Week 7 is one of two Bye-pocalypses in the 2023 NFL Season. Six teams are on bye this coming week which means the waiver wire is more important than ever as the players you pick up have a good chance of needing to be started in the place of a usual starter on bye. Add to this the unusually high number of injuries in week 6 and a lot of our teams will be a patchwork posse of bench riders and waiver wire finds. Let’s get started.
Week 7 Byes: Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans
Wide Receivers
Joshua Palmer (65% Rostered)
Give a peek to see if Joshua Palmer is still on your waiver wire because he’s sitting there in a little over a third of leagues. Mike Williams is done for the year and Quentin Johnston hasn’t been much of a factor (yet). For the foreseeable future, Palmer is the WR2 in a pass heavy offense.
Rashee Rice (55% Rostered)
Is this real? A Chiefs wide receiver we can trust for fantasy? Maybe not yet, but if Rashee Rice isn’t rostered in your league don’t wait until we find out the answer to that question before picking him up.
Rice has put up two decent weeks in a row, but more importantly he’s starting to look more involved in the offense on a weekly basis. Like we discussed in last week’s waiver article, second half of the year breakouts for rookie wide receivers are common and Rice is in the right offense for a breakout.
.
Curtis Samuel (51% Rostered)
Curtis Samuel has had a touchdown in each of his last three games, leading him to WR 12, WR 14, and WR 23 PPR finishes over that time. While some may look at this as a sign of upcoming touchdown regression, I see a forming connection over the middle of the field between Sam Howell & Curtis Samuel.
Samuel has been the most consistent of the Washington receiving options and should remain relatively consistent in his usage going forward. If he scores a touchdown, you’re happy you started him. And Samuel is one of the more likely players on the Commanders to find the end zone.
Josh Downs (50% Rostered)
You love watching a player catch their first career touchdown, especially when it comes the week after a “breakout” performance in week 5. Although Anthony Richardson appears to be done for the year (“probably” as Jim Irsay put it), this could be good for Josh Downs fantasy production.
Downs volume didn’t see a dip with Gardner Minshew under center as he remained the 2nd target on the team behind Michael Pittman. The Colts offense with Minshew under center won’t have as many explosive down field plays (a Josh Downs specialty), but there should be more week to week consistency.
Wan’Dale Robinson (28% Rostered)
While I would prefer to start nobody on the Giants not named Saquon Barkley, sometimes your whole bench is on bye and you gotta do what you gotta do. If you’re going to start a Giants wideout, there is some upside for a now healthy Wan’Dale Robinson.
Were the 8 targets he saw this weekend a result of Tyrod Taylor taking over at QB or a sign of him returning to form after his ACL recovery? We’ve seen flashes from Robinson before so I tend to lean towards the latter as the answer. That being said, this Giants offense is inconsistent at best and with Daniel Jones chucking the ball from behind the most porous offensive line in the league, consistency will not be find with any Giants receiver.
Running Backs
Roschon Johnson (60% Rostered)
With seemingly the entirety of the Bears running back rook injured in week 6, you might be able to sneak Roschon Johnson off the waiver wire heading into week 7.
The fantasy numbers thus far do not look fantastic, but the back field is wide open and Chicago seems to like what they have in their 4th round rookie running back. Roschon missed last week due to a concussion but should be back this coming week.
While Khalil Herbert deals with a high ankle injury and Travis Homer deals with a hamstring, Johnson could grab a hold of the lead back role here and not let go.
Elijah Mitchell (34% Rostered) & Jordan Mason (4% Rostered)
Christian McCaffrey went down in Sunday’s loss to the Browns, a double whammy for the 49ers on Sunday. While it is still unclear if CMC will miss any time due to this injury, Coach Kyle Shanahan has already confirmed that Elijah Mitchell will be the next man up if McCaffrey does indeed miss.
We’ve seen Mitchell perform as a high end RB2/low end RB1 as the starting running back in San Francisco before. Don’t judge the negative yardage performance on limited carries against arguably the best defense in football that we saw from Mitchell this weekend. He’ll get first crack at leading this backfield for the duration of any missed time by CMC.
There is the slight chance the Jordan Mason takes over this backfield (or has enough touches to be relevant) if CMC misses time. He’s worth a speculative add, but Mitchell is the priority here.
Zach Evans (5% Rostered)
A rookie running back with a grand total of one PPR fantasy point through 6 weeks is a legitimate waiver wire add in week 7.
Both Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers are currently dealing with injuries, leaving Zach Evans as the last man standing in a less than stellar Rams running back room. With that being said, Kyren Williams has found success in this role and Williams isn’t a top tier talent back. Expect the rookie Evans to struggle with the workload, but volume alone should be enough to make him fantasy relevant while the two other backs miss time.
Craig Reynolds (2% Rostered)
With both Gibbs and Montgomery dealing with injuries in week 6, Reynolds saw his biggest workload of the season with 10 carries and 2 targets coming his way. Should one (or both) of the other backs be sidelined again in week 7, Reynolds holds startable value.
With both backs out, you can start Reynolds as an RB2 with upside in this high powered Lions offense. If Gibbs is able to return this week, Reynolds is still startable but more as an RB3/Flex play.
Tight Ends
Jonnu Smith (24% Rostered)
I am here to yet again let you know that Jonnu Smith can (and should) be started in the year of 2023. Fantasy managers are near unanimous in thinking Smith’s usage is absurd with Kyle Pitts also on the team.
With Tight Ends, we look for usage and Jonnu Smith has seen at least 5 targets in every game since week 2. Smith also has turned in four top 15 tight end weeks, two of those being top 5. All of this with his first touchdown of the year coming this past week. A touchdown makes you a happy camper if you start Jonnu, but his target volume alone makes him fantasy relevant most weeks.
Michael Mayer (12% Rostered)
Rookie Tight Ends take time to break out, so when we start seeing a trend of increased usage and production it’s time to start paying attention. Mayer has posted career highs in snaps, targets, and yards in back to back weeks now. With Davante Adams seeing most of the defensive focus on Sunday, Mayer was able to eat to the tune of a top 5 Tight End performance.
Don’t expect weekly consistency, but Mayer is a suitable bye week replacement and could see his role grow as the season progresses.
Quarterbacks
Sam Howell (40% Rostered)
Sam Howell so far on the year seems to be a very matchup dependent QB. The good news is that this Commanders team has seen a ton of good matchups and has quite a few more left this season. Howell’s one “bad” game came against the Buffalo Bills defense while he’s turned in top 10 QB weeks against the likes of Chicago and Atlanta in back to back weeks.
With the Giants and the Eagles on the schedule the next two weeks, you can roll with Howell confidently for the next two weeks as your starter.
Desmond Ridder (15% Rostered)
Ridder has given you a balanced season thus far: Three top 10 QB weeks and three QB weeks outside the top 24 options. With that being said, two of Ridder’s three good weeks have come over the last two weeks to go along with Atlanta’s commitment to throwing the ball more.
While the matchup against the Buccaneers is a step up in competition compared to the Washington and Houston secondaries, Ridder is still a startable bye week replacement QB. Hopefully the Falcons continue chucking the ball 40 times a game. If so, Ridder could become more than that weekly spot start.
Other Streamers
Daniel Jones (34% Rostered) / Tyrod Taylor (4% Rostered)
Derek Carr (28% Rostered)
Baker Mayfield (31% Rostered)
Joshua Dobbs (21% Rostered)
.svg){kind=icon}
.svg){kind=icon}