Top 6 Fantasy Football Waiver Pickups for Week 7
Week 5 is in the books and, well, we're sorry if you're a Houston fan. Enjoy Dwight Howard and maybe buy some of Mike Jones' back catalog; that dude probably needs a paycheck right about now.
281-330-8004, hit these waiver options up on the low because these guys are about to blow! (I'm so, so sorry.) It's time to focus on Week 6, and the six must have waiver pickups for your team.
Andre Ellington/Zac Stacy
Consider these two 1A and 1B. Both are available in more than half of Yahoo! leagues - which is somewhat incredible - and should be picked up based on your tolerance for risk.
Between the two of them, Zac Stacy is likely the safer pick. He's by now the unquestioned started in St. Louis, having won the job through the sheer incompetence of Isaiah Pead and Daryl Richardson. His abilities as a pass-catching back make him sort of like a poor man's Jamaal Charles, giving him lots of value in PPR leagues even if St. Louis has very little chance of playing another game like they did in Houston. His top comparables include Michael Pittman and Duce Staley, which paint a fairly clear picture of what to expect: 10-15 touches on the ground and 5-7 targets through the air - a solid flex play even in standard leagues.
While Andre Ellington is the more risky of the two, he's also by far the more talented. For reasons that are not quite explainable, Ellington still finds himself in an RBBC with Rashard Mendenhall and his 31% rushing success rate. Andre will almost surely have less touches week in and week out than Zac, but he's more likely of the two to knock a big play out of the park. If you have stability on your roster elsewhere and need a big home-run threat instead of consistent points, pick him first.
Aaron Dobson
I'm a firm believer in the "target practice" theory of WRs. It's pretty simple: targets mean catches, catches means yards, yards means TDs. There's a direct correlation - usually - between targets and productivity. That's why guys like Wes Welker, Jason Witten, Cecil Shorts, and so on are perennially underrated come draft time; after all, ten targets every week isn't as sexy as someone like T.Y. Hilton, who can break off a 90-yard reception in between weeks of bagels.
With Amendola back out again and with the Gronkowski saga extending on to its 459th consecutive week, Aaron Dobson is popping onto the radar as a WR4/Flex play solely on the basis of opportunity. He's gotten double-digit targets three weeks out of five and while his hands certainly leave something to be desired, that kind of attention provides serious value in PPR-friendly formats. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why his #1 comparable is 2011 Anquan Boldin.
Nick Foles
This one really shouldn't require too much explanation. If Vick is out for another week or longer, Nick "White Mamba" Foles a fantastic plug-and-play. Clearly he understands the offense and with weapons like DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy at his disposal, he's coming to the knife fight with a couple of Howitzers under his arm.
I'm only putting him at #3 due to the uncertainty around Vick's status; don't take it as a tacit implication that I think that Aaron Dobson has higher value. He doesn't.
Brandon Jacobs/Joseph Randle
Yet another dual recommendation. I'm really hedging my bets here, right?
These ones do require quite a bit of hedging though. As far as Brandon Jacobs, yeah, he had a great week but he's not going to do that again. This is the same guy who couldn't get past Kendall Hunter in San Francisco. He's only in New York because David Wilson forgot how to carry a football. Still, clearly the line is improving week-by-week and the Giants do have the passing attack to open those lanes inside. If you're really in trouble, he may be worth a flier at a low budget.
On the flip side, Joseph Randle does have the chance to have a breakout week...if DeMarco Murray doesn't go. Dallas isn't going to be able to abandon the run altogether like they did in the second half last night, so unless Emmitt Smith is walking through that door, Randle will have a shot at 15-20 touches if Murray can't go. He does have marginal value as a handcuff if Murray doesn't play, but if DeMarco is healthy and playing, you may as well go pick up a streaming defense.
Heath Miller
The Steelers have won, the Pirates have lost, Pitt is terrible and the Penguins are scoring goals like mad - everything is back to normal in Pittsburgh.
It's the year of the TE and whie he'll never be as explosive as Jimmy Graham or even as consistent as Tony Gonzalez, Heath Miller is getting his legs under him and become a strong target for Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers. With fifteen targets in two weeks - and 12 receptions on those targets - he's a decent option on bye weeks and as a waiver play if you want to trade your breakout TEs at the top of their value.
Kendall Wright
Just above of Brandon Lafell, we'll play the targets game with Kendall Wright here as well. He's had three straight weeks of eight targets, and he's coming down with 2/3rds of them, with more than a few plays going for 20+ yards.
In a PPR friendly league, you'll take 10 points every week out of your WR4 and that's exactly what he'll give you. Unlike Dobson, he's got a much weaker QB and a much worse offense around him; he does however have the advantage of competing for targets alongside the likes of Nate Washington and Kenny Britt instead of Kenbrell Thompkins and Julian Edelman.
