Fantasy Football Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups: Jordan Mason, Elijah Mitchell, Kareem Hunt, Zach Evans Could Get You Through The Bye Week Blues

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Week 7 Waiver Wire pickups, where we give you the players to start immediately, stash at the end of your bench, or stream for a week or two.

This week, we endured another slew of massive injuries, highlighted by Christian McCaffrey, David Montgomery, and Kyren Williams. Should fantasy owners target Jordan Mason or Elijah Mitchell as McCaffrey’s handcuff? Is former five-star RB Zach Evans ready to carry the load in LA?

We’ll answer those questions and more.

That said, let’s look back at Week 6 and dissect the top prospects for the Fantasy Football Week 7 Waiver Wire.

Week 7 Bye Weeks: Bengals, Cowboys, Titans, Jets, Panthers, Texans

Note: Roster % based on Yahoo leagues and should have roughly 50% ownership

WEEK 7 WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS

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1. Elijah Mitchell, RB San Francisco 49ers (28%)
2. Jordan Mason, RB San Francisco 49ers (5%)
3. Roschon Johnson, RB Chicago Bears (52%)
4. Kareem Hunt, RB Cleveland Browns (36%)
5. Curtis Samuel, WR Washington Commanders (34%)
6. Dalton Schultz, TE Houston Texans (51%)
7. Jonnu Smith, TE Atlanta Falcons (19%)

Christian McCaffrey went down with an oblique injury and did not return to the game. In his place, we got a both Jordan Mason and Elijah Mitchell down the stretch. With Mitchell returning from injury, Mason played nearly double the snaps and scored on the ground, while Mitchell took his three carries for -2 yards. Mitchell was the RB2 with CMC in the game, but Mason took over in the fourth quarter when his team needed him most. However, Kyle Shanahan leaned towards Mitchell in his post-game presser if McCaffrey were to miss time. Mitchell is 1A and Mason is 1B on waiver priority.

With Khalil Herbert out and Roschon Johnson concussed, D’Onta Foreman led the way for the Bears. It was an unproductive day, but the usage and workload were nice. If Johnson gets some work in during the week, one would have to imagine he would take over RB1 duties with Herbert’s ankle on ice. Plus, Foreman is owned in nearly 60% of leagues at the moment.

The bye week was crucial for the Browns to get Kareem Hunt up to speed as he played a season-high in snaps and routes run. While Jerome Ford remains the RB1, he’s trending down as Hunt is ascending. Hunt could land in the “stash” area of this article, but he’s trending upwards as a potential fantasy starter.

Curtis Samuel continues to produce in Washington and it seems that he’s leapfrogged Jahan Dotson as the team’s WR2. That’s three double-digit scoring games in a row, and while he’s still running fewer routes than Dotson, Samuel has out-targeted and out-produced in back-to-back games now.

Dalton Schultz is making his mark on Houston’s offense, as he has three straight weeks with a touchdown. His usage had dipped drastically in Weeks 1-4, but he’s trending back up over the last two games while commanding a season-high in target share. He’s been a great security blanket for CJ Stroud and a solid red-zone presence.

Scoring his first touchdown of the year, Falcons TE Jonnu Smith benefitted from a pass-heavy game script. The team seems to be going with a lot of two-tight end sets, as Smith and Kyle Pitts both found the end zone. Smith continues to rack up consistent targets in Atlanta’s offense and has an average finish of TE10 over the last five weeks.

STASH

1. Tyjae Spears, RB Tennessee Titans (48%)
2. Josh Downs, WR Indianapolis Colts (33%)
3. Jaleel McLaughlin, RB Denver Broncos (54%)
4. Rashee Rice, WR Kansas City Chiefs (45%)
5. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR Seattle Seahawks (48%)
6. Kendrick Bourne, WR New England Patriots (17%)
7. Tyler Boyd, WR Cincinnati Bengals (48%)
8. Jameson Williams, WR Detroit Lions (49%)
9. Kadarius Toney, WR Kansas City Chiefs (27%)
10. Wan’Dale Robinson, WR New York Giants (18%)
11. Devin Singletary, RB Houston Texans (13%)
12. Leonard Fournette, RB Free Agent (3%)
13. Michael Wilson, WR Arizona Cardinals (23%)
14. Justice Hill, RB Baltimore Ravens (42%)
15. Rashid Shaheed, WR New Orleans Saints (32%)
16. Latavius Murray, RB Buffalo Bills (14%)
17. Trey McBride, TE Arizona Cardinals (1%)

It was another pass-heavy game script that kept Tyjae Spears on the field at a 56% clip. With Ryan Tannehill hurt, this offense will struggle, and Spears could be out there more than usual in passing situations.

Last week, we wrote how Josh Downs had passed Alec Pierce as the WR2. This week, he passed him in usage as he out-snapped and ran more routes than Pierce. Losing Anthony Richardson for the year might hurt, but Gardner Minshew is more than capable of airing it out.

Rookie Jaleel McLaughlin has seemingly leapfrogged Semaje Perine as the Broncos RB2 and was even out there on Thursday night more than Javonte Williams. He’s also dominating the route run percentage for Denver’s backfield, so it looks like he’ll have first dibs on passing situations for the Broncos.

He’s getting there, I promise. Rashee Rice saw a bump in his snaps and routes run while commanding a respectable target share for Kansas City. MVS and the rest of the receiver room are doing cardio on the field. It’s only a matter of time until Rice passes him, seeing as MVS’ snaps have declined since Week 1.

Another receiver with a season high in snaps and routes, Jaxon Smith-Njigba was out there often for Seattle and is starting to carve out a role. The production will eventually follow, but it’s just tough with Metcalf and Lockett ahead of him on the depth chart. However, the upside is massive if one of those receivers misses time.

There’s not much to like about New England’s offense, but one of the few positives has been Kendrick Bourne. He’s Mac’s clear favorite target and has consistently shown he can get open. With no Juju or Demario Douglas, he got extra work and more than capitalized. Plus, DeVante Parker’s choice of post-game words might have him in deep water and trending down, playing time-wise.

It seemed like Tee Higgins was eased back into play as Tyler Boyd played 89% of snaps and was in on 97% of drop backs. We know how good this offense can be, and it appears Joe Burrow is either back to or nearing a return to full strength.

He actually played less compared to last week, but Jameson Williams showed his elite downfield speed and ability to make the most of his limited work. The talent is all there, and it’s just a matter of putting it together in this high-flying offense.

I know he’s super annoying fantasy-wise, but we can’t ignore Kadarius Toney’s talent. He played a season-high in snaps this week and led all receivers in target share. He seems to produce when given a shot (ignore Week 1) and has arguably the most talent in that receiver room. This team is begging someone to step up. Just be patient.

The Giants receivers haven’t been the greatest, but Wan’Dale Robinson is clearly phasing both Parris Campbell and Isaiah Hodgins out of the offense. He’s got a great target share, and as long as he stays healthy, he can be a reliable piece in a struggling offense.

Season-highs in both usage and production for Devin Singletary as he left Dameon Pierce in his rear-view mirror. Pierce has struggled to produce on the ground this year, and Singletary came in to steal snaps and be a factor in the passing game.

Rumors swirled on Tuesday that Leonard Fournette was set to visit the Bills. However, the meeting was canceled. Ian Rapoport, resident agent mouthpiece, said Fournette is in great shape and is set to make visits soon, so he’s someone who should be on your radar. Lombardi Lenny is a reliable pass-catcher and could be a three-down guy for an RB-needy team. Keep him in mind.

The clear WR2 in Arizona, Michael Wilson, has the usage, but the results correlate. It’s a matter of time until these start to even out, and Wilson starts putting up decent numbers for Arizona. He’s essentially being used the same as Marquise Brown without the target share.

With Baltimore controlling the Titans in London, Justice Hill took a backseat as Gus Edwards plodded his way in Week 6. Hill should see more work in passing downs and more difficult games for Baltimore.

Rashid Shaheed has always been a fascinating fantasy player. You’re praying for touchdown production, which comes more often than you’d think for a guy like him. He’s actually playing a good number of snaps alongside Olave and Thomas, but he’s at least fourth (maybe lower) on the totem pole of Saints pass catchers.

After James Cook had a seemingly strong grasp of the RB1 role, Latavius Murray played evenly with Cook this week and was more of the lead back and plodding rusher. The injury to Damien Harris will only give more work to both running backs, and Murray seems like the guy down at the goal line, which is obviously vital in fantasy.

Trey McBride outsnapped Zach Ertz for Arizona for the first time this year. The young tight end offers plenty of potential while Ertz gets up there in age. Ertz still ran more routes, but eventually, if those tides turn, McBride could offer nice value at the position.

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1. Craig Reynolds, RB Detroit Lions (1%)
2. Zach Evans, RB Los Angeles Rams (1%)
3. Michael Mayer, TE Las Vegas Raiders (5%)
4. Seattle Seahawks D/ST (22%)
5. Ezekiel Elliott, RB New England Patriots (43%)
6. Keaontay Ingram, RB Arizona Cardinals (20%)
7. Sam Howell, QB Washington Commanders (38%)

While we await the status of Jahmyr Gibbs, we know that David Montgomery will miss some time with a rib injury. So, it looks like Craig Reynolds will have increased work in one of the league’s better rush offenses. If Gibbs remains sidelined, then Reynolds could handle a legitimate three-down workload.

The Rams have leaned heavily on whoever their RB1 is this year. With both Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers going down with injuries, it looks like the next man up is rookie and former five-star Zach Evans. Be wary of Royce Freeman, but Evans should have the upside here.

Michael Mayer saw a massive bump in his usage while trailing only Jakobi Meyers in targets in Week 6. Davante Adams was limited, which will hurt other Raiders’ usage other weeks, but Las Vegas is finally looking to use their tight ends after ignoring the position for the first quarter of the season. People forget Michael Mayer was initially considered TE1 in this loaded rookie tight end class.

Seattle’s defense held Joe Burrow and the Bengals in check, so they can do well against the Cardinals’ sputtering offense this week.

Right now, in the year 2023, Ezekiel Elliott looks like the best offensive “weapon” on the Patriots. He recorded 49 total yards and a touchdown in Week 6 vs the Raiders, and Rhamondre Stevenson just does not look like he did last season. Zeke gets a Buffalo defense that’s been sneakily getting gashed on the ground, and he could make some noise for those in bye week or injury hell.

While Keaontay Ingram was technically the lead back for Arizona, he was still outsnapped by Emari Demarcado. Ingram would seem to be the likely choice for early-down and goal-line work, while Demarcado handles passing situations.

Despite only throwing for 151 yards, Sam Howell had three touchdowns and continues to be a reliable streaming fantasy QB. He faces the Giants this week if you need assistance with several quarterbacks on the bye.