from our Fantasy Football Q&A and posting it on Sunday morning. This week’s question comes from Indy, who is trying to decide amongst a couple of trades:

“I’ve been offered two trades: Steve Jackson for Rashard Mendenhall + Miles Austin or Brandon Jacobs for Kevin Smith + Miles Austin. my starting WRs are Fitzgerald, Colston, & Jennings (with Austin and Garcon on the bench.) my RBs are P. Thomas, Mendenhall, Smith, and Maroney. which one looks better to you? or do i just stand pat?”

My answer: I’d do the first deal for Jackson. Mendenhall is nice, but Jackson is having a top 10 or top 12 season and is an upgrade. I would NOT trade for Jacobs right now. I wouldn’t trade Smith for Jacobs straight up much less give up Austin in the deal as well.

It’s a little risky to trade Mendenhall away, because he could go on to have a great season, but Steven Jackson is a proven, every-week fantasy RB. He hasn’t scored a TD yet, but that won’t last with some nice matchups coming up. He’s on pace for 1789 total yards and is still having a top 10 or 12 season in PPR leagues. The downside is that the Rams are going to struggle to score on a weekly basis, but they have moved the ball a little better the last couple of weeks, so they should be able to give Jackson a few scoring opportunities in the near future. Since Indy is set at WR with Fitz, Colston and Jennings, Austin is expendable, so he might as well use him to upgrade at RB.

Things are looking up for Anquan Boldin. We’ll see if he practices today (Friday), but he went through a tough workout with the trainer and reportedly looked a lot better than he did on Wednesday. If he’s able to go, it’s a hit to Steve Breaston, who would be a nice play if Q sits.

HC Caldwell: A. Gonzalez “feeling really good.” Finally, there’s some sort of update on his status. The Colts’ coach was still pretty vague, not setting a timeline for Gonzalez’s return. Rotoworld suggests that Gonzalez would start on the outside with Austin Collie in the slot, so Pierre Garcon’s value would take the biggest hit. But Collie and Gonzalez are pretty similar players, so the Colts are more likely to rotate Collie and Garcon depending on the situation. Garcon is a deep threat while Collie is a possession receiver.

Sammy Morris won’t play in Week 7. He apparently wasn’t on the flight to London. What’s funny is that if this were a home game, the Patriots would be playing coy all the way up until kickoff. As it stands, Laurence Maroney has a very nice matchup against the Bucs. He looks like a solid RB2/flex play this week.

Greg Jennings practices and is expected to play. The Browns give up a ton of big plays, so Jennings is a nice start this week. In other news, James Jones is the full-time WR3, so if Jennings or Donald Driver were to miss anytime, his stock would likely jump the most. He’s worth rostering in deep leagues.

Jerricho Cotchery ruled out for Week 7. He wasn’t a particularly good start to begin with. His role opposite Braylon Edwards isn’t defined and the Jets face a tough Oakland pass defense. I’d avoid Edwards as well, though he should see enough targets to make him startable in bigger leagues.

Roy Williams might sit out Week 7. HC Wade Phillips says that Williams is in pain when he catches the ball, but that it has gotten better through the week. Miles Austin is a nice start even if Williams plays, but if he sits out, Patrick Crayton becomes pretty startable against the Falcons. (Austin usurped Crayton as the starter opposite Williams during the Cowboys’ bye week.)

Every week, I will highlight a few players to start and a few players to sit at each position. I’m a firm believer in starting your studs, so I won’t tell you about how Drew Brees or Adrian Peterson has a tough matchup – just go ahead and keep them in your lineup. Instead, I’ll focus on the borderline guys – players you’ll only start under the right circumstances. It’s important to note that depending on your roster and situation, you may not be able to follow these recommendations. For example, if I suggest you bench a solid starter like Ben Roethlisberger, only do so if you have a clearly better option on your bench.

The “love ‘em” players are listed in the order that I’d start them this week.

Three of the four worst pass defenses (TEN, JAX and DET) are on bye this week, so pickings are slim in terms of finding mediocre fantasy QBs with good matchups for Week 7. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Phillip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Jay Cutler and Matt Ryan all have very good matchups and should be in starting lineups this week…If you’re looking for a bye week fill-in, give Shaun Hill a try. He faces the Texans, who have been inconsistent on defense. There’s a pretty good chance that he’ll have to throw quite a bit to stay in the game if the Texans’ offense gets going.

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Want another take on what happened last week? Fantasy Fallout
Wondering who to pick up? Waiver Wire Watch
Looking for a defense? DTBWW

Still have questions? Fire away. I’ll assume it’s standard scoring (no PPR) unless you tell me differently.

The strategy behind DTBWW is that each week, you pick up a defense, preferably one playing at home against a bad offense. And each week, you get pretty good numbers out of your DT position. To see how this approach performed last season, click here.

Last week, I recommended three DTBWW picks. Let’s see how they fared…

#1 Bengals: 2 SK + 1 INT + 1 FR = 4 fantasy points
#2 Redskins: 14 PA (4) + 5 SK = 9 fp
#3 Jaguars: 1 SK + 1 INT = 2 fp

The Texans have a pretty potent offense, so in hindsight it probably wasn’t too smart to take the Bengals, even if they’ve been playing good defense this year. The Jaguars were a disaster, which is a shame, because I was thisclose to recommending the Bucs, who had 16 points against the Panthers. (I did mention Tampa Bay as a bonus pick.) The deciding factor? Anthony Stalter thought the Jags’ DT was a bit better. Thanks for nothing, Stalter.

For the season, my #1 pick is averaging 10.5 ppg, #2 is averaging 9.2 and #3 is averaging 8.3. Combining all the picks, DTBWW is averaging 9.3 points per game. Those are DT7 numbers.

Let’s take a look at this week’s picks. Keep in mind that to be eligible for DTBWW, a defense must be available in at least 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues.

Pick #1: Indianapolis Colts (@ STL)
The Colts are reasonably healthy, well-rested and pretty solid all-around. The Rams’ offense has looked a little better the last couple of weeks, but Donnie Avery is hobbled and Indy should be able to pressure the statuesque Marc Bulger.

Pick #2: Buffalo Bills (@ CAR)
Despite their offensive woes, the Bills have been pretty solid defenisvely. They are fantasy’s 8th-ranked defense and have averaged 8.1 fppg. They face the Panthers, who have been awful offensively. Fantasy defenses are averaging 14.4 against Carolina.

Pick #3: Oakland Raiders (vs. NYJ)
The sheen is off of Mark Sanchez and the verdict is in: He really is a rookie quarterback. Fantasy defenses have scored 9.3 ppg against the Jets through six weeks, and the Saints and Bills have gone for 26 and 12, respectively, in the last three weeks. Meanwhile, the Raiders are showing some life, as evidenced by their performance against a pretty potent Eagles’ offense in Week 6. Nnamdi Asomugha should be back in the lineup and the Jets won’t be helped by a cross country flight.

Bonus Pick: If you run out of options, the Panthers play at home against a Bills offense that will probably run Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB.

Anthony Gonzalez not due back in Week 7. This is speculation by the Indianapolis Star, but Gonzalez only recently resumed running. If you’ve hung onto him this long, wait a week or two more and see how this situation develops. He has a lot of upside and he can certainly help in a fantasy championship run. This is good news for owners of Pierre Garcon, but it is Austin Collie that seems to be getting most of Gonzalez’s looks in recent weeks. That run should continue.

Miles Austin usurps Patrick Crayton as starting WR2. Now it’s time to get excited about Austin, who has gone from potential one-week wonder to bona fide fantasy starter. Austin is the one Dallas WR who has made the most of his opportunities, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if he’s more productive than Roy Williams over the remainder of the season.

James Jones is the new Packers’ WR3. He was splitting snaps with Jordy Nelson, but Nelson is fighting a knee injury and Jones had a nice game against the Lions. Jones is worth rostering in deep (or three-WR) leagues, but will have to battle with Jermichael Finley for targets. Jones’ value would really skyrocket if Greg Jennings or Donald Driver were to go down, so he’s a nice handcuff for either.

Crabtree to replace Morgan as starter? Wow. Morgan was seemingly turning the corner, averaging 3.3-54-0.3 over the last three weeks. That’s a healthy 53-864-5 pace over a 16-game season. It’s not shocking that Crabtree would eventually take over, but that the move would happen so quickly. The rookie is suddenly fantasy viable. He’s not starter-worthy, but he is roster-worthy in 12-team leagues.