Somehow, we're almost halfway through the fantasy football regular season. If your team is staring at 3-3 or worse, then this is a crucial waiver run that can potentially propel your team back into the playoff hunt. Conversely, if your team is doing well, stockpiling talent can improve your lineup or enable trades to make you a true contender.
What a time to be alive.
With some injuries in Week 6 and the Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, and Indianapolis Colts on bye, we're missing some key fantasy contributors as well. Let's dive in.
I'll stick to players rostered on 60% or fewer of Yahoo teams and also list some other viable pickups who may be available in shallower leagues or relevant in only deeper leagues.
Quarterbacks
Teddy Bridgewater, Panthers
Roster Percentage: 40%
It's not likely everyone in your league is rushing out to scoop up Teddy Bridgewater coming off an 11-point stinker in Week 6. But that was against a very strong Chicago Bears defense that has snuffed out passing games all year.
Now Teddy faces a New Orleans Saints defense that has been average against the pass this year. Not only is the matchup much better, but this game has shootout written all over it. I'm writing this before the lines have been posted for Week 7, but it's notable that Saints games average 60.6 points scored per game this season. Every game New Orleans has played in has been a shootout.
Bridgewater had also been playing well ahead of this past weekend. He was a top-12 QB in Week 5 and a top-5 option in Week 4, and now he's coming off a season-high 48 rushing yards. He's a high-floor, high-ceiling option this week for those missing Lamar Jackson.
Justin Herbert, Chargers
Roster Percentage: 54%
"Herbert's not available in my league!" - you, probably.
Look, I get it. Not all leagues are equal, and Herbert might already be picked up in your league. But I'm just following the numbers here, and the numbers tell us Justin Herbert is somehow still available in 46% of Yahoo! leagues. That's almost half!
Herbert has dropped a QB1 performance in three of his four NFL starts. He has one of the best matchups in football this week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. There is no reason he should be on the waiver wire. If he is, scoop him up and start him immediately.
Others to Consider:
Gardner Minshew (53%), Andy Dalton (32%), Daniel Jones (31%)
Running Backs
Gus Edwards, Baltimore Ravens
Roster Percentage: 3%
This one is pretty straightforward. Mark Ingram left the game with an ankle injury, got his ankle wrapped, came back in, and then saw two carries before leaving the game permanently.
In steps Gus Edwards, who rushed 14 times for 26 yards and a touchdown in Ingram's absence. They're not overly impressive numbers, but Edwards has 4.5 yards per carry this year and a career average of 5.2 yards per tote.
This is simply a backfield we want pieces of, and it's much more palatable with two guys instead of three. Whether you think J.K. Dobbins deserves the lion's share of the work is irrelevant. The coaches clearly trust Edwards, who owned a slight edge in both snaps and touches on Sunday.
The only hiccup here is that the Baltimore Ravens are on bye. That gives Ingram a week to recover and means Edwards isn't playable this week. Still, we know this has potential to be a valuable role. Edwards is worth picking up before we learn more about the severity of Ingram's injury.
Boston Scott, Philadelphia Eagles
Roster Percentage: 13%
Similar to the Edwards recommendation above, Boston Scott is a natural waiver target as the next man up in the Philadelphia Eagles' backfield. Sadly, Miles Sanders left Sunday's game with a knee injury. The NFL leader in yards per carry among backs with 50-plus carries is slated to have an MRI on Monday.
Scott is a must add as the next man up. It feels like forever ago, but Scott was an RB1 when Sanders went down late last season, so he's earned the trust of the coaching staff. In an Eagles offense missing pass catchers aplenty (Zach Ertz also left the game), Scott should have opportunity for an expanded target share in addition to 12-14 carries per game. On top of all that, he has matchups against the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys coming up.
Tevin Coleman, San Francisco 49ers
Roster Percentage: 22%
Much like the situations above, Raheem Mostert left Sunday's game with an injury. An ankle injury is a bit concerning for Mostert, who was shelved with an ankle injury for a good chunk of the season already.
While Jerick McKinnon is rostered in 71% of leagues, Tevin Coleman was once projected as one of the main touch leaders in this backfield. We haven't heard much about Coleman recently, but I dug back into this article from San Francisco 49ers beat reporter Nick Wagoner back in September, which states that Coleman was expected to return in time for this week's game against the New England Patriots.
So despite the lack of news, we're right up against Coleman's initial timeline. He's worth a speculative add in case he's activated off IR this week.
Others to Consider:
Giovani Bernard (6%), Jeremy McNichols (1%)
Wide Receivers
Keelan Cole, Jacksonville Jaguars
Roster Percentage: 29%
It's just bizarre that Keelan Cole is rostered in 29% of leagues considering (pending two Monday night games) he's the WR27 on the season. 27!
Cole has at least five targets in every game this season, and Jacksonville's porous defense is inviting shootouts. Running 67.4% of his routes out of the slot, Cole is feasting on what's typically the easiest corner matchup for most teams. With slot maven Chris Harris still out, Cole should again eat against the Los Angeles Chargers this week. He's a legitimate WR3/flex option.
James Washington, Pittsburgh Steelers
Roster Percentage: 10%
With Diontae Johnson sitting due to a back injury, James Washington stepped in as an almost every-down player on Sunday. While putting up 4 receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown is obviously nice, it was the 7 targets that stick out most.
Sure, it's a small sample, but in a game that Ben Roethlisberger only threw 22 times, Washington's 7 equals a monstrous 31.8% target share.
While we wouldn't expect that to continue, the point is that he has Big Ben's trust, and this is an offense scoring a lot of points. If Johnson is out again this week against the Tennessee Titans, Washington is a boom/bust WR3 option for those in need.
Others to Consider:
Breshad Perriman (8%), Preston Williams (25%), Jalen Reagor (14%)
Tight Ends
Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
Roster Percentage: 41%
I was surprised to see Dallas Goedert is rostered in just 41% of leagues. Goedert had 17 targets the first two weeks of the season for a blistering 20% target share.
He and Jalen Reagor (listed above) are both eligible to come off injured reserve this week. While Goedert is undoubtedly the TE1 in Philly anyway, it doesn't hurt his target share that Zach Ertz is also undergoing an MRI today.
In a position that is once again very top-heavy, Goedert will be a plug-and-play starter once he's back, with potential to crack the top-five at the position.
Anthony Firkser, Tennessee Titans
Roster Percentage: 0%
It's rare to get a guy who's rostered in 0% of leagues, yet here we are. With Jonnu Smith suffering an ankle injury, Anthony Firkser stepped into a full-time role.
Likely the cover boy of my tight end streamers article this week, Firkser went berserk to the tune of 8 catches, 113 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. With Mark Andrews on bye, if Smith is out, Firkser steps in as an ideal streamer at a tough position. Don't overthink it.
Defense/Special Teams
Philadelphia Eagles
Roster Percentage: 30%
So far his season, Daniel Jones' per-game averages are 1.00 interception, 0.67 fumbles and 2.83 sacks. That alone gives defenses a floor of about six points before accounting for points allowed and any potential touchdowns off those turnovers.
In short, we should be streaming the defense going against the Giants every week. Philadelphia D/ST has massive upside and a safe floor this week.
Others to Consider:
Los Angeles Chargers D/ST (28%), New Orleans D/ST (48%), Cleveland D/ST (24%)