The fantasy football season is underway. As much as we all loved our rosters after the draft, things change quickly. It’s time to improve our teams. Let’s take a look at the top Week 7 waiver wire targets and pickups that fantasy managers should consider adding to their rosters.
As always, all players are rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues.
I eliminated FAAB recommendations last year, as there are too many variables to account for. Instead, I replaced them with my opinion on how aggressively fantasy managers should pursue the player on a scale of 1-10.
Jaxson Dart, QB, New York Giants
Rostered: 30%
Jaxson Dart has three starts since taking over for Russell Wilson. The rookie is 2-1, having lost to the New Orleans Saints and defeated the Los Angeles Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles. More importantly, he’s shown signs of being a fantasy star.
Dart has recorded at least 17.5 fantasy points in each game. Against the Eagles on Thursday night, he posted 23.6 points, his season high.
Dart has done this despite averaging just under 170 passing yards per game. That’s because he’s run for 50+ yards in every start and scored twice on the ground.
You probably don’t want to use Dart in Week 7 against the Denver Broncos, but I still think his rushing floor keeps him in play. With Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson on bye, his managers will need a fill-in. Dart is a very strong option. The main issue is that you probably can’t drop him if you add him, as he looks like a QB for the rest of the season.
Aggressiveness Rating: 5.5
Sam Darnold, QB, Seattle Seahawks
Rostered: 53%
This is an unfortunate time to add Sam Darnold. You missed out on back-to-back weeks with 28.6 and 20.0 fantasy points. Next week, he gets the Houston Texans’ tough defense. After that, the Seattle Seahawks are on bye. If you can sit on Darnold for two weeks, though, he’s legitimately a good quarterback.
There’s no fluke, here. Last year’s renaissance wasn’t Kevin O’Connell magic. Darnold figured out how to play quarterback.
There are a lot of QBs injured or not performing well. Darnold sure looks like a top 12 option the rest of the way. He belongs on far more rosters.
Aggressiveness Rating: 4.0
Kimani Vidal, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
Rostered: 27%
Easily the top waiver wire add of the week, Kimani Vidal thoroughly impressed, filling in for an injured Omarion Hampton. Hassan Haskins was supposed to be the lead back, but this was always going to be a hot hand situation. Vidal was the hot hand.
The sophomore running back carried the ball 18 times for 124 yards. He also caught three passes for 14 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Haskins had a mere six carries for 14 yards.
Now, that’s not to say the split can’t flip going forward. Plus, the Los Angeles Chargers have already been speaking to teams about potentially trading for a running back. This will be a volatile situation week to week. For now, though, Vidal is clearly the guy you want.
Aggressiveness Rating: 5.0
Bam Knight, RB, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 13%
Last week, Michael Carter clearly led the Arizona Cardinals’ backfield, touching the ball 23 times. Yet, inexplicably, we got a random Sunday morning report from Adam Schefter that the Cardinals planned on featuring Bam Knight as the lead back this week.
Sure enough, it proved to be true…kinda. Knight did start and played more, but the touch count wound up being relatively close. Carter had nine carries, just two fewer than Knight’s 11. Carter wound up with more yards because he caught two passes for 30 yards, but that was more of a product of Emari Demercado getting hurt, forcing Carter into the passing-down role.
This is not going to be a situation fantasy managers can trust on a weekly basis. But Knight clearly has a meaningful role and needs to be added. Whether he can be started next week remains to be seen.
Aggressiveness Rating: 4.5
Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Rostered: 39%
The bye week likely played a role, but it’s nevertheless surprising to see Kenneth Gainwell on so few rosters. His performance against the Browns probably won’t prompt managers to rush to grab him, but it should.
Gainwell scored 9.6 fantasy points against an elite run defense in a game where he can the ball six times for a mere 22 yards. He did that by catching all six of his targets for 14 yards; a true PPR scam.
There’s desperation RB3 value here with injuries and bye weeks wrecking fantasy lineups. But the main reason to add Gainwell is that we already saw his upside when he filled in for an injured Jaylen Warren in Week 4. At worst, he’s an upside handcuff.
Aggressiveness Rating: 4.0
Tyjae Spears, RB, Tennessee Titans
Rostered: 22%
The Tennessee Titans are a disaster. Cam Ward looks like he has no clue what is going on at any given moment. How did this team beat the Cardinals? I digress.
Tyjae Spears is not about to overtake Tony Pollard. However, he did see an uptick in usage compared to the previous week as he reacclimates his body to playing football. Spears handled five carries and caught all four of his targets, totaling 50 yards.
With the Titans constantly facing a negative game script, they have no choice but to throw. Spears’ primary role is as the passing-down back. Plus, he has injury-contingent upside if Pollard were to go down. That makes him worth rostering.
Aggressiveness Rating: 3.5
Wan’Dale Robinson, WR, New York Giants
Rostered: 56%
Wan’Dale Robinson is a bit over the rostership threshold, but still warrants mention given the situation. He is the New York Giants’ WR1 for the foreseeable future. Yet, somehow, Robinson is nowhere close to being universally rostered.
Against the Philadelphia Eagles, Robinson caught six passes for 84 yards and a touchdown. Jaxson Dart is playing very well and should only get better as the season progresses. There’s minimal competition for targets. He is a weekly WR3 who needs to be on more rosters.
Aggressiveness Rating: 1-10
Kayshon Boutte, WR, New England Patriots
Rostered: 7%
Kayshon Boutte was all the buzz after Week 1 when he caught six passes for 103 yards. Fantasy managers correctly added him off the waiver wire on the chance he was the WR1 on a team without a clear top option. He followed that performance up by totaling 105 yards in his next four games combined. Well, here we go again.
Boutte caught five passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns against the New Orleans Saints. Naturally, his name has to be on the waiver column.
Suffice it to say, I don’t buy it. The New England Patriots do not have a WR1. It changes each week based on who Drake Maye decides to throw to.
You can add Boutte if you want. Maybe this time it’s real. But I doubt it.
Aggressiveness Rating: 1.0
Kendrick Bourne, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Rostered: 32%
He did it again. One week after coming out of nowhere to post 142 receiving yards, Kendrick Bourne landed on that same number.
Jauan Jennings returned but was clearly less than 100% and did not play a full complement of snaps. That kept Bourne in a significant role. Will it continue? Hard to say.
Ricky Pearsall reportedly has a good chance to return in Week 7. George Kittle may also be back. As great as Bourne has performed, he will slide in behind both. With Jennings likely healthier, this might have been Bourne’s last hurrah.
Nevertheless, that’s 24.2 and 19.2 fantasy points in back-to-back weeks without a touchdown. Given the rash of injuries across the NFL, the mere potential Bourne offers mandates that he is on more rosters.
Aggressiveness Rating: 4.0
Josh Downs, WR, Indianapolis Colts
Rostered: 48%
Josh Downs is such a difficult player to put in lineups. The fact that he never plays in two-receiver sets makes him difficult to trust. If the game script goes the wrong way, his volume isn’t going to be there. But he’s a talented player.
Against the Cardinals, Downs caught six of seven targets for 42 yards and a touchdown. He’s now hit double-digits in half his games, but has been a complete dud in the other half. That’s going to be the gamble with Downs every week.
Even so, Downs has proven upside. You are not going to find the potential Downs offers on waivers too often. If you need someone to plug into lineups, you can do worse than Downs.
Aggressiveness Rating: 1-10
Tre Tucker, WR, Las Vegas Raiders
Rostered: 45%
Maybe we should take Tre Tucker a little more seriously. It’s hard to buy into him, but he does now have double-digit fantasy points in four of his six games. Tucker did it again against the Tennessee Titans in a game in which the Las Vegas Raiders had a positive game script throughout. That is a great sign.
Tucker caught all five of his targets for 70 yards. The efficiency is unsustainable, especially given Geno Smith’s horrific quarterback play.
The Raiders get the Kansas City Chiefs next week, then are on bye. Is Tucker good enough to put on your bench and burn a roster spot for two weeks? Probably not.
Aggressiveness Rating: 1.0
Zay Jones, WR, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 0%
Marvin Harrison Jr. sustained a concussion in the first half of the Arizona Cardinals’ shootout loss to the Indianapolis Colts. His departure left the WR room to Michael Wilson, Zay Jones, and Greg Dortch.
Jones managed to pace the team with 79 yards on five receptions. He saw eight targets. But you don’t need to add him.
The Cardinals get the Green Bay Packers next week. That is a really bad spot for the entire passing game. Then, the week after, the Cardinals are on bye.
There’s no guarantee Harrison even misses next week’s contest. Even if he does, he will almost certainly be back by Week 9. There is nothing here.
Aggressiveness Rating: 0.0
Sterling Shepard and Tez Johnson, WRs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Rostered: 5% and 1%
I sure hope you don’t need Sterling Shepard or Tez Johnson’s services. If you do, he is a passable option in light of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ wide receiver devastation.
There is a very real chance this team is without Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Emeka Egbuka next week. If that is the case, Shepard will be the WR1 with Johnson as the WR2.
Someone has to catch passes. You can take a shot on either of these guys in a true desperation scenario, but I would not recommend prioritizing it. This is a short-term solution. The Bucs have two more games before their Week 9 buy. They should be much healthier after that. At best, you will get a game or two out of these highly speculative options.
Aggressiveness Rating: 0.0
Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Cleveland Browns
Rostered: 24%
Whether it’s a rookie starting to figure things out or David Njoku’s injury opening the door for more volume, Harold Fannin Jr. got it done this week. He earned 10 targets, catching seven for 81 yards.
To be fair, a bunch of that came in the fourth quarter during garbage time. But the Cleveland Browns are going to see plenty negative game scripts the rest of the way.
Njoku tried to return after leaving the game, but was unable to continue. There’s a chance he could miss some time, which would elevate Fannin to a full-time role. Given the state of the tight end position and the upcoming medley of byes, Fannin is a worthwhile TE2 stab.
Aggressiveness Rating: 1-10
Oronde Gadsden, TE, Los Angeles Chargers
Rostered: 1%
This one may not be a fluke. There was a clear changing of the guard at tight end for the Los Angeles Chargers. Quentin Johnson’s absence definitely helped, but he is not why Oronde Gadsden led the tight end room in snaps at 75%.
Gadsden played ahead of Tyler Conklin and Will Dissly. In fact, it was Tucker Fisk who played the second-most snaps at the position. He and Dissly each ran eight routes. The rookie ran 32. He also led the team with eight targets, catching seven for 68 yards.
It is entirely possible this ends up being a flash in the pan in terms of production, but the role is likely here to stay. Gadsden is certainly worth adding.
Aggressiveness Rating: 4.0
Michael Mayer, TE, Las Vegas Raiders
Rostered: 2%
Michael Mayer started in place of an injured Brock Bowers and looked pretty good. He caught five of seven targets for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Mayer is a talented player. The only reason he’s mostly useless in fantasy is that he’s buried behind Bowers. For at least one more week, though, that won’t be the case.
The Raiders have a Week 8 bye. They plan to hold Bowers out one more game to give him an additional two weeks for his knee to heal, with the expectation that he can return in Week 9. If you need a spot starter at tight end in Week 7, Mayer works.
Aggressiveness Rating: One week streamer.
Cade Otton, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Rostered: 12%
This is a redux of what happened last season. From Weeks 7-9 of the 2024 season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were without either Mike Evans or Chris Godwin. In those three contests, Cade Otton stepped up as Baker Mayfield’s most trusted pass catcher. He posted lines of 8-100, 9-81-2, and 8-77-1.
Evans might not be ready to return from his hamstring strain just yet. Even if he is, Godwin is unlikely to play next week due to his fibula injury, and it’s hard to imagine Emeka Egbuka’s hamstring strain doesn’t keep him out at least one week, more likely through the Week 9 bye.
We are once again staring down the barrel of Otton in a featured role for at least two weeks. He’s coming off consecutive games with double-digit fantasy points, his first two of the season. Otton should keep it going for as long as two of the Bucs’ three top receivers are down.
Aggressiveness Rating: How badly do you need a tight end?
