The Desai Guys continue their Waiver Wire Fantasy Football coverage this week with injury updates and replacements.
Fantasy Football Updates: Week 6 Injuries And Waiver Wire Week 7
Carson Wentz, QB – Washington Commanders
- Fractured his finger during the game against the Bears on Thursday night
- Will require surgery to fix finger and will miss 4-6 weeks
- After starting the season red hot, Wentz took a turn for the worse in the last handful of weeks
- Taylor Heinicke will take over as the starting quarterback now and is widely available in all leagues
- Could be a good streaming option for a week or two, but nothing really reliable
- Better off grabbing a guy like Trevor Lawrence, Marcus Mariota, Matt Ryan, or Daniel Jones
Kenny Pickett, QB – Pittsburgh Steelers
- Pickett took a shot in the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third quarter
- He was taken out of the game with concussion symptoms and is now in the concussion protocol
- The Steelers were able to pull out the upset of the Buccaneers but have halted the Pickett Era in Pittsburgh for a bit
- Mitchell Trubisky came in to replace Pickett and will be the starter if Pickett can’t go in Week 7
- Both options at quarterback for the Steelers should be avoided for fantasy purposes
J.K. Dobbins, RB – Baltimore Ravens
- Was dealing with a knee issue during the game against the New York Giants
- Ended up being held out of the second half and could possibly miss some time
- Dobbins dealt with ACL injury recovery all offseason and was expected to be all systems go come the regular season
- He missed the first couple of weeks of the season and has had only one double-digit carry game this season
- Kenyan Drake had a sensational game against the Giants and is the running back to roster from this backfield
- Only rostered in 3.2% of ESPN leagues so go get him!
- In case other people in your league have the same idea to get Drake, you can also get players that are non-Ravens running backs
- Guys like Brian Robinson Jr., Tyler Allgeier, Rachaad White, and Latavius Murray
Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, WR – Arizona Cardinals
- Brown suffered a foot injury in the game against the Seattle Seahawks
- Reports are coming out that it’s a season-ending injury but Brown is looking for more evaluations
- At the very least, he’s going to miss at least 1-2 months
- While this is bad news for Brown, the Cardinals do have the insurance policy of DeAndre Hopkins coming back this week
- Not only that, the Cardinals just completed a trade to acquire Robbie Anderson from the Panthers for a 6th-round pick in 2024 and a 7th-round pick in 2025
- Anderson and Hopkins will make sure this passing doesn’t miss a beat, but it doesn’t change how Arizona has been playing
- Anderson is rostered in only 29% of ESPN leagues, so he’s available
- Most people probably drafted Hopkins, but if he’s available go scoop him up
- If you don’t have Hopkins or don’t want to grab Anderson, there are other options out there
- You can grab receivers like Rondale Moore, Corey Davis, Zay Jones, and Alec Pierce
Randall Cobb, WR – Green Bay Packers
- Suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter of the game against the New York Jets
- Cobb is dealing with a high-ankle sprain and will miss at least four weeks of action
- Cobb is a favorite target of Aaron Rodgers and this passing offense takes a bit of a hit
- This receiver room just gets thinner as they will now rely on Allen Lazard and Romeo Doubs primarily
- Sammy Watkins is coming off the IR this week and could help with the loss of Cobb
- Overall, this Packers offense looks out of sync and you should look at other options outside of Green Bay
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 7 Picks
Waiver Wire Quarterbacks
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. NYG (ESPN Roster Percentage – 54.5%)
- Lawrence has been up and down this season but when he’s on he looks the part for sure
- Had a great game against the Indianapolis Colts scoring nearly 25 fantasy points
- Dealt damage with his rushing ability and possibly unlocked something for this Jaguars offense to utilize going forward
- Faces the Giants in his next matchup and while the Giants are 5-1 right now, they haven’t faced a really good passing offense yet
- While the Jaguars don’t have a prolific passing offense, they can exploit a defense if given the chance
Matt Ryan, Indianapolis Colts vs. TEN (ESPN Roster Percentage – 12.5%)
- Do I think he’s a QB option that’s here to stay? Probably not
- But he put up almost 27 points this weekend and threw almost 60 times which I didn’t even know was possible
- Over the past two games, he’s thrown 99 times, and granted Jonathan Taylor’s injury is definitely a factor there, it’s worth noting that maybe the Colts are leaning heavier on the passing game with how bad their O-line has played
- So Ryan is the perfect streamer this week because he’s playing a Titans defense that allows the 5th-most points to QBs so while he may not blow you away with his stat line, he’s a top-tier streamer in Week 7
Waiver Wire Running Backs
Darrell Henderson Jr., Los Angeles Rams – BYE WEEK (ESPN Roster Percentage – 47.5%)
- Woo boy did the Cam Akers experience in LA end abruptly
- With Akers out, Henderson is once again the lead back in LA
- Now, yes that offense is struggling but getting basically a three-down back this late into the season on the waiver wire is an opportunity that cannot be ignored, especially if you need some RB depth – the risk is well worth a bench spot
- This is the perfect spot to get him too because he’s on a BYE week so those looking ahead will look for him but those looking short-term will look him over
Kenyan Drake, Baltimore Ravens vs. CLE (ESPN Roster Percentage – 3.2%)
- With J.K. Dobbins possibly missing some time, Drake has flourished in his spot
- Dobbins might have to deal with this nagging knee injury all season long as well
- Drake will have to share the backfield with the now-returning Gus Edwards, but Drake is still a valuable running back in a run-first offense
- The Ravens face the Browns this week and they have surrendered the most rushing touchdowns in the NFL so far
- Also have allowed the ninth most rushing yards in the league
Waiver Wire Wide Receivers
Chase Claypool, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. MIA (ESPN Roster Percentage – 61%)
- I’m all aboard this train again (assuming that Pickett comes back)
- Claypool has seen 16 targets over his last few games so while he’s not exactly screaming WR2 potential, he definitely is not a bad FLEX play at this point
- The Steelers are clearly not a strong team this year which admittedly is weird to say but that also means they’re going to be passing it a lot
- I’m a firm believer that Chase Claypool is going to be a consistently mediocre receiver at worst so adding him as an insurance policy if you’re thin at receiver is absolutely the move here
Mecole Hardman, Kansas City Chiefs vs. SF (ESPN Roster Percentage – 22.7%)
- Hardman is a good pickup in a match-up-based start this week
- Kansas City is facing the San Francisco 49ers this week and their defense is decimated with injuries
- During the game against the Falcons last week, the Niners were left with only two starters that were healthy out of the 11 from the Week 1 depth chart
- Even if the 49ers get some players back, this is not the same defense that was leading all defensive categories through the first five weeks of NFL action
- Hardman should be able to take advantage of that and get some good fantasy points this week
Waiver Wire Tight Ends
Daniel Bellinger, New York Giants vs. JAX (ESPN Roster Percentage – 2.5%)
- Bellinger currently has the team lead in receiving touchdowns and is third on the team in receptions
- The rookie made Evan Engram expendable and he’s steadily becoming a favorite target for Daniel Jones
- Caught all five of his targets last week against the Ravens
- He is touchdown-dependent still, but as the season goes along he could rack up those receiving yards as well
Greg Dulcich, Denver Broncos vs. NYJ (ESPN Roster Percentage – 0.4%)
- How about this for a hot take?!
- Dulcich is here to stay, I’m planting my flag in this one right now
- Albert Okwuegbunam has been a major disappointment so far this season – hasn’t posted more than 2 points since Week 1
- I think that even if that was a lucky play or blown coverage, Dulcich has earned himself some more playing time and has a real chance to step up to be THE tight end moving forward
Waiver Wire Defenses/Special Teams
Miami Dolphins vs. PIT (ESPN Roster Percentage – 31%)
- The Dolphins defense has been disappointing this season but they are capable of creating turnovers and really, this offense with their backup or third-string QB is doing them no favors
- With Tua Tagovailoa possibly coming back this week, I think this is a huge opportunity for the defense to benefit as well
- The Steelers offensive line is just flat-out not good and Kenny Pickett may not be playing which means Trubisky is back in and we all saw how that offense fares with him in there
- Even if Pickett does play, the Steelers chances of limiting sacks and putting up big points are so small that it is well worth the risk
New England Patriots vs. CHI (ESPN Roster Percentage – 22.5%)
- While there is optimism that the Bears can turn things around in a couple of seasons, this is not the year
- Chicago is one of five teams with less than 100 total points through six games
- Also, Chicago has the sixth-fewest total yards on offense
- The Patriots are a great pickup this week in a streaming start with the BYE week taking away some better defenses
Waiver Wire Kickers
Chase McLaughlin, Indianapolis Colts vs. TEN (ESPN Roster Percentage – 1.3%)
- Has hit six straight field goals in the last two weeks
- The Colts offense actually came to life last week and will want to keep pace in the AFC South with this game against the Tennessee Titans
- Titans are coming off a BYE week too which could have a well-rested defense to stall Colts drives on offense near the red zone
Daniel Carlson, Las Vegas Raiders vs. HOU (ESPN Roster Percentage – 82%)
- Alright admittedly this one is a bit of a cheating pick but if you’re in the lucky 14% of leagues that dropped him because of his bye week, the top fantasy kicker is out there
- The Raiders offense can’t get it done in the opposing territory but that means more opportunities for him
- Take a look, if he’s there, go for him now
- *BONUS PICK* Greg Zuerlein (4%)
- He’s put up 6+ points since Zach Wilson has returned and he’s in Denver next week which is a stadium that is always friendly to kickers