Waiver Targets 7.25

Your weekly roadmap to the wire. Each Tuesday, Tony Kneepkens highlights the top adds across positions — complete with FAAB recommendations and context to help you prioritize based on your league size and format.

These are the top players to consider adding from waivers this week. Unless otherwise noted, all players below are available in greater than 50% of Yahoo leagues (as of Sunday evening). Priorities and FAAB recommendations are meant to differentiate between some of the options available and are assuming 12-team, single-QB, fantasy formats.

This week’s waiver wire offers another high-priority RB option for managers to consider as well as some pass catchers who seem poised to take on larger roles filling in for injured teammates. I’ve tried to spell out players who I see as longer term holds, short-term spot starters, etc.

Week 7 teams on bye: Bills, Ravens

QB Pickups

Jaxson Dart, NYG, Week 7 at DEN

• Dart passed for 198-1 and added a 58-1 rushing line in last week’s win over the Eagles. He’s shown a fantasy-friendly skill set so far, rushing for 50+ yards and accounting for multiple TDs in each of his three career starts.
• Low-to-medium priority add. Dart’s rushing ability from the QB position appears to be his fantasy calling card and should provide a decent weekly floor. I don’t like his matchup in Denver this week, but that’s how I felt last week against the Eagles, to be fair. The Giants have a rematch in Philly on tap for Week 8.
• 5% or less of FAAB.

J.J. McCarthy, MIN, Week 7 vs PHI

• McCarthy is expected to practice this week and could be close to returning from his ankle injury suffered in Week 2. J.J. will soon be taking (back) over an offense that’s run by a great playcaller and affords him some of the league’s top playmakers to distribute the ball to.
• Low-priority add. There weren’t any widely available streaming options that jumped out at me this week. I like JJM as a bench stash for a manager who has a good option for this week but may need to cover a bye or play matchups at QB later in the fantasy season.
• 3% or less of FAAB.

RB Pickups

Kimani Vidal, LAC, Week 7 vs IND

• Vidal, a second-year RB, had a career day in Week 6 with 138 scrimmage yards and a TD catch. Vidal and Hassan Haskins were the next options in the LAC backfield with Omarion Hampton placed on short-term IR, but it was Vidal who handled 75% of the RB carries and 80% of the RB targets last week.
• High-priority add. Vidal had a great game and a strong role for playing for an offense with a high-level QB. He should have a shot at a few more weeks of strong usage with Hampton set to miss at least three more games. Adding a usable RB on a decent offense right in the heart of bye weeks is a very impactful use of waiver priority or FAAB.
• 40 – 60% of FAAB.

Tyjae Spears, TEN, Week 7 vs NE

• Spears played his second game of the season last week after an early-season ankle injury. He had nine touches for 50 scrimmage yards in the loss to the Raiders, compared to his teammate Tony Pollard’s dozen touches for 47 scrimmage yards. Tennessee fired head coach Brian Callahan on Monday.
• Medium-priority add. Spears is at worst a primary backup RB on a bad offense who has shown he can play a versatile role. At best, he has a chance to take the majority of touches from Pollard and the offense starts to put some drives together as the season progresses. I like stashing Spears to see how this all shakes out with the interim coach in place.
• 10 – 20% of FAAB.

Bam Knight, AZ, Week 7 vs GB

• Knight led the Cardinals RBs with 11 carries to Michael Carter’s nine in Week 6 with both RBs rushing for 34 yards on their opportunities. Knight added a catch for 20 yards while Carter caught two of his five targets for 30 yards.
• Low-to-medium priority add. Any RB leading his team in carries and touches is worthy of strong consideration but the Cards will be on their bye Week 8 after hosting the Packers as underdogs this week. Carter remains the AZ RB that I prefer based on him seeing five targets in each of the past two weeks, but Knight belongs on rosters to see how Week 7 shakes out.
• 10% or less of FAAB.

Some additional lower-priority RB adds to consider ::