Week 7 is the first week with six teams on bye rather than the standard four. Thankfully, the top TEs will all play this week: only three (Dalton Schultz, Jake Ferguson, Tyler Conklin) of the top 20 at the position are inactive. Even so, there are some deep streamers with delicious upside in Week 7. You can find Week 5 and Week 6 streaming options here, and be sure to check out the Week 7 Waiver Wire.
Note: Roster % based on Yahoo!
GERALD EVERETT, LA CHARGERS (25%)
PPR points per week: 4.3, 7.7, 9.0, 2.9, 10.8
Gerald Everett has been the apple of my eye for some years now. I get it—weird guy to plant your flag on. I can’t help myself! Kellen Moore is his OC! Justin Herbert is his quarterback! He can even run the ball!
The LA Chargers have too much talent not to be a top-scoring offense every week, and Everett should be skirting the coattails, netting a few red zone targets each week — especially with big-bodied Mike Williams out of the picture. He finally hit paydirt in Week 6, hauling in a one-yard pass on fourth and goal.
LA has platooned the TE position with Everett and Donald Parham Jr., and until last week, Parham had seen more fruitful targets, scoring three times on the year. Heading into Week 7, Everett has the leg up in health and recency bias to be in the conversation as a top TE streaming option.
The Chargers offense will wake up, right?
MICHAEL MAYER, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (5%)
PPR points per week: 0, 1.2, 2.0, 0, 5.9, 12.5
I know, I see those zero point weeks too. Cut him some slack! Rookie TEs historically start slow, and everything is slow about this Raiders offense. The offense is bottom 10, and Jimmy Garappolo leads the league in interceptions with eight. However, Brian Hoyer (sort of) led this team to a Week 6 victory, and Michael Mayer was a huge part of that.
Mayer had a career day on Sunday, pulling down five of his six targets for 75 yards, and is now firmly the team’s TE1 over Austin Hooper.
“I can run guys over to get a first down and I can get around them,” Mayer said after the game. “The more you break tackles and the more yards after catches you get, the more balls you’re going to get. … I hurdled and stiff-armed some guys in college, I just haven’t had the chance here yet.”
Also of note, this is the third straight week of an increased snap share, and should be looked at as a full-time player in Vegas. He has three-plus targets in the last two weeks and is starting to look like the all-world tight end he was at Notre Dame. With Hoyer presumably starting for the injured Garappolo, look for that trend to continue.
Mayer has a juicy tight end schedule coming up, with the Bears, Lions, Giants, and Jets on the agenda.
TREY MCBRIDE, ARIZONA CARDINALS (1%)
PPR points per week: 4.3, 5.2, 1.2, 1.5, 3.7, 10.2
You can clump Trey McBride in with the young tight ends just now getting their feet wet. So far, he has played in the shadow of veteran target Zach Ertz, but change is on the horizon. Week 6 saw McBride outsnap Ertz 44-35, and he in turn, came away with his best game of the young season. Sixty-two yards receiving tied for the team’s best, and his five targets were a season-high.
The former Mackey Award winner is definitely the sleepiest of sleeper picks for this week, but he may also become a valuable stash down the line. Ertz has a lengthy injury history, and the Cardinals’ schedule has some positive TE matchups over the next few weeks. With a team actively tanking, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if they went on a full-on youth movement.
Next week, Arizona faces a Seahawks defense that is top-five in YPC vs TE, lending credence to a scenario where McBride produces at a similar level.
