Fantasy Football waiver wire pickups, Week 7: Brutal bye week options
Week 7 is an absolutely brutal bye week for fantasy football players across the country. We give our best waiver wire pickup options.
Fantasy Football managers have reached the dreaded portion of the season where bye weeks are now going to affect all of your weekly lineups.
In case you happen to be one of the likely 100 percent of fantasy football players with players on the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings, or Jacksonville Jaguars, you likely will be affected by this week of byes and hopefully it isn’t coming at a bad time.
Now is the time when your roster depth will be put to the test, or maybe you need to make some moves on the waiver wire ahead of Week 7 action. We’re here to help.
Fantasy Football waiver wire pickups, Week 7: Brutal bye week options
Let’s get right down to it and start with the most popular weekly fantasy football waiver wire position, running back.
Running Backs to claim
1. D’Ernest Johnson, Browns
This is a tough ask of D’Ernest Johnson. The Browns’ offensive line is not exactly healthy, and on Thursday Night Football, the Denver Broncos are going to be loading the box given the fact that Baker Mayfield is playing with a rather significant injury.
Johnson has been with the Browns for quite a while at this point, so he’s well-versed in the offense and should be able to step in.
You never know when a running back is going to absolutely go off in the NFL, especially when we’re talking about fantasy football.
Against a tough Denver Broncos run defense, Johnson should be claimed strictly as an injury or bye week replacement and if you have no other preferable options.
2. Devonta Freeman, Ravens
Latavius Murray became the latest Ravens running back to, unfortunately, suffer an injury. If he is not able to play, Devonta Freeman should be a good pickup if someone in your league didn’t snatch him up already.
He averaged almost six yards per carry last week and had a touchdown as well as two targets in the passing game.
He might be in line for some big work going forward.
3. Chris Evans, Bengals
The hype train for Chris Evans is picking up steam after catching three passes for 49 yards and a touchdown last week as well as running for 18 yards on four carries.
With Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon returning soon, how much of a priority should you place on Evans? Maybe not super high, but he might eventually supplant Perine as the RB2 behind Mixon and he has value in PPR leagues. He’s worth a flyer.
Others to take a shot on:
Rashaad Penny, Seahawks
Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots (if you haven’t already)
DeeJay Dallas, Seahawks
Demetric Felton, Browns