Fantasy football Week 7: Add and drop

Each week I’ll list the best widely available free agents for fantasy football — I define “widely available” as being owned in around half of all ESPN or Yahoo leagues — and some guys who are probably better off in the free-agent pool than collecting dust on your roster.

Follow me on X (formerly known as Twitter) @UTEddieBrown if you have questions throughout the week.

Here’s my NFL Week 7 waiver wire cheat sheet for all league sizes and formats, with players you need to add, drop and stream in your fantasy football league:

ADD

— QB Jaxson Dart, Giants (ESPN: 35%; Yahoo: 32%): Dart’s roster percentage actually dropped before his impressive prime-time debut against the Eagles last Thursday night. He’s the overall QB8 since he became the starter in Week 4 with at least 54 rushing yards and multiple touchdowns in each of his first three starts. This week’s matchup at Denver is tough, but with him averaging 10 carries per start, Dart’s floor should be higher than most other QB options most weeks.

— RB Kimani Vidal, Chargers (ESPN: 27%; Yahoo: 31%): Omarion Hampton (ankle) was placed on injured reserve last week, which forced the fantasy community to play “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” with Vidal and Hassan Haskins, who each played 14 snaps against the Commanders and didn’t produce much in Week 5. I favored Haskins in standard formats and Vidal in PPR, but believed both had flex appeal against a weak Dolphins defense. It was Vidal who took Hampton’s role, producing 138 total yards on 21 touches with a TD reception. He has RB2/flex upside until further notice.

— TE Harold Fannin Jr., Browns (ESPN: 29%; Yahoo: 27%): David Njoku missed most of the second half after suffering a knee injury in a loss to the Steelers. Fannin was already a borderline fantasy starter — the rookie is the overall TE14 in standard formats (TE12 in PPR) — but his seven receptions for a career-high 81 yards at Pittsburgh is indicative of his upside if Njoku is out or ends up getting traded. Fannin was my No. 3 overall tight end in the 2025 NFL draft class.

— WR Jordan Whittington, Rams (ESPN:

— RB Tyjae Spears, Titans (ESPN: 24%; Yahoo: 24%): Considering his playmaking ability, Spears should have plenty of opportunity in an offense with a rookie quarterback still searching for its identity. His snap share jumped from 25.4% to 59% against the Raiders. Tony Pollard played a season-low 42.6% of the snaps, and there’s an outside shot he gets dealt to a running back-needy team before the deadline.

— QB Sam Darnold, Seahawks (ESPN: 23%; Yahoo: 38%): Darnold is the overall QB6 since Week 2 with 11 TD passes against only three interceptions and at least 295 passing yards in three of the last five games.

— WR Darius Slayton, Giants (ESPN: 20%; Yahoo: 25%): I still expect Slayton to have the biggest role in the G-Men’s pass attack once his hamstring is right with Malik Nabers out for the season.

— TE Mason Taylor, Jets (ESPN: 36%; Yahoo: 37%): Like all the other Jets, Taylor struggled mightily against the Broncos overseas, catching his only target for two yards. Garrett Wilson hyperextended his knee in London and is expected to miss a couple of weeks. The next two games are against the Panthers and Bengals, who are allowing the second-most and most fantasy points to tight ends this season.

— WR Kendrick Bourne, 49ers (ESPN: 38%; Yahoo: 35%): Bourne is the overall WR4 the last two weeks with 15 receptions on 20 targets for 284 yards. Jauan Jennings obviously wasn’t 100% healthy in his return, and there’s no telling when the Niners’ other injured offensive weapons will be ready to go.

— RB Kareem Hunt, Chiefs (ESPN: 34%; Yahoo: 43%): Kansas City’s offense has found a groove, averaging 31.7 points in its last three games. The backfield is still underwhelming, but Hunt leads the Chiefs in red-zone carries with 10 to Isiah Pacheco’s four, which gives him slightly more flex appeal on any given week. Brashard Smith (ESPN: 4%; Yahoo: 10%) still has the highest upside of the trio going forward.

— TE A.J. Barner, Seahawks (ESPN: 10%; Yahoo: 15%): Barner is the overall TE4 in standard formats (TE5 in PPR) since Week 2 with at least 71 yards or a TD in four of the last five games.

— WR Elic Ayomanor, Titans (ESPN: 28%; Yahoo: 25%): Calvin Ridley suffered a hamstring injury in the first quarter of a loss at Las Vegas and didn’t return. If Ridley misses more time, Ayomanor should see a bump in usage and has two good matchups on the horizon. The Patriots are allowing the 10th-most fantasy points to wide receivers, while the Colts are allowing the fifth-most this season.

— RB Tyler Allgeier, Falcons (ESPN: 33%; Yahoo: 35%): Allgeier has scored a TD in three of the last four games, and has at least 10 touches in four of five this season. He already has weekly flex appeal in deeper standard formats, but his workload would be substantial if anything happened to Bijan Robinson.

— WR Kayshon Boutte, Patriots (ESPN: 7%; Yahoo: 9%): I know Boutte basically went missing after his last great game in Week 1. He had six receptions for 103 yards against the Raiders. He followed that up with seven receptions for 105 yards and a TD the next four games before producing five receptions for 93 yards and two TDs against the Saints on Sunday. But this is more about Drake Maye. He’s proving himself the type of talent that’s capable of making multiple receivers fantasy relevant on any given week.

— RB Bam Knight, Cardinals (ESPN: 6%; Yahoo: 12%): Knight produced 54 total yards on 12 touches while scoring a TD for the second straight week and ended up playing more snaps than Michael Carter (37 to 32), who finished with 64 total yards on 11 touches. Knight took all four of the goal-line snaps, which gives him the more lucrative share of essentially a 50-50 split.

— TE Theo Johnson, Giants (ESPN: 17%; Yahoo: 22%): Johnson is the overall TE8 in standard formats (TE10 in PPR) since Week 4 with 11 receptions for 77 yards and three TDs on 16 targets in Dart’s three starts.

— QB Joe Flacco, Bengals (ESPN: 5%; Yahoo: 8%): If you’re streaming quarterbacks, Flacco is a solid option for the next three weeks against the Steelers, Jets and Bears, who are allowing the seventh-, 12th- and fourth-most fantasy points to QBs this season. Cincinnati’s defense is terrible and a QB at least has a fighting chance throwing to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

— WR Christian Kirk, Texans (ESPN: 25%; Yahoo: 26%): Kirk has flex appeal this week against the Seahawks, who are allowing the seventh-most PPR points per target to slot receivers (according to FantasyPros).

— TE Oronde Gadsden II, Chargers (ESPN:

— RB Kendre Miller, Saints (ESPN: 25%; Yahoo: 34%): Miller’s snap share plateaued at 39% against the Patriots, but there’s still real upside if New Orleans decides to trade Alvin Kamara before the Nov. 4 deadline.

— TE Michael Mayer, Raiders (ESPN: 3%; Yahoo: 2%): Mayer had five receptions on seven targets for 50 yards and a TD in a win over the Titans with Brock Bowers sidelined with a knee injury. He’ll deserve streaming consideration once again if Bowers remains out against the Chiefs.

— WR Luther Burden III, Bears (ESPN: 8%; Yahoo: 11%): Talented rookies usually see a bump in opportunities coming out of a bye, and Burden had four receptions on four targets in a win over the Commanders on Monday night. Both are a season high, and his 51 yards were second only to D’Andre Swift, who had a 55-yard TD reception. It’s only a matter of time until Burden supplants Olamide Zaccheaus as the third receiver behind Rome Odunze and D.J. Moore.

— RB Jaydon Blue, Cowboys (ESPN: 19%; Yahoo: 17%): Miles Sanders is done for the season after having knee surgery. Javonte Williams has been a bell-cow for Dallas, and Blue is now his handcuff. The dynamic rookie would step into a significant role should something happen to Williams.

— D/ST Patriots (ESPN: 66%; Yahoo: 51%): New England’s defense has been better in fantasy than reality, scoring the eighth-most fantasy points this season. The Patriots face the Titans and Browns the next two weeks, i.e. two rookie QBs.

— D/ST Browns (ESPN: 63%; Yahoo: 38%): Cleveland’s defense has been much better at home, allowing an average of 16 points per game as opposed to the 30.7 points it’s allowing on the road. It feels like the Dolphins are on the verge of imploding.

— D/ST Bears (ESPN: 4%; Yahoo: 7%): Chicago’s defense has scored at least eight fantasy points in four of five games this season, and it hosts the Saints this weekend.

DROP

— RB Tyrone Tracy Jr., Giants: Tracy returned from a shoulder injury in Week 6, but he only had a 30.4% snap share, four carries and zero targets. It appears Cam Skattebo has taken over the G-Men’s backfield.

— WR Chris Godwin, Buccaneers: Godwin was out against the 49ers with a fibula injury two games into his season after dislocating his ankle and fracturing his fibula last year. The timetable for his return is unclear, but he’s definitely out this week.

— RB Hassan Haskins, Chargers: Haskins has only produced 38 total yards on 13 touches in two games with Omarion Hampton out, and is averaging a measly 2.5 yards per carry.

— WR Jerry Jeudy, Browns: Jeudy is the overall WR76 in standard formats (WR62 in PPR) in two games with Dillon Gabriel under center, and is only averaging 8.3 yards per reception.

— RB Bhayshul Tuten, Jaguars: Tuten has six or fewer touches in five of six games this season. The only value in rostering the talented rookie is as Travis Etienne’s handcuff until further notice.