by Nate Polvogt
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If you like winning, come back every week for under-the-radar fantasy waiver wire pickups to keep you in contention until the final contest. We leave no stone unturned to ensure we give you the BEST chance to win week in and week out. Let’s get to it with our Week 7 waiver wire pickups at WR.
~ Check out our Week 7 Fantasy Football Rankings ~
It’s time to lock in those Week 7 waiver wire pickups, folks. We’re almost halfway through the fantasy football regular season, and it’s time to buckle down and get ready for a playoff push.
Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups | WRs
*Rostership percentages courtesy of FantasyPros waiver wire rankings
JuJu Smith-Schuster (KC) | 24.9%
This might be the easiest waiver wire decision of Week 7. After losing WR Rashee Rice in Week 4 to a brutal knee injury, former and current Chiefs WR Juju Smith-Schuster stepped right in.
Through the first four weeks of this season, Schuster-Smith had drawn only four total targets from QB Patrick Mahomes. However, in the absence of Rice, he grabbed seven of his eight targets for 130 yards in a big win over New Orleans. This is just the beginning for Smith-Schuster, now the clear WR1 in a high-powered offense in Kansas City. This one may require you to empty your FAAb pockets, but it’s well worth it.
Xavier Legette (CAR) | 24%
After a breakout in Week 4 against Cincinnati, rookie WR Xavier Legette went quiet. However, it wasn’t surprising that the vaunted Chicago Bears secondary managed to stifle the young receiver. He rebounded this past week against Atlanta, locking in three catches and a TD.
Legette is talented, and his fantasy value exists because Andy Dalton is behind center in Carolina. He isn’t someone you’re rostering to start every week, but he provides much-needed depth. Also, there will be weeks you can fire him up as Flex start. This week against the Commanders is a good matchup for Legette, and Weeks 9 and 10 against the Giants and Saints are potential boom weeks for the rookie wideout.
Demario Douglas (NE) | 14.1%
There isn’t much to like about the Patriots offense, but second-year WR Demario Douglas is now providing some pop for fantasy lineups. This past Sunday, with rookie QB Drake Maye making his first NFL start, Douglas led the team in targets, catches and yards in a loss to the Texans.
There hasn’t been a clear-cut leading receiver for the Patriots this season, but Douglas could emerge as just that. He leads the team in every major receiving category and has found favor with Maye, who will be the Patriots QB the rest of the way, barring injury. Douglas is a good discount addition on the Week 7 waiver wire that could put up WR1 numbers nearly every week.
Allen Lazard (NYJ) | 39.4%
There is no question that second-year stud Garrett Wilson leads the WR corp in New York. But that pesky Allen Lazard won’t go away. Despite Wilson drawing 23 targets this past Sunday from QB Aaron Rodgers, Lazrad still ate, hauling in four catches for 34 yards and a TD.
As long as it’s the Rodgers show in New York, Lazrad, his former teammate in Green Bay, will be fantasy-relevant. He has 33 targets and four TDs through 5 games and is the overall PPR WR27. There’s no reason to think he won’t still draw high-value targets from the future Hall-of-Fame signal caller for the rest of this season. You can reliably plug Lazard into your Flex and forget about it most weeks.
Devaughn Vele (DEN) | 0%
The Denver Broncos offense is fun these days. QB Bo Nix hasn’t been pretty, but when he needs to, he’s been slinging it, and now he has one of his favorite targets back in the lineup in rookie WR Devaughn Vele.
Vele had a coming-out party in Week 1, catching all eight of his targets for 34 yards before getting dinged up and then being a healthy scratch.
However, he was back in Week 6, and Nix again successfully targeted the rookie multiple times. Vele hauled in four of his six targets for 78 yards. While we have no idea if Vele will continue to see volume in the Broncos offense, his two games have been quite successful. No one else is looking at Vele on the waiver wire right now, and he’s worth a speculative addition to see if he can gain momentum with Nix and company.
Nate Polvogt is a Co-Founder and the lead senior analyst for Optimus Fantasy Football. Find more from Nate on X (formerly Twitter) @NatePolvogt and on Optimus Fantasy.
by Nate Polvogt
Share
If you like winning, come back every week for under-the-radar fantasy waiver wire pickups to keep you in contention until the final contest. We leave no stone unturned to ensure we give you the BEST chance to win week in and week out. Let’s get to it with our Week 7 waiver wire pickups at WR.
~ Check out our Week 7 Fantasy Football Rankings ~
It’s time to lock in those Week 7 waiver wire pickups, folks. We’re almost halfway through the fantasy football regular season, and it’s time to buckle down and get ready for a playoff push.
Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups | WRs
*Rostership percentages courtesy of FantasyPros waiver wire rankings
JuJu Smith-Schuster (KC) | 24.9%
This might be the easiest waiver wire decision of Week 7. After losing WR Rashee Rice in Week 4 to a brutal knee injury, former and current Chiefs WR Juju Smith-Schuster stepped right in.
Through the first four weeks of this season, Schuster-Smith had drawn only four total targets from QB Patrick Mahomes. However, in the absence of Rice, he grabbed seven of his eight targets for 130 yards in a big win over New Orleans. This is just the beginning for Smith-Schuster, now the clear WR1 in a high-powered offense in Kansas City. This one may require you to empty your FAAb pockets, but it’s well worth it.
Xavier Legette (CAR) | 24%
After a breakout in Week 4 against Cincinnati, rookie WR Xavier Legette went quiet. However, it wasn’t surprising that the vaunted Chicago Bears secondary managed to stifle the young receiver. He rebounded this past week against Atlanta, locking in three catches and a TD.
Legette is talented, and his fantasy value exists because Andy Dalton is behind center in Carolina. He isn’t someone you’re rostering to start every week, but he provides much-needed depth. Also, there will be weeks you can fire him up as Flex start. This week against the Commanders is a good matchup for Legette, and Weeks 9 and 10 against the Giants and Saints are potential boom weeks for the rookie wideout.
Demario Douglas (NE) | 14.1%
There isn’t much to like about the Patriots offense, but second-year WR Demario Douglas is now providing some pop for fantasy lineups. This past Sunday, with rookie QB Drake Maye making his first NFL start, Douglas led the team in targets, catches and yards in a loss to the Texans.
There hasn’t been a clear-cut leading receiver for the Patriots this season, but Douglas could emerge as just that. He leads the team in every major receiving category and has found favor with Maye, who will be the Patriots QB the rest of the way, barring injury. Douglas is a good discount addition on the Week 7 waiver wire that could put up WR1 numbers nearly every week.
Allen Lazard (NYJ) | 39.4%
There is no question that second-year stud Garrett Wilson leads the WR corp in New York. But that pesky Allen Lazard won’t go away. Despite Wilson drawing 23 targets this past Sunday from QB Aaron Rodgers, Lazrad still ate, hauling in four catches for 34 yards and a TD.
As long as it’s the Rodgers show in New York, Lazrad, his former teammate in Green Bay, will be fantasy-relevant. He has 33 targets and four TDs through 5 games and is the overall PPR WR27. There’s no reason to think he won’t still draw high-value targets from the future Hall-of-Fame signal caller for the rest of this season. You can reliably plug Lazard into your Flex and forget about it most weeks.
Devaughn Vele (DEN) | 0%
The Denver Broncos offense is fun these days. QB Bo Nix hasn’t been pretty, but when he needs to, he’s been slinging it, and now he has one of his favorite targets back in the lineup in rookie WR Devaughn Vele.
Vele had a coming-out party in Week 1, catching all eight of his targets for 34 yards before getting dinged up and then being a healthy scratch.
However, he was back in Week 6, and Nix again successfully targeted the rookie multiple times. Vele hauled in four of his six targets for 78 yards. While we have no idea if Vele will continue to see volume in the Broncos offense, his two games have been quite successful. No one else is looking at Vele on the waiver wire right now, and he’s worth a speculative addition to see if he can gain momentum with Nix and company.
Nate Polvogt is a Co-Founder and the lead senior analyst for Optimus Fantasy Football. Find more from Nate on X (formerly Twitter) @NatePolvogt and on Optimus Fantasy.
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