While the waiver wire has been subpar the last few weeks, we’re starting to get into one of my favorite periods of the season. The BYE weeks cater to managers making stupid decisions and that opens up the door for some gems to be found on the waiver wire. We’ve provided you with a few of those this season, with guys like D.J. Chark, Michael Gallup, Marquise Brown, Carlos Hyde, Terry McLaurin, and Hunter Henry being highlighted in previous articles. We’re going to look to keep that momentum going here, so, let’s get into our Week 7 waiver wire picks.
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Does your league use a FAAB system? Then you’ll also want to give Scott Engel’s Week 7 FAAB Guide a read!
Week 7 Waiver Wire Running Backs
Latavius Murray (NO)
To say Murray has had a disappointing season would be an understatement but that sky-high potential is still there. We’re talking about a guy who averaged 819 rushing yards and 6.8 TDs per year between 2015-18. That’s why the Saints signed him to essentially fill that Mark Ingram role. Ingram proved that’s a role to covet too, as he was a borderline Top-10 RB in New Orleans playing with Alvin Kamara. Week 6 would indicate that New Orleans is starting to realize that they need to spell Kamara, giving Murray season-highs in plays, carries and catches. Murray actually finished that game with eight carries for 44 rushing yards while adding three receptions for an additional 35 yards.
Having Kamara’s handcuff is not a bad idea either. Not only is the superstar dealing with an ankle issue, but the Saints also want to limit his rushing attempts going forward. Keeping Kamara healthy is key and using Murray in short-yardage situations is a good way to limit some unnecessary blows. Getting Drew Brees back in the coming weeks should only help, as he makes this one of the scariest offenses in football.
Adrian Peterson (WSH)
With Jay Gruden now out of the picture, Bill Callahan is running the show and that’s big news for AP. The former Nebraska coach is an old school mind who loves to run the ball. That was crystal clear in Week 6 when the Redskins gave Peterson 23 carries for 118 rushing yards. He also added two catches for 18 yards through the air too, playing a season-high 37 snaps. Many fantasy owners may think that the 34-year-old is too seasoned to maintain any fantasy value but he actually ran for 1,042 yards last season and didn’t miss a game.
The really only worrisome part about picking up AP is his upcoming schedule. He and the Redskins have to face the 49ers, Bills, and Vikings over their next three games but it gets much easier after that. Go pick him up and stick him on your bench for the stretch run, especially if he receives double-digit carries in all of those tough matchups. Look for him to be in this article again after that three-game stretch to remind you guys.
Week 7 Waiver Wire Wide Receivers
Robby Anderson/Jamison Crowder (NYJ)
Anderson was in my article last week but let’s get both of these dudes in here for Week 7. The simple fact is, this is a different team with Sam Darnold behind center. While they had the worst offense in football between Weeks 2-5, that’s because they had Luke Falk and Trevor Semian throwing passes. Darnold proved that he was the real deal in Week 6, throwing for 332 passing yards and two TDs against a stout Dallas defense. That led to Anderson collecting five receptions for 125 receiving yards and a TD while Crowder accrued six catches for 98 yards. Most importantly, both guys had at least eight targets and played nearly every snap.
Now that we got the Darnold thing out of the way, let’s talk about these players. Anderson had nearly 1,700 receiving yards between 2017-18 and he’s truly one of the best deep threats in football. That’s evident by the fact that he has 49 percent of his team’s air yards, which leads the NFL. Crowder is the underneath guy for Darnold and it’s made him a target hound. In the two games with Darnold, Crowder is the league-leader with 26 total targets, recording 20 catches in that two-game span. That’s a PPR dream and he’s a must-add in pretty much every format as a pseudo Wes Welker.
Auden Tate (CIN)
With A.J. Green and John Ross both dealing with serious injuries, Tate should continue to be one of the focal points of this passing game. While Tyler Boyd has been hounded with targets, Tate has actually been equally as productive. Since Week 3, Tate has at least six targets in all four games while accumulating 18 receptions for 255 yards in that span. That’s really all you can ask for from a waiver wire target, particularly a guy who saw a season-high 12 targets in Week 6. He’s actually played at least 89 percent of the team’s snaps in all four of those games too, averaging 8.5 targets per game while playing about 93 percent of the team’s snaps. As long as Green and Ross are out, go pick up Tate and use him!
Week 7 Waiver Wire Tight End
Jared Cook (NO)
With Drew Brees returning shortly, Cook should find his way back to fantasy relevance. The reason for that is because Brees typically uses tight ends more than most QBs and he actually made Jimmy Graham a number-one guy in his time there. It’s not like Cook is some bum either, as he was a Top-5 TE throughout the year last season. That’s why many people had him pegged as a target in drafts and now’s not the time to give up on him at the weakest position in fantasy.
After struggling the first few weeks, he’s actually been much better recently. In fact, Cook has at least three receptions in three-straight games while scoring a touchdown in back-to-back fixtures. Using him as a red-zone target is one of the reasons people were so high on him coming into the year and he’ll surely get more of those opportunities with Brees back in the fold. The role is still there for him to produce, playing about 65 percent of the team’s snaps while providing 19 percent of the team’s air yards and 15 percent of the team’s targets. Those are high rates at the TE position and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as a Top-10 guy for the rest of the season.
Late Addition
Jamal Williams (GB): Aaron Jones couldn’t hold on to the ball in Monday’s win over Detroit and it forced Williams into one of the best games of his season. This was a timeshare before, so look for that to continue.
Got some Week 6 waiver wire pickups of your own? Drop them in the comments below. Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone else in your league.
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