2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 7: Drake Maye, Romeo Doubs, More

Waiver wire decisions are a difficult to balance. There isn't always one slam dunk add. Do you add the guys that helps you win now? Or play for the future? 

We do our best to make those decisions a little bit easier for you. We break down our Week 7 Waiver Wire articles into three. One that has the closest options to a “slam dunk”. Then two others that focus on Streamers for now and Stashes for later. And, if you still don't know what do to and want personalized advice, well, you can ask those questions in the Fantasy Alarm Discord!

2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 7 Top Targets

If this 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 7 is your first time seeing this series, here’s a little idea of how we break it down. 

There are too many articles out there who don’t take into account YOUR team needs. Whether you just want the best player, you want someone to start now, or you are loaded and you want the best upside stashed, we have you covered. And we break it down like this:

• 2024 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 7: This is the current article where we focus on the best waiver wire picks for any format or team needs. Guys that can potentially be started now but also have season long upside.
   
• 2024 Fantasy Football Streamers Week 7: These are players that are decent starts for Week 7 but might not have great long-term upside (perhaps it’s just a good matchup or the starter has a short-term injury, for instance).
   
• 2024 Fantasy Football Stashes Week 7: These are players that are very difficult to trust in a lineup right now. But we believe in the talent and the possibility of upside down the stretch. Every year there are certain rookies or backups that get a big opportunity and run with it at some point - like Trey McBride last year.

The 2024 fantasy football waiver wire for Week 7 you are currently looking at is free for everyone. The Week 7 waiver wire stashes and Week 7 waiver wire streamers articles are for Fantasy Alarm members only.  

If you aren’t a Fantasy Alarm member yet, you can not only get 40% off your annual membership if you sign up right now or 50% off your first month with promo code LETSGO, but we are offering a 7-day free trial RIGHT NOW! You can check out everything we have to offer this week and decide if it's right for you!

P.S. At the very bottom of this article, I will update my Yin & Yang Tight End chart each week!

NFL Week 7 Waiver Wire Quarterbacks

Drake Maye - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 6% | ESPN: 4% | Sleeper: 15%

We had Drake Maye in the Stashes article all year. We had him in this article as an add last week. And he was added in some leagues - he went from 2-3% on ESPN and Yahoo to 4-6%. Those people did the smart thing and added a young quarterback with mobile upside when you could do it for free. Now you have to pay.

The premise was always pretty simple. Before the season, folks looked at Jayden Daniels and said “he doesn’t even need to throw the ball well to be fantasy relevant”. And they were right - he was QB4 on the season through two weeks without throwing a touchdown pass. It just so happens that Jayden Daniels is ALSO great at throwing the football in the NFL.

Drake Maye is willing to run. And he just threw three touchdown passes in his first NFL game. Obviously we have a six game sample size of Jayden Daniels vs. one of Drake Maye. And the Commanders are looking like a better football team than New England. But both teams were listed as bottom five teams before the season started and Daniels proved them wrong. You really only get one chance to add these guys before it’s too late. 

• Waiver Priority: Medium priority
• FAAB: 10-15% (or more if he starts for you right away)

Trevor Lawrence - Jacksonville Jaguars, Yahoo: 52% | ESPN: 32% | Sleeper: 45%

Depending how deep your league is, he might already be rostered. If you are in a deeper league, Drake Maye is obviously widely available. But Trevor Lawrence is available in at least half the leagues on most platforms making him a guy you can potentially scoop up and start right away. 

As Ian Hartitz pointed out on Twitter, Trevor Lawrence had FOUR touchdown passes dropped by receivers this week.

Even then, he has now managed to throw multiple touchdown passes in three straight weeks. And he just got starting tight end Evan Engram back who looked great this weekend. 

The Jaguars face New England, Green Bay, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Detroit before their bye week which should create a number of game scripts that are conducive to passing the football. Drake Maye fought back just enough this week for C.J. Stroud and the crew to put up a bunch of points so he’d at least make for a good start if you were using Caleb Williams or Dak Prescott. 

• Waiver Priority: Low or Free Add
• FAAB: 0%

NFL Week 7 Waiver Wire Running Backs

Tyrone Tracy - New York Giants, Yahoo: 45% | ESPN: 45% | Sleeper: 56%

With the injury to Travis Etienne, Tank Bigsby and Tyrone Tracy (our two best waiver wire picks from last week) are both guys that need to be rostered. The difference is that Bigsby was added in 60-70% of leagues on Yahoo and Sleeper whereas Tracy is still available in roughly half of leagues.

The situation really isn’t that hard to decipher here. Devin Singletary will be back at some point. Devin Singletary is going to play. But the modern NFL sees split backfields pretty much across the board. First round picks Breece Hall and Bijan Robinson are both splitting more than we expected. You’re going to see split backfields more often than not.

What we don’t see all often are guys coming out here and dropping 15.25 and 22.6 PPR points in their first two games with a meaningful role. Most of the time these backups fall flat. And they’re often journeymen that we have seen for years. This is a rookie converted wide receiver that just came out and caught 6 of 6 targets. You have to add these guys when you have the chance and give yourself a shot at upside.

• Waiver Priority: Top
• FAAB: 15-20%

Antonio Gibson - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 50% | ESPN: 43% | Sleeper: 61%

Here’s another player that we mentioned last week whose ownership numbers did not go up as much as we thought it might. So here we are saying it again - the Patriots are THIN at running back. Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson are really the two viable backs. JaMycal Hasty kicked in some on pass downs but Gibson essentially got all the run work and at least half the pass work. Which is the Rhamondre Stevenson role.

As long as Stevenson remains out with the foot injury, Antonio Gibson is a viable spot start. And he might still be a reasonable play even when Stevenson gets back. Gibson has gotten at least seven touches in every single game this year so we can expect some level of split even when Stevenson gets back. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add or Late Priority
• FAAB: 0-5%

Trey Benson - Arizona Cardinals, Yahoo: 19% | ESPN: 1% | Sleeper: 26%

Tracy and Gibson are rostered in a fair number of leagues so we wanted to include one in this article that’s lesser owner (for even deeper players, check the Week 7 Streamers and Week 7 Stashes articles). Despite the rookie hype, Benson has gotten only sporadic work thus far. He didn’t get a touch in Week 5 and has not caught a pass since Week 2. 

But this week he actually did come out and start the second half for the Cardinals. And he finished the game with 5 carries to 7 for Conner. Not only has Conner been fairly inefficient, he’s also one of the most injury-prone running backs in the league, having missed time in every single season of his career.

NFL Week 7 Waiver Wire Wide Receivers

Josh Downs - Indianapolis Colts, Yahoo: 48% | ESPN: 49% | Sleeper: 68%

We’ve been beating this drum for weeks now so it’s kind of shocking to see him available in half the leagues on some of these platforms. But we will say it again - Josh Downs needs to be added. 

Regardless of quarterback, he’s a tremendous route runner. And there is a reason he’s gotten 9+ targets in three straight games. This is the last warning. 

• Waiver Priority: First
• FAAB: 50%+

JuJu Smith-Schuster - Kansas City Chiefs, Yahoo: 33% | ESPN: 18% | Sleeper: 33%

We had JuJu Smith-Schuster as a priority add in last week’s article being one of the best waiver wire picks. And his ownership did double. But it’s still far too low across fantasy platforms. 

I’m just not quite sure if folks have fully comprehended what the situation is here. Rashee Rice is out for the season. Hollywood Brown is out for the season. There are trade rumors but those are just that - rumors. JuJu Smith-Schuster, along with Travis Kelce, was a preferred target last game before the bye.

Xavier Worthy is a great threat stretching the field but that might not make him a target hog. Justin Watson’s value is in blocking. Mecole Hardman got 4 targets - all wide receiver screens. Perhaps that will be his role but we are hoping JuJu picks up some of those screens as well. At the very least, he’s likely inline for the most work underneath where they like to operate.

If he didn’t get added last week in your format, you probably don’t need to go crazy spending on him.

• Waiver Priority: Medium to Low
• FAAB: 5-10%

Romeo Doubs - Green Bay Packers, Yahoo: 35% | ESPN: 29.6% | Sleeper: 51%

Romeo Doubs presented us with a golden opportunity here with his temper tantrum that kept him out of last week’s game. Because this week he went right back to leading the team in routes run. His role of being a full-time outside player was never in question - he just wanted the ball more.

And this week the squeaky wheel got the grease as he scored two touchdowns. Dontayvion Wicks could miss some time here with a shoulder issue so the threat of him taking time from Christian Watson or Romeo Doubs is off the table. And Doubs has just as good of a shot as anyone to lead this team from week to week. 

• Waiver Priority: Low
• FAAB: 0-5%

Noah Brown - Washington Commanders, Yahoo: 1% | ESPN: 1% | Sleeper: 3%

Because we have mentioned all the other names in previous iterations of this article, I wanted to include one more name for folks in the deeper leagues here. If you want our other deeper league plays, Fantasy Alarm members can get those in the Week 7 Streamers and Week 7 Stashes articles. This one, though, is worth mentioning in the main article given the circumstances.

Jayden Daniels has been great. And Terry McLaurin is the clear top dog. But no one has really emerged as the second target here. Zach Ertz has been fine but you really can’t rely on him for any sort of YAC at this stage. Luke McCaffrey has come on slow and Dyami Brown has been more of a field stretcher. Noah Brown quietly played the second most snaps of any Commanders WR in Week 4 before missing Week 5 with injury. 

Then he picked up where he left off playing the second most snaps behind Terry McLaurin this week. It might not amount to much. But we want pieces of this offense. And we watched Noah Brown have a couple monster games last year filling in for injured Texans wide receivers. Noah Brown could carve himself out a nice little role in Washington. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add
• FAAB: 0%

NFL Week 7 Waiver Tight End + Yin & Yang TE

YIN (Good Floor, Low Ceiling)

Zach Ertz - Washington Commanders, Yahoo: 25% | ESPN: 53% | Sleeper: 36%

Zach Ertz is boring. But, in the current tight end landscape, we’ll take boring. At least as a placeholder while we try to find this year’s breakout. You have to remember that, at this time last year, Trey McBride hadn’t even emerged yet. In fact, he was stuck behind Zach Ertz.

Ertz is pretty consistently getting 4-5 targets out here and is currently the second target on his team. Barring a trade or someone like Noah Brown really taking off, he should continue to offer a decent floor at a position where the floor is lava. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add
• FAAB: 0%

Juwan Johnson - New Orleans Saints, Yahoo: 3% | ESPN: 7% | Sleeper: 6%

Chris Olave is almost certainly not getting cleared from this concussion by Thursday. And Rashid Shaheed is also banged up. In fact, Alvin Kamara is also dealing with three different issues. 

This team is simply low on pass-catchers and you can only throw so many passes to Bub Means and Mason Tipton. Juwan is on the streaming radar for sure. Over the first three weeks he played 35%, 41%, and 50% of the snaps while he played 69%, 79%, and 77% the last three. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add
• FAAB: 0%

Colby Parkinson - Los Angeles Rams, Yahoo: 16% | ESPN: 34% | Sleeper: 23%

Cooper Kupp MIGHT be back this week. But Puka Nacua is still out. So Parkinson still has a path to relevance and he has gotten 20 targets over his last two games. In fact, he’s had 5+ in four of his five games. 

He might not be super efficient but he’s out there - he has the second highest route participation of any tight end. We’re looking for guys that won’t give us a zero here while we stash some upside and Parkinson fits the bill for the time being. He’s not the long term answer though. 

• Waiver Priority: Free Add
• FAAB: 0%

YANG (High Risk, High Reward)

Hunter Henry - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 26% | ESPN: 18% | Sleeper: 26%

We’ve been hanging onto Hunter Henry for a long time waiting for this day to come. And we’re not going to say that he scored the touchdown this week just because Drake Maye took over. That’s getting a little carried away. 

We will say that Hunter Henry has been statistically good vs. man to man which helps in the short field. And clearly the offense was looking better overall with Maye. But touchdowns are flukey so we aren’t chasing that. What we are chasing are pieces of this offense that could play a major part. Hunter Henry has led the pass-catchers on this team in snaps so far. 

He’s right there with Demario Douglas in terms of targets and yards. He and Ja’Lynn Polk tied for the second most routes this week with 32 behind 35 for Kayshon Boutte (and Boutte likely just got elevated usage since he’s been practicing with Maye). 

What we’re hoping here is that Hunter Henry can actually be a top two target on his team which is rare for tight ends. That’s how we get true consistency from week to week. And any touchdowns that come with that would be gravy.

• Waiver Priority: Late or Free Add
• FAAB: 0-5% 

Lucas Krull - Denver Broncos, Yahoo: 0% | ESPN: 0% | Sleeper: 0%

We’ve talked about what Sean Payton and the Broncos have been doing so far this season. They are clearly still trying to work out who is going to be part of this team both for the long term of the organization and the rest of THIS season. 

The snap shares for all of these guys outside of Courtland Sutton have fluctuated from week to week. Greg Dulcich got a turn, and he dropped multiple passes in the game where he got 8 targets. Now he is a healthy scratch, and Lucas Krull gets his shot. 

Krull ran ~75% of the routes this week and got 4 targets which show us a glimmer of hope. We know that Sean Payton is at least a Lucas Krull fan - he told reporters this off-season that people are “gonna know who 85 is”. So hopefully he can make the most of his shot here.

• Waiver Priority: Late or free add
• FAAB: 0%

Week 7 Yin & Yang Tight End

As promised, here are our updated Yin & Yang Tight End rankings going into Week 7. If you are not familiar with this strategy, the full write-up on it is available in our 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Guide. The short and sweet is that, if you don’t get an elite tight end, you roster two – someone “safe” to start early on (Yin) and the highest risk, highest reward option on the bench (Yang). 

As you can see, we separate who we consider a Standalone tight end option where we only care about their bye week vs. the situations where you should roster two. You can use your own judgment on that based on your league size and you can also roster two Yang tight ends if you want to play the high risk, high rewards game or two from the Yin side if you are super conservative. We’ll be updating this throughout the season.