Waiver Wire Watch: Week 7
Editor’s Note: We’re happy to announce the arrival of 4for4 Contributor Pat Fitzmaurice (formerly of Pro Football Weekly), who will work in conjunction with Senior Editor John Paulsen to compile this list of the top waiver wire pickups each week.
Here is a look at the top waiver wire pickups for Week 7. To be eligible for discussion, the player must be owned in 50% or fewer ESPN leagues, though we’ll stretch the rules a bit for the RB position, which is usually very thin. We’ll also include suggested bid prices (with a $100 budget) for those leagues that use Free Agent Acquisition Budgets. Of course, player value depends on league characteristics and team needs. Players are listed by position in order of importance. For extremely shallow or extremely deep leagues, be sure to review our Rest-of-Season Rankings (updated every Tuesday) to get an idea of how to value players not on this list.
* Players with an asterisk next to their name were mentioned in last week’s Waiver Wire Watch.
Raiders QB Terrelle Pryor* ($5)
After going three games without an interception, Pryor threw three of them against the Chiefs on Sunday — but he also threw for 216 yards and a TD and ran for 60 yards against one of the NFL’s better defenses. As well as he’s acquitted himself in his first season as a starter, it’s hard to believe that Pryor would be unowned in even a 10-team league, and yet he was owned in fewer than one-third of ESPN leagues as of Week 6. The Raiders are on bye this week, but Pryor remains a worthy long-term addition, and you should be able to get a nice bye-week discount.
Next up: BYE, Steelers, Eagles
Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill* ($2)
Fresh from a bye, Tannehill and the Dolphins get an attractive home matchup against the Bills in Week 7. Perhaps the week off gave Tannehill and WR Mike Wallace an opportunity to get in sync. Even with that particular bit of chemistry still fermenting in the test tube, Tannehill has averaged 277 passing yards per game, and he’s attempted no fewer than 34 passes in any of his five starts.
Next up: Bills, Patriots, Bengals
Bengals QB Andy Dalton ($2)
Dalton tends to be viewed unfavorably due to sub-optimal arm strength and his lousy performances in a pair of playoff games, but he’s been a solid backup-level fantasy quarterback over his first two-plus seasons in the NFL. After failing to throw a TD pass in two straight games, Dalton threw three TD passes and rolled up 337 passing yards in Cincinnati’s overtime win over Buffalo on Sunday. The Red Rifle is worth a couple of bucks if you need help at quarterback.
Next up: Lions, Jets, Dolphins
