5 Fantasy Football Splits That Matter for Week 7

Touches are among the small list of categories that should be prioritized when it comes to fantasy football. Having said that, it's important to note that not all touches lead to success.

There's no better example than the ongoing backfield situation for the Minnesota Vikings without Dalvin Cook. If we were to only list how Minnesota has divvied up carries over the past two games, Jerick McKinnon has slightly out-touched teammate Latavius Murray 31 to 28. Despite only three more rushes, though, McKinnon has produced 105 more yards. And that's just on the ground. The former's 11 catches for 81 receiving yards only adds to what was already considered tremendous and consistent production.

Murray also ranks 127th out of 130 qualifiers in Rushing Net Expected Points (NEP), our in-house metric that adds (or subtracts) an expected point value to every situation on the field, which is determined by looking at historical results in similar game situations (down, distance, line of scrimmage). That's a long way of saying only Jonathan Stewart (-17.16), Jay Ajayi (-12.24), and Paul Perkins (-10.15) have been worse than Murray (-8.79).

Needless to say, you shouldn't be fooled or even discouraged by how Minnesota has split reps thus far. If 'SPARQ Gawd' McKinnon can outproduce Murray in a timeshare, just imagine the havoc he could potentially wreak once Murray is finally labeled a liability by the coaching staff. Buy talented players receiving touches and there's a chance you'll be rewarded.

Let's take a look at five more splits that matter for your fantasy football team in Week 7.