Week 7 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Who Needs to Be on Your Team?
Injuries are taking over your fantasy football roster. It’s not just bye weeks and poor play that’s crushing you. It’s long-lasting injuries from guys like Steven Jackson and David Wilson, combined with the new injuries of guys like Randall Cobb and DeMarco Murray. And those are just a few of the big names.
Needless to say, as is the case pretty much every year, you’re hitting the waiver wire hard. Trouble is, you need some advice as to which guys are actually worth picking up. For the obvious and not-so-obvious, let’s take a look at guys available in more than 51% of leagues that you may want to consider adding for the long-term:
Josh Freeman, QB, Minnesota Vikings (Available in 90% of leagues)
Freeman didn’t do much to get excited about in Tampa Bay before being released, but he should be finding himself under center this week and going forward thanks to Matt Cassel playing like…Matt Cassel. Freeman has the size, arms and weapons to still be a fantasy factor. Plus he gets the Giants this week, so his Minnesota stay could get started off nicely.
Jake Locker, QB, Tennessee Titans (95%)
I know Locker is 2-3 weeks away from his actual return, but once he’s back he’s going to have an awesome stretch with some cakewalk matchups. Considering he has six touchdowns to no picks so far on the year, he’ll have some nice upside for Tennessee’s stretch run.
Joseph Randle, RB, Dallas Cowboys (91%)
DeMarco Murray has a sprained knee and will at least miss this week. That gives Randle a nice load against a weak Eagles defense. He’s not an exceptional talent, but he’ll get 15+ touches and should produce mild results.
Chris Ivory, RB, New York Jets (78%)
Ivory is slowly being incorporated in New York’s offense again, but that movement should pick up some steam with Mike Goodson now on injured reserve. He’s a solid depth guy to stash on your roster.
Jarrett Boykin, WR, Green Bay Packers (98%)
Randall Cobb has a broken leg and will be out for a while, while James Jones (knee) might be out this week, too. Even if Jones plays, Boykin is in for a huge role moving forward and needs to be picked up in all leagues.
Jacoby Jones, WR, Baltimore Ravens (87%)
We forgot what the Ravens can do on offense when healthy. Jones returned this week and racked up five catches for 66 yards and a score. He’s tough to trust due to a career of inconsistency, but he his big-play upside.
Jeff Cumberland, TE, New York Hets (94%)
I’m not a huge fan of Cumberland, but it’s worth noting that the tight end job is all his for at least the next four weeks. Kellen Winslow is serving a four-game suspension and Cumberland already took advantage of it with 4 catches and 59 yards this week. He scored a touchdown last week, too.
Heath Miller, TE, Pittsburgh Steelers (51%)
Miller is getting snatched up so the time to act is now. He caught six passes for over 80 yards last week and is going to keep getting more involved.
Adam Vinatieri, K, Indianapolis Colts (61%)
Even in a bad game Vinny got you 9 points in standard leages or 13 for leagues that award 50-yarders. Indy’s offense usually hums so he’s a great weekly option.
Green Bay Packers DEF/ST (56%)
Green Bay has shown us for four straight games that they can get it done on defense. Week one they looked awful against the pass but at least stopped the run, and in week two they only gave up late points to the Redskins. Week three was a bit skewed thanks to turnovers on offense. But the last two weeks, they’ve looked great, getting to the quarterback and shutting down the run. They should keep it going against the Browns at home this week.
