Fantasy Football Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be owned in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the ownership percentage coming from Yahoo.com.

Quarterbacks

Tyrod Taylor, Bills (37% Owned): Taylor’s receiving corps is utterly depleted, but his upcoming slate is gold. His next three games are against the Bucs (27th vs. the pass), the Raiders (30th), and the Jets (18th). That’s just juicy, and he also happens to be a Top 3 rushing QB in football. If you have a bye upcoming, or just a disappointing passer (think Ben Roethlisberger, Jameis Winston), Taylor might be exactly what you need.

Jacoby Brissett (21% Owned): This is being written prior to Brissett playing the Titans, but he’s been surprisingly consistent. Brissett has gone over 200 yards three times, and rushed for three touchdowns in six games. He’s no burner, but the Colts are confident enough in him to let him run near the red zone. Brissett has bottom half of the Top 10 upside any time he has a nice matchup thanks to his WRs.

Running Backs

Dion Lewis, Patriots (10% Owned): I was a huge Mike Gillislee booster in the preseason, and I remain steadfast that Gillislee is a quality RB. But the writing on the wall here is that Bill Belichick loves Dion Lewis, and he’s healthy enough to be the leader of the Pats backfield. Once beloved by fantasy owners for his passing game prowess, Lewis saw a season-high 11 rushing attempts last week and zero targets. The zero targets will change if Lewis’ role keeps increasing, and after Gillislee fumbled last week he may be in the doghouse. New England’s RB committee is still frustrating, but now’s the time to jump on Lewis before he has an explosion and becomes the clear must-add. You’re better off rostering him now, and putting him in your lineup so you can reap the benefits of said explosion.

Orleans Darkwa, Giants (9% Owned): Darkwa staked his claim as the lead dog in the Giants’ backfield, and for the first time this season they fully committed to the ground game. Darkwa was fed 21 carries, getting him into a rhythm, and he responded with 117 yards. Making Darkwa’s game more impressive, he did it vs. the Broncos who entered play with the top-ranked run defense per FootballOutsiders.com. With Odell Beckham and Brandon Marshall done for the season, the Giants will be running the ball more. If Darkwa is going to get 18-20 carries a game, he’s going to be a very safe weekly RB2.

Alex Collins, Ravens (31% Owned): Collins saw a season-high 15 carries this past week and once again rewarded the Ravens, chewing up 74 yards on the ground. All year Collins has run hard, and he’s averaging 6.4 yards per rush. Buck Allen continues to steal work from Collins, limiting his upside, but Collins is clearly the most talented option for Baltimore at the position. It’s only a matter of time before he starts dominating the timeshare.

C.J. Prosise, Seahawks (10% Owned): Prosise is expected back this week, and while he’s pigeonholed as Seattle’s third down/passing downs back, which is a clear limitation on his workload, his role is the most defined in this offense. Prosise is a big-play guy; he averaged 5.7 yards per carry last season, and is averaging 14.5 yards per reception in 2017. Touchdowns can be problematic for him, and he does pose the threat of very low output since his touches are volatile, but when he’s on he can win you the week.

Eddie Lacy, Seahawks (28% Owned): Lacy is nominally the starter, and if I had to bet between he and Thomas Rawls, I’d pick Lacy to lead the team in carries. Lacy has a longer track record than Rawls, and is simply a bigger man, giving him an edge (maybe?) for goal line work. If you’re forced into starting Lacy then it means you’re not in good shape, but he’s probably the best bet for TDs out of this committee.

Chris Ivory, Jaguars (4% Owned): Ivory did something stunning on Sunday; he caught nine passes for 74 yards and a touchdown. This is relevant, because the Jags’ star rookie Leonard Fournette injured his ankle in Week 6. Fournette is likely good to go for Week 7, but if Ivory is suddenly a trusted receiver out of the backfield, he becomes the clearest of handcuffs for Fournette. All of Fournette’s owners should consider picking up Ivory, who should still come very cheap, and non-Fournette owners with some space on their roster may want to add him too just in case.

Thomas Rawls, Seahawks (23% Owned): All the negatives that apply to Lacy apply to Rawls as well. He has done nothing to seize the early-down work from Lacy, and since Lacy is the “starter” he has the better chance to get off to a good start and be ridden as the “hot hand.” We’ve seen Rawls dominate before, but that’s beginning to look like a distant memory.

Marlon Mack, Colts (47% Owned): This was written prior to the Monday Night Football action vs. the Titans, but Mack’s Week 5 was impressive. He’s clearly the best playmaker in Indianapolis, but it’s unlikely the Colts will abandon Frank Gore, even if he is averaging just 3.2 yards per carry. Gore owners must get Mack on their team, but this offense isn’t good enough to warrant starting Mack at this point. Adding him is a smart handcuff move, or a purely speculative add for a team with roster space to burn.

Samaje Perine, Redskins (36% Owned): Perine didn’t see the action I expected with Rob Kelley out, as the ‘Skins trusted Chris Thompson with more work. Still, Perine did find the end zone, and if Kelley is out he will have a similar, if not larger, workload. If Kelley is active, then Perine is a safe drop, and a must-bench.

Matt Beida, 49ers (21% Owned): The 49ers clearly like Breida, as he’s approached the same workload as Carlos Hyde for two straight weeks. Hyde is still the 49ers’ greatest source of TDs, and Breida has resembled Hyde, but done nothing to convince anyone he should be ahead of him. I view Breida as a must-own for Hyde owners, and waiver fodder for everyone else.

Matt Forte, Jets (21% Owned): The Jets don’t seem like they’re quite the disaster we all expected, and when healthy, Forte appears to still be spearheading the RB committee. He’s not exciting and he won’t give you much in terms of yards, but Forte can be expected to receive goal line opportunities and lead the team in attempts.

Wide Receivers

Robby Anderson, Jets (17% Owned): Anderson is certainly inconsistent, but he is the top deep threat on a Jets’ offense that has been weirdly okay with Josh McCown at the helm. I’d never feel comfortable starting Anderson, but he has been at 59 yards or more in two of his last three games, and averaged 19 yards per catch in both of those games. You could do much worse for a deep-league dart throw.

JuJu Smith-Schuster, Steelers (14% Owned): Martavis Bryant is doing absolutely nothing, and rumors abound that he wants out. Schuster has drawn much more attention from Ben Roethlisberger than Bryant, and has scored two touchdowns on the year. Like Anderson, there’s nothing safe about Schuster. Instead, he offers big play potential, and high upside if given a bigger role.

Kenny Golladay, Lions (16% Owned): Golladay’s injury is the reason this big play monster is so sparsely owned, and frankly, he is no lock to return in Week 8. Still, jump in there and add him now, because with Golden Tate set to miss a few weeks, Golladay is going to be a target hound once he’s back in the lineup. Week 1 showed his big preseason was no fluke; Golladay is a big time player as long as he’s healthy. Getting him cheap now will reap later dividends.

Tight Ends

David Njoku, Browns (18% Owned): The rookie is completely touchdown-dependent, but he has scored in half his games this year. TE is a crapshoot in 2017 except for a handful of players, so grabbing a physical freak like Njoku with two plus matchups on the horizon makes sense.