Bjorn Yang-Vaernet examines which players on the waiver wire are worth prioritizing for Week 7 and highlights others to preemptively stash.
Sometimes the waiver wire article is filled with guys who should be targeted because their usage has changed based on performance. In other weeks, the waiver wire article is a column spelling out who benefits from injuries. This week’s waiver wire article is (unfortunately) the latter.
Monday did not bring good news for many players including:
- Justin Fields
- Kyren Williams
- David Montgomery
- Anthony Richardson
How to play those situations and more in the article below. Let’s go!
The waiver wire is one of the most important pieces of season-long draft leagues. It is the easiest way to acquire new players and every year there are gems to be found. The goal of this article will not only be to highlight which weekly breakout players to prioritize but find others to preemptively pick up before the breakout happens.
This article will only reference players that are less than 50% owned in ESPN leagues. The players are categorized by position group and within each group is the order of how I would prioritize them.
Quarterback
Sam Howell (Available in 81% of ESPN leagues)
My Week 7 waiver wire QB streamer of the week is Sam Howell. With 20 QBs rostered in over 50% of ESPN leagues through Week 6, pickings are slim for this section. However, it does not mean there are no hidden gems to be found. Some of the QBs available, like Howell, have the ability to put up strong games but are much more dependent on matchup and game flow than others.
Howell has been surprisingly consistent, putting up 15 or more fantasy points in five out of six weeks. He has produced in a variety of game scripts with timely TDs in games where he was not called upon to pass a lot and big yardage in games where the team was down.
Howell is taking on the New York Giants in Week 7, a team that has largely underperformed in every game. The Giants’ defense is more susceptible to the run than the pass, but they have allowed two of six QBs faced to throw for 300 or more yards and two TDs. More broadly, the Giants should be able to keep the game competitive, which would keep the Commanders operating their normal offensive game plan — and the ball in Howell’s hands. For these streaming picks, I typically search for games where the QB can get an increase in play volume, versus efficiency as that is much harder to predict.
Overall, I think Howell is the best of the rest if one needs a QB off the waiver wire.
Running Back
Elijah Mitchell (Available in 73% of ESPN leagues)
Elijah Mitchell has been my top stash for a few weeks now and Mitchell will likely be the lead RB in San Francisco after Christian McCaffrey left the Week 6 game in what the team is calling a rib/oblique injury. The 49ers have already hinted that Mitchell will get the first crack at the lead job and receive a bulk of the carries if McCaffrey is unable to go. Jordan Mason is next in line.
The primary reason why the 49ers trust Mitchell is because he has capably filled the lead RB role in San Francisco in the past (when he has not been injured). Illustrating this, when Mitchell received more than 10 rush attempts in a game during the last two seasons (2021 and 2022), he averaged 97 rush yards and 15.4 fantasy points.
The 2023 49ers offense is a dream for an RB. First, the offense is explosive and efficient, giving Mitchell many scoring opportunities. McCaffrey had eight red zone TDs in 2023 in five and a half games. Second, Mitchell should be in favorable game scripts — boosting his expected volume. Excluding the close game in Week 6, the 49ers have dominated opponents, playing with a 7-plus point lead on 64% of plays.
Overall, Mitchell is my top priority waiver wire target, regardless of position, for Week 7. The upside is too great to ignore if McCaffrey ends up not playing.
