I can’t believe we’re already in week 7! That’s depressing. Please note that I’ve been on a seemingly never-ending travel-heavy schedule. If you have any questions at all, please continue to contact our support directly at support@thefantasyfootballalmanac.com if you need advice.
I was asked recently to suggest players that we can give up on. I want to create another column for that, so I’ll see if I can get to that this week. For now, please see my week 7 fantasy football waiver wire targets below.
Top Overall Players Available to most of you:
- Quarterback: Matthew Stafford
- Running Back: Chuba Hubbard
- Wide Receiver: Joshua Palmer
- Tight End: Dalton Schultz
- Defense: Cleveland Browns
Should Be Gone (available between 15-30% of leagues):
Quarterbacks:
- Brock Purdy – I do worry about CMC’s oblique injury. Without McCaffrey, things will get much harder in the red zone.
Running Backs:
- Javonte Williams – Denver’s offense is struggling, but Willias still looks like a good back. He just needs the team to move the ball more consistently.
- Zack Moss – I am waiting for Jonathan Taylor to dominate touches, but Shane Steichen is a coach that likes a RB rotation. Zack Moss hasn’t played poorly, so he might be here to stay. Taylor is still definitely the guy to have from Indy, but Moss could continue to contribute.
Wide Receivers:
- Courtland Sutton – he’s the guy getting the TD grabs in Denver, so you can add him.
- Michael Thomas – he’s getting consistent catches and yards. If he can start finding the end zone, he’ll be a weekly-flex player.
- Diontae Johnson – remember him? He will be back from IR soon. Unfortunately, he’s on a bad Steelers offense, so buyer beware.
Tight Ends:
- NA.
Defense/Special Teams:
- Chiefs – this defense is scoring consistently well. They have plenty of opportunities for sacks thanks to the offense building early leads.
Could Be Available (available between 31-50% of leagues):
Quarterbacks:
- Matthew Stafford – he has WEAPONS. This offense looks as good as their Super Bowl winning season (their defense isn’t nearly as good). Stafford will score well.
- C.J. Stroud – I was really impressed with his performance against a tough Saints defense and without Tank Dell in the lineup. He continues to produce.
- Jared Goff – Jameson Williams’ return ads a very high quality over-the-top receiver to throw to.
Running Backs:
- Jeff Wilson, Jr. – with the success of Miami RBs, you may as well add the guy who was going to start the season atop the depth chart, and who is close to returning from injury. Wilson should touch the ball more than Salvon Ahmed, for example.
- Jaylen Warren – yes, he’s still better than Harris. I’d stash him on my bench.
Wide Receivers:
- K.J. Osbourne – Chicago’s defense did a nice job on Minnesota so we didn’t see the passing attack going crazy. Osbourne was already scoring well and should see a little boost in his numbers with Jefferson out.
- Tank Dell – believe in the Texans passing game! He’ll be back from his concussion soon.
- Romeo Doubs – the Packers were on bye week. Doubs looked like the clear #2 guy when the Packers played the Raiders. Hopefully, Jordan Love’s passing improves.
Tight Ends:
- Dalton Schultz – Schultz was one of my draft day steals. He started slow, but has a lot of targets and touchdowns in 3 straight games. He could actually flex for a lot of teams out there, so don’t be shy if you already have a quality TE. Two is better than one. Corner the market!
Defense/Special Teams:
- Browns – this group is really, REALLY good and they’ve gone through their bye week. I wouldn’t mind just sliding them into the starting position regardless of matchup so long as Garrett is in the lineup.
- NY Jets – that was a very impressive performance against a strong Eagles team.
Probably Available (available between 51% and 70% of leagues):
Quarterbacks:
- NA.
Running Backs:
- Chuba Hubbard – he’s going to be the starter in Carolina. I think he looks better now than Sanders did when he was healthy.
- Jaleel McLaughlin – it looked to me like he supplanted Perine as #2 on the RB pecking order for Denver.
- Tyjae Spears – the Titans are about to go to an even heavier dose of the run game with Tannehill injured. Spears will get more reps.
- Roschon Johnson – I still think he’ll get more touches than Foreman once healthy. He’s worth a stash.
- D’Onta Foreman – he was definitely the primary ball carrier with Johnson and Herbert out
Wide Receivers:
- Joshua Palmer – this is written prior to the MNF game with Dallas, so if he gets hurt, obviously don’t pick him up. Palmer will score well the rest of the season. He’ll put up Mike Williams-like numbers.
- Rashee Rice – I like the types of routes he’s running for Kansas City. They’re slowly increasing his target totals and actually try to get him the ball. He has potential to break out later in the year.
- Jameson Wiliams – the touchdown didn’t make me take notice, but his 3 targets did. That’s actually an uptick for Williams. He hasn’t been active for many NFL games. Perhaps he just needs reps and continuity to break out.
Tight Ends:
- Logan Thomas – he had a rough game vs Atlanta, but they were specifically trying to slow him down. He’ll bounce back in the coming weeks.
Defense/Special Teams:
- NA
Sleeper Grabs (available in more than 70% of leagues):
Quarterbacks:
- Kyler Murray – I would still stash him. He’s the best bet on a QB-needy team.
- Gardner Minshew – Richardson could be out for the year. Minshew’s “average” looks low, but he hasn’t played many full games. When he’s in there, he slings it.
- Sam Howell – Howell scores just fine when he’s not severely overmatched by the defense. Just pay attention to the matchups.
Running Backs:
- Devin Singletary – I hate saying this because I was so high on Dameon Pierce, but Pierce is missing cutbacks. His vision looks worse than his rookie year for some reason. Meanwhile, Singletary has very quietly outplayed him. If I’m the Texans coaching staff, I think I’d promote Singletary. Stash him. He’s one big run away from taking this job away from Pierce.
- Keontay Ingram – he’s the starter in Arizona while Conners is out.
- Jordan Mason/Eli Mitchell – flip a coin here. My opinion is that Mason has looked more impressive to me since I witness him running last preseason. Mason didn’t make much noise last year, but he was on my preseason watch lists. I think it’s probably both backs will play a role while CMC recovers from his oblique injury (I have a feeling CMC will be limited for a few weeks). Always start a 49er running back. I think both should be rostered.
Wide Receivers:
- Curtis Samuel – another game, and another touchdown for the slot receiver. He scores consistently on an inconsistent team.
- Rasheed Shaheed – we’re 6 games through the season and Shaheed continues to produce. He’s here to stay.
Tight Ends
- Michael Mayer – I will admit that I had Mayer ranked too highly. Long story short, I thought Mayer would jump out to the start that LaPorta did. And I thought LaPorta would come along more slowly like Mayer seems to be doing. I’ve had a few questions on Mayer and let me say this: I’ve watched a lot of Raiders games trying to figure out what’s going on and I don’t have a great answer. He’s mauling people in the run game and when he runs routes, he’s open. He looks like a baby Gronk to me, but they haven’t been throwing a lot of passes his way. They’ve just started to open things up a bit and Mayer is definitely ahead of Hooper on the depth chart. Can I say McDaniels will continue to emphasize Mayer? No… I have no idea what McDaniels is doing. But Mayer is one of the better tight ends in the league. If you have bench space, stash him. I personally never actually waived him. Call me stubborn…
- Trey McBride – he’s securing as many targets as Ertz is these days. The 2nd year TE is coming along well, it seems.
- Taysom Hill – I saw something I’d never seen from Hill prior to Sunday. A heavy-target/heavy-reception game. If Hill is reliable as a pass-catcher moving forward, he warrants consideration in a hard-to-find position.
Defense/Special Teams:
- Tampa Bay – I didn’t love the Detroit matchup, but things will get better for them moving forward.
- Jacksonville – game by game, they continue to improve.