Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 7

CHICAGO, IL – AUGUST 25: Mitchell Trubisky #10 of the Chicago Bears participates in warm-ups before a preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Soldier Field on August 25, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) Waiver Wire /

We have our largest bye week yet so there’s plenty of players on the Week 7 Waiver Wire to help get your team through a rough spot.

There are some big guns on bye this week and players that have any part of the Packers and Steelers are going to be looking for some help on the Waiver Wire to replace their studs. The Raiders and Seahawks join those teams on a bye week after playing in London this past week so figuring out some targets is going to be paramount for quite a few people out there. Let’s get to work!

Quarterback Waiver Wire Targets

Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears – vs New England Patriots

Yahoo – 29 percent ESPN – 32.8

I’ll be the first to say I didn’t buy into Trubisky coming out of the bye week since he torched the Tampa defense but hadn’t looked good in virtually any other game. Credit where it’s due because he’s now gone over 300 passing yards in back to back games and thrown a combined nine touchdowns in those contests. Obviously he’s not going to average 4+ touchdowns a game the rest of the way but he is widely available and draws a very favorable home matchup against the Patriots. New England is about mid-pack in points allowed to the position but they’re still giving up a little over 24 points. That includes giving up exactly zero points to Ryan Tannehill so even the average is a little deceiving. The young quarterback just might be settling into a new system and the rushing floor of 24.2 yards a game and three rushing touchdowns is awfully attractive as well.

Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns – at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Yahoo – 42 percent ESPN – 42.8 percent

I’m keeping the faith here despite the Browns offense scuffling a little bit and the injuries to the receiving corps piling up. Mayfield came out of the game with a foot injury but there’s no indication that it’s anything serious and the matchup with Tampa is too juicy to pass up. The Bucs will have a new defensive coordinator for this one and they have just been crushed by about every position in fantasy football. They’ve given up over 29 points a game to quarterbacks, the most yards per game, tied for the most passing touchdowns, 24 plays of 20+ yards or more and a 129.5 passer rating, by far the worst in football. This should be a coming out party for Mayfield after a couple slower games on the stat sheet.

Also Consider – Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers(number one option but the ownership is a shade too high to be featured), Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens

Running Back Waiver Wire Targets

Latavius Murray, Minnesota Vikings – at New York Jets

Yahoo – 49 percent ESPN – 46.2 percent

Until Dalvin Cook has shown he’s totally over this hamstring injury, Murray needs to be owned much higher than he is right now. You shouldn’t expect 24 carries and 150+ yards in any other game this season but with Cook out, he’s the number one back in a great offense that should log around 15-18 touches. It’s hard to pass on that. He wouldn’t be a starter for me if Cooks plays this upcoming week, but you’re not going to know that when waivers run. Put Murray on the bench and sit on him in case Cook sees the hammy flare up when he returns. It’s already happened to him and we’ve seen it with Leonard Fournette in Jacksonville. He’s likely not the number one priority for players that need a starter this week but he should be on your radar no matter the situation.

Marlon Mack, Indianapolis Colts – vs Buffalo Bills

Yahoo – 26 percent ESPN – 26.3 percent

Hopefully you got out in front of this addition but Mack was very solid in his return from a hamstring injury of his own. Not only is there no indication of an aggravation but he was efficient with his 13 touches, racking up 93 scrimmage yards. That’s a very solid day in and of itself and if he starts finding the end zone, he could really be a great pickup the rest of the way. Andrew Luck is making some mighty fine chicken salad out of chicken scratch right now considering all the injuries and inconsistencies on the Colts offense. I want a part of that if I can get it, especially at a position that is so starved for points right now. The best part of this equation is the Colts definitively want Mack to be the man. Nyheim Hines had been playing well and was coming off a 20+ touch game but only saw five touches in this. It certainly appears that it’s Mack’s job to lose.

Peyton Barber, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – vs Cleveland Browns

Yahoo – 33 percent ESPN – 43 percent

Another spot for me to take a loss is to admit that Ronald Jones is not going to happen in the Bucs backfield. That’s totally fine, but maybe Barber can get some production now that Jameis Winston is back starting. It’s a little tough to gauge it from this game since Atlanta is one of the best matchups for running backs in the league, but we shouldn’t ignore a game of 106 scrimmage yards and a touchdown from a starting running back. Any running back getting 15-18 touches like Barber did needs to be owned and Cleveland is in the bottom 10 in points given up to running backs. Some of that is a touch skewed by Melvin Gordon‘s three touchdown day but they’re still not a very tough matchup. Tampa had their bye week which is an advantage and that was a chance to install Jones into the offense. The Bucs didn’t take it and it appears Barber is the man to own.

Ito Smith, Atlanta Falcons – vs New York Giants

Yahoo – 9 percent ESPN – 13.7 percent

Devonta Freeman is in the middle of a nightmare season that has been borderline derailed by nagging injuries and that has opened the door for Smith to share the workload with Tevin Coleman. He played over 46 percent of the snaps this week and has found the end zone for three straight weeks. The efficiency isn’t great by any standard but he’s getting double digit touches when Freeman has been inactive and even in his limited action, he’s leading the team in red zone opportunities. That’s kind of crazy when you look at the talent that Atlanta has on the field at any given moment but it’s something that really catches your eye. 16 chances is good for a 29 percent market share in close and on an offense that’s averaging the ninth most points in the league, it’s even more important.

Frank Gore, Miami Dolphins – vs Detroit Lions

Yahoo – 10 percent ESPN – 11.7 percent

Affectionately known as the “Infinity Stone” in some fantasy circles since he just never seems to go away, it might be time to take Gore a little more seriously. He’s received 10 touches in five of six games so far and his carries have increased for three weeks straight, topping out at 15 on Sunday. He turned that into over 100 yards rushing and the Dolphins appear to be dead set on a committee approach with their running backs. Regardless of how you feel about it, that’s the way things are and we can ignore it no longer. He’s still averaging 4.9 yards a carry, is tied with Kenyan Drake as the leader in red zone chances and continues to get a ton of work when compare to his snap count, which usually hovers around 40 percent. The Lions give up the third most yards per game on the ground and Gore is a perfectly fine fly option this week and moving forward.

Also Consider – Jalen Richard, Oakland Raiders – Rashaad Penny, Seattle Seahawks

Wide Receiver Waiver Wire Targets

Chester Rogers, Indianapolis Colts – vs Buffalo Bills

Yahoo – 16 percent ESPN – 13 percent

Make it three straight weeks for Rogers and double digit targets. He’s seen 11, 11 and 10 in these past three games and he’s been paying off with at least four receptions and 55 yards in all three. He found the end zone deep in garbage time this past week but the great thing about garbage time is those points count the exact same. There’s not telling if Jack Doyle or T.Y. Hilton will make it back for this week and Ryan Grant left this week with his own injury. Even if those three are all out, I wouldn’t be overly concerned with Tre’Davious White from the Bills shadowing Rogers. I’ll take this amount of targets from Andrew Luck any day of the week.

More from FanSided

Taylor Gabriel, Chicago Bears – vs New England Patriots

Yahoo – 22 percent ESPN – 32.6 percent

If you believe that we’re seeing the Bears offense take off and start to really be dangerous, it would make a lot of sense to want their second most targeted player, right? Well, Taylor Gabriel is available basically everywhere and he’s seen just four fewer targets than Allen Robinson this season. The past two games have seen Gabriel really take off with the rest of the offense as he’s racked up 12 targets, 12 receptions, 214 yards and two touchdowns. In that same time, Robinson has seen two fewer targets, five fewer receptions, 127 fewer yards and the same touchdowns. Gabriel is clearly an integral part of the offensive game plan and should remain that way moving forward.

Josh Reynolds, Los Angeles Rams – at San Francisco 49ers

Yahoo – 1 percent ESPN – 1 percent

Reynolds is landing in this spot due to injury again and it’s the same story of last week. We’ve never really seen the Rams offense without their main three receivers for very long at all. I would suspect that just means that Robert Woods, Brandin Cooks and Todd Gurley see more targets but Cooper Kupp has a knee injury and it would seem he will miss a little bit of time. When you can pick up a freebie part of the best offense in the league, you go for it. We’ll have to wait and see how everything shakes out if Kupp is out for any length of time.

Also Consider – Jermaine Kearse, New York Jets – Mohamed Sanu, Atlanta Falcons – Christian Kirk, Arizona Cardinals – Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tight End Waiver Wire Targets

The new normal is the tight end position is a real pain so we’re not going to spend a ton of time on this position.

C.J. Uzomah, Cincinnati Bengals – at Kansas City Chiefs

Yahoo – 33 percent ESPN – 15.4 percent

As long as Tyler Kroft remains out, Uzomah is going to be the man in this offense. It seems that Kroft is not close to returning either as the coaching staff is talking more about him being back some time this year as opposed to a certain week. Uzomah tied with Joe Mixon for third in targets this past week with seven, has played over 90 percent of the snaps the past two weeks and draws a great matchup this week. The Chiefs have given up the fourth most points to the position and that level of targets could leave Uzomah on the back end of the TE1 map every single week.

Ricky Seals-Jones, Arizona Cardinals – vs Denver Broncos

Yahoo – 21 percent ESPN – 16.0 percent

I’m not terrible excited about writing up Seals-Jones but with at least three top 12ish tight ends on a bye week, players are going to be clawing for whatever they can get. Seals-Jones is attached to a rookie quarterback in a bad offense but he’s seen six targets in four of six contests. That hasn’t always led to a ton of production but maybe he can get something done against a defense that is in the bottom 10 in points surrendered to the tight end. If you get four receptions for 50 or so yards, that’s going to be a win this week.

Five things to watch for in Week 7. dark. Next

Also Consider – Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts(if he’s practicing) – Ben Watson, New Orleans Saints – Geoff Swaim, Dallas Cowboys

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