Fantasy Football 2018: 10 waiver wire pickups for Week 7

3. Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore Ravens

For the first time this season, did not get to 277 passing yards or throw multiple touchdowns in Week 6. But the Tennessee Titans have allowed the fifth-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks (ESPN scoring), and things are about to get a lot easier for Flacco.

The New Orleans Saints allowed just one touchdown pass over the two games heading into their Week 6 bye, but they’ve still allowed the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks (ESPN scoring) with a secondary that has lost some pieces to injury.

The Saints’ offense seems sure to put the Ravens offense in position to throw the ball to keep pace, so a return to the 40-plus attempts Flacco had each game from Week 2-Week 5 is very likely. If you’re looking for a quarterback streamer for Week 7, put the former Super Bowl MVP on your list.

A tougher matchup is coming against the Carolina Panthers in Week 8, but after that Flacco will get a very favorable matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers before a Week 10 bye. On the other side of that bye, the Cincinnati Bengals, Oakland Raiders, Atlanta Falcons, Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the slate from Week 11-Week 15. Those teams make of five of the bottom-12 against quarterbacks right now (ESPN scoring). Mix in the Saints this week and the Steelers in Week 9, and Flacco will face six of the bottom seven fantasy defenses against quarterbacks over eight games from Week 7-Week 15. By the time he faces Oakland in Week 12, it’s easy to seem them as a bottom-10 team against quarterbacks too.

A new group of wide receivers has agreed with Flacco this year, and he has an extended run of good matchups coming. A push into weekly QB1 territory at the most important time of the fantasy football season can’t be ruled out.

ESPN Ownership: 18.7%
Yahoo! Ownership: 27%