We are now over a month into the fantasy football season, which means we have a solid idea of where our teams are strong and where they are weak. It’s now time to improve our rosters.
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 have done away with FAAB recommendations this year, as there are too many variables to account for. Instead, I replaced it with my opinion on how aggressive fantasy managers should be in pursuing the player on a scale of 1-10.
Who To Target on This Week’s Waiver Wire
Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots (6%)
In his NFL debut, Drake Maye was far more effective at moving the ball than Jacoby Brissett. This is very clearly his job for the remainder of the season.
It’s not going to always be pretty, but Maye’s athleticism should help keep his fantasy afloat most weeks. He threw for 243 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions while adding 38 yards on the ground. He scored 21.52 fantasy points.
Drake Maye's first career touchdown pass to Kayshon Boutte (40-yard TD) traveled 51.7 yards in the air, the longest completion by a Patriots quarterback over the last three seasons.
🔹 Target Separation: 0.8 yds
🔹 Completion Probability: 26.7%Powered by @awscloud pic.twitter.com/rokfz5mY7Y
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 13, 2024
Next week, the Patriots get a Jaguars pass defense that just gave up four touchdowns to Caleb Williams. Maye is a viable streamer in Week 7. Just be mindful that his next three post-Jags matchups are brutal.
Aggressiveness Rating: 2.5
Isaac Guerendo, RB, San Francisco 49ers (4%)
On Thursday night, Jordan Mason fell hard on his shoulder and left the game. After a brief attempt to return, Mason was unable to go. Replacing him was rookie fourth-rounder Isaac Guerendo. He ran the ball 10 times for 99 yards and would have scored a late-fourth-quarter touchdown if he wanted to.
Mason is dealing with a sprained AC joint. With an extra three days to recover, he should be able to play in Week 7. At most, he will miss one game, barring a setback. The 49ers have a Week 9 bye and Christian McCaffrey is tentatively expected back in Week 10. That means Guerendo is a 1-2 week fill-in hopeful, at best.
Unless we get bad news on Mason, Guerendo looks like fool’s gold on the waiver wire this week. He will certainly have value if Mason sits, but unless you are really hurting at running back, don’t go overboard chasing Guerendo this week.
Aggressiveness Rating: 3.0
D’Ernest Johnson, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars (0%)
This one is highly speculative, but worth mentioning. Travis Etienne Jr. is not a particularly good player and is now dealing with a hamstring strain. The latter is the more important fact, as the former would not keep him off the field. For D’Ernest Johnson to be fantasy-relevant, Etienne needs to not be playing at all.
If Etienne has to miss time, Tank Bigsby would be the RB1. However, Bigsby does not play on passing downs. Plus, Bigsby was clearly benched for fumbling a kickoff late in the Jaguars’ loss to the Bears.
I have no idea if Doug Pederson will still be the coach of the Jaguars next week. But if he is, clearly he has no problem pulling his best players off the field to prove a point. Perhaps Bigsby is in the doghouse, which would result in increased usage for Johnson.
Aggressiveness Rating: 1.5
Sean Tucker, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0%)
This was probably a fluke for Sean Tucker, but it would be a dereliction of duty to not mention his 136 yards on the ground, 56 yards through the air, and two touchdowns. This was a straight-up timeshare between Tucker and Bucky Irving. Both backs looked quite good. Most importantly, both backs are more talented than Rachaad White.
The first TD for @seantucker2020 🙌
📺: #TBvsNO on FOX pic.twitter.com/yK7Dl8ADPI
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 13, 2024
If White remains out, Tucker has proven he’s good enough to be a viable Flex play, if not an RB2 given all the injuries and bye weeks. It’s a tough Week 7 matchup against the Ravens, but Tucker at least needs to be on the radar.
Aggressiveness Rating: 4.0
Tyler Goodson, RB, Indianapolis Colts (4%)
For the second straight week, Jonathan Taylor sat out with his high ankle sprain. He very well may return in Week 7, which would render all other Colts backs unstartable. But if he doesn’t, Tyler Goodson is a better player than Trey Sermon.
The satellite back carried the ball eight times for 51 yards, while adding four receptions for 14 yards. If Taylor has to sit another game, Goodson is a viable Flex option in the short term (but not long term).
Aggressiveness Rating: 1.5
Emanuel Wilson, RB, Green Bay Packers (12%)
Josh Jacobs remains the clear RB1 for the Packers. However, Emanuel Wilson has been quite effective as the RB2. He doesn’t really have much in the way of standalone value, but he stands to benefit in the event of a Jacobs injury. Based on that fact alone, Wilson is worth rostering.
Furthermore, Wilson has legitimately played well. He ran the ball seven times for 54 yards and added a 19-yard reception. If you have space on the back of your bench, throw Wilson on there.
Aggressiveness Rating: 3.0
D’Onta Foreman, RB, Cleveland Browns (1%)
There’s only so much excitement we can have about adding anyone on the Browns. However, Jerome Ford left this week’s game with a hamstring strain. Replacing him was a committee between D’Onta Foreman and Pierre Strong, with Foreman as the lead back.
If Ford has to miss time, Foreman should be the RB2 going forward. I say RB2 because Nick Chubb is slated to make his season debut in Week 7.
Even though Chubb is going to be eased back in, Foreman is unlikely to have value for long, if at all.
Aggressiveness Rating: 0.0
Kimani Vidal, RB, Los Angeles Chargers (11%)
Making his in-game debut, Kimani Vidal operated as the Chargers’ RB2 behind J.K. Dobbins. This wasn’t really a timeshare, though. Vidal carried the ball four times for 11 yards and caught two passes for 40 yards and a nice over-the-shoulder touchdown grab.
Whenever a player scores a touchdown, he typcially draws the attention of fantasy managers. Vidal is not startable. His value comes from being the now-clear handcuff to the oft-injured Dobbins. If you have a roster spot to burn, Vidal is worth a spot.
Aggressiveness Rating: 3.0
Tyler Allgeier, RB, Atlanta Falcons (30%)
This is a surprisingly low roster percentage for Tyler Allgeier. Even though this was the first week he was really startable, Allgeier has always been one of the best handcuffs in fantasy.
Allgeier ran for 105 yards and a touchdown against the Panthers’ league-worst run defense. Both he and Bijan Robinson did whatever they wanted on the ground. The only reason Allgeier out-carried Robinson is because Allgeier was the one milking the clock away with the Falcons up three scores in the fourth quarter.
Tyler Allgeier will not be stopped 😡
📺: #ATLvsCAR on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/SRdaYjqY4e— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024
Don’t get any ideas of starting Allgeier weekly. However, he needs to be rostered because he’s a weekly RB2, at worst, if Robinson ever had to miss time.
Aggressiveness Rating: 6.0
DeMario Douglas, WR, New England Patriots (7%)
I thought this might be the Ja’Lynn Polk breakout game. Well…nope. Drake Maye keyed in on DeMario Douglas, targeting him nine times. Douglas caught six balls for 92 yards and a touchdown.
Douglas has now seen nine targets in three of his last four games. He has six receptions and double-digit fantasy points in two straight and three of his past four as well. He should be rostered in far more leagues.
Aggressiveness Rating: 4.0
Romeo Doubs, WR, Green Bay Packers (35%)
It feels like every week, it’s a different Packers WR appearing in the waiver column. This week, Dontayvion Wicks went down early in the game. With Christian Watson limited, that opened the door for Romeo Doubs, who caught three passes for 49 yards and two touchdowns.
There’s really no predicting which Packers WR will pop on any given week. Doubs only saw four targets. You can pick him up if you want, but he’s not a priority.
Aggressiveness Rating: 0.0
Josh Downs, WR, Indianapolis Colts (48%)
I did not expect Josh Downs to be on this list because it seems unfathomable his roster percentage would be under 50%. Yet, here we are.
What was it about Downs’ 22.2-point Week 4 and 15.9-point Week 5 that failed to compel fantasy managers to add him? After 19.5 points in Week 6, surely he’ll be well over 50% next week.
Anthony Richardson is expected back next week. That will be an obvious downgrade for Downs. Nevertheless, he still needs to be rostered. Richardson isn’t exactly the pinnacle of health. We know Downs is at least a weekly WR2 with Joe Flacco. He needs to be added.
Aggressiveness Rating: 8.0
Michael Wilson, WR, Arizona Cardinals (16%)
It wasn’t the best performance by the entire Cardinals offense. They scored just 13 points and were never really competitive against the Packers.
Michael Wilson salvaged his day with the Cardinals’ lone touchdown, but that’s not the real story. Marvin Harrison Jr. left the game in the first half with a concussion. The odds are heavily in favor of him missing at least one week. That would put Wilson in the WR1 role.
Wilson has hit double-digit fantasy points in three of his last four games. He’s at least a passable WR4 during bye weeks.
Aggressiveness Rating: 3.5
Zach Ertz, TE, Washington Commanders (25%)
The waiver wire is barren at tight end. Zach Ertz caught four of five targets for a surprisingly efficient 68 yards. That won’t happen often, but it was a good matchup against a Ravens defense that struggles against the tight end.
Next week, the Commanders face another opponent that doesn’t defend the tight well — the Panthers. Ertz works.
Aggressiveness Rating: 0.0