Week 7 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Report
Analysis 10/16/22
If you’re looking for Week 7 waiver wire help, good luck. The waiver wire looks pretty barren, which may be related to the first slate of bye weeks.
Luckily, here at The 33rd Team, we like to do things a bit differently. Not only do I include players to target off waivers, but I also included blurbs on players you probably should not target.
This page will be constantly updated throughout the day to reflect any new information, such as the Robbie Anderson trade and Marquise Brown injury. It’s also geared toward PPR leagues unless otherwise noted. All players included are rostered in fewer than 40% of leagues, per FantasyPros’ rostership data. All stats are credited to TruMedia unless stated otherwise.
Quarterback
Stream Matt Ryan at your own risk.
- Rostered in 20.5% of leagues.
- He just scored 27.16 fantasy points.
- That’s his first 20-point game all season.
- And it’s his first game with three passing touchdowns.
- It’s also the only game he didn’t turn the ball over.
- He has three games between 15-18 points…
- … and two games below seven points.
- Ironically his best and worst games came against Jacksonville.
- Ryan’s lack of rushing upside means if you start him, you’re hoping he plays really well.
- He hasn’t been playing particularly well.
- The Colts face the Titans and Commanders on consecutive weeks.
- Both teams are bottom-seven teams in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks.
- He’s a shaky streamer with not much season-long upside.
Marcus Mariota is a safer streaming option than Matt Ryan.
- Rostered in 14.5% of leagues.
- He just scored 24.16 fantasy points against one of the best defenses in football.
- San Francisco was banged up defensively, though.
- Mariota has three games of 17+ points and five games of 13+ points.
- He has the fifth-most rush attempts among quarterbacks.
- Atlanta has a top-three rush-play rate.
- The Falcons play the Bengals in Week 7.
- But prior to Week 6, Cincinnati allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks.
- Matt Ryan may be a better option in Week 7, but Mariota has a higher weekly floor for the rest of the season.
Running Back
Don’t get your hopes up with Kenyan Drake.
- Rostered in 3.2% of leagues.
- Drake had 65 rushing yards in three games all season.
- He had 110 rushing yards on 10 carries in Week 6.
- That includes a 30-yard rushing touchdown early in the game.
- It seemed like John Harbaugh just rode the hot hand with Drake after a good start.
- The Ravens are known for rotating their backs… and limiting J.K. Dobbins’ touches.
- Running back is pretty barren, so I don’t blame you for taking a flier on Drake.
- He could be worth a waiver add depending on your situation.
- Just don’t expect this type of production or usage each week.
Deon Jackson is a fine handcuff to watch, if still available.
- Rostered in 15.5% of leagues.
- This doesn’t mean he’s a priority pickup.
- He’ll probably be expendable once Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines return from their injuries.
- But Jackson played well enough to establish value if Taylor or Hines go down again.
- He’s had 12+ carries in each of the last two games.
- He just had 10 catches on 10 targets.
- Honestly, there really aren’t many other runnings backs to even consider on the waiver wire.
- Jackson injured his quad in Week 7, monitor his status.
Tyler Allgeier and Caleb Huntley still aren’t worth adding.
- Allgeier is rostered in 44.5% of leagues.
- Huntley is rostered in 6.3% of leagues.
- Both ran the ball 15+ times on 20+ snaps.
- Both players failed to reach six fantasy points.
- Neither saw a target, either.
- Only the Bears are running the ball at a higher rate than the Falcons.
- Damien Williams could return in Week 7.
- As mentioned above, Marcus Mariota will still steal carries in the running game.
- Until Cordarrelle Patterson comes back, there will be plenty of opportunities for Huntley and/or Allgeier.
- But not all opportunities are created equal.
Wide Receivers
Wan’Dale Robinson isn’t a priority, but he shouldn’t be left on the waiver wire.
- Rostered in 6.7% of leagues.
- Robinson scored 18.1 fantasy points, including a touchdown, in his first game back from a Week 1 injury.
- He was tied for second in targets behind Daniel Bellinger.
- Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney were inactive.
- But they haven’t been doing much anyway.
- Robinson could become the Giants' WR1.
- The Giants have the third-highest rush-play rate.
- So even if Robinson dominates the target shares, New York hasn’t been throwing enough to increase his value.
- He’s still talented and versatile enough to be stashed on the bench, especially in deeper leagues.
That was probably not the Chase Claypool resurgence game.
- Rostered in 52% of leagues.
- It’s much more likely it’s a one-off performance.
- Claypool has failed to eclipse 10 fantasy points in any game this year.
- He scored 23.4 fantasy points in Week 6.
- He saw seven targets.
- Diontae Johnson also saw seven targets, and George Pickens saw six.
- That’s the first game Claypool led the Steelers in targets, and only the second time he was in the top two.
Zay Jones is a sneaky good waiver pickup.
- Rostered in 23.6% of leagues
- In Week 6, Jones was second on the Jaguars in targets (behind Evan Engram) with five.
- He also ran the most routes and saw the most snaps on the team.
- He’s first on Jacksonville in targets per game… by .1 target.
- Based on his usage, Jones is producing near his floor.
- Although, he did score 24.5 fantasy points in Week 3.
- Expect him to cash in sooner rather than later.
Tyquan Thornton is worth a waiver claim, but only if you really need a wide receiver.
- Rostered in 0.8% of leagues
- Thornton saw five targets in Week 6, tied for the third-most on the Patriots.
- Bailey Zappe only threw 31 times.
- Thornton still ran the third-most routes and the third-most snaps among wide receivers.
- Thornton also had three of New England’s 29 carries.
- The Patriots had a positive game-script, so more passes could be in their future.
- However, they’re sixth in run-play rate.
- Don’t expect Thornton to add much production in a limited passing offense.
You can leave Parris Campbell on the waiver wire.
- Rostered in 1.5% of leagues
- Josh Larky explained why we should remain weary of Campbell
- Campbell saw season-highs in every major stat.
- That includes a whopping 10 targets in Week 6.
- Campbell was previously averaging three targets per game.
- Injuries to Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines will almost certainly diminish the amount of pass attempts in future games.
Here's what to expect from Robbie Anderson.
Tight Ends
You don’t have to add Mike Gesicki.
- Rostered in 32.7% of leagues.
- He scored 24.9 fantasy points in Week 6.
- That’s 0.2 points fewer than his season total.
- That includes a 14.1-point performance in Week 2
- Gesicki saw a season-high seven targets.
- The Dolphins were playing from behind the entire game.
- He’s way too touchdown dependent.
- Prior to Week 6, Gesicki was tied for the fifth-most targets on the team.
- Even though tight end is a wasteland, Gesicki is way too unreliable to be trusted.
You should consider adding Robert Tonyan, though.
- Rostered in 34.2% of leagues.
- Tonyan isn’t a great fantasy option.
- However, he’s still scored 9+ points in three of the last four games.
- Tonyan saw career highs in basically every stat in Week 6.
- That includes 12 targets.
- The Packers never led.
- He’s probably better than anyone else on the waiver wire in your league.
- Tonyan’s not a must-start by any means, but he’s played better than some tight ends.
- He’s a better fantasy tight end than Irv Smith Jr., Noah Fant and Tyler Conklin.
Add Hayden Hurst if you need a tight end and hope he scores.
- Rostered in 57.3% of leagues
- Hurst has run the fourth-most routes among tight ends this season.
- Yes, he’s only scored 5.1 fantasy points against the Saints.
- The Saints were the fourth-best team against opposing tight ends prior to the game.
- He has three games of 9+ fantasy points this season, including two games of 11+ points.
- Those two big games both included touchdowns.
- Hurst is too touchdown-dependent to confidently start each week, yet he’s still a TE1 in fantasy due to the general positional volatility.