Fantasy Football Week 7 Waiver Wire: Jordan Mason Leads Top Free-Agent Pickups
The 2023 fantasy football season has been marred by injuries to some of its most impactful contributors.
First-round picks such as Justin Jefferson, Austin Ekeler, Saquon Barkley and Nick Chubb have all been sidelined, highlighting just how important it is to play the waiver wire and cultivate a strong bench.
Even if you've lost multiple stars over the first third of the campaign, it's not too late to recover. There is still plenty of time left before the playoffs to build a competitive roster through shrewd free-agent pickups. There are several viable starters up for grabs in most leagues right now, especially after a rash of injuries in Week 6.
Fantasy studs like Christian McCaffrey and David Montgomery exited their respective contests over the weekend and could miss more time going forward. Managers can capitalize on these unfortunate situations by picking up their largely unrostered backups who look poised to step into more prominent roles.
With that in mind, read on for the top waiver-wire claims for Week 7. All suggested pickups are rostered in 50 percent or less of Yahoo! leagues.
Fantasy points and rankings are based on FantasyPros' PPR data.
Sam Howell, QB, Washington Commanders (38 Percent Rostered)
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The Washington Commanders have been quietly emerging into a competitive squad with Sam Howell at the helm. While his stats may not jump off the page, the second-year quarterback is showing growth each week and has proved he can be a viable fantasy option.
While he isn't in QB1 territory just yet, he's finished inside the top 14 for points scored at his position in all but one game this season. He's coming off a performance against the Atlanta Falcons in which he racked up an efficient 18.3 points by completing 14 passes with three touchdowns on just 23 throws.
Howell has been getting the type of volume that an elite fantasy quarterback needs to thrive. PFF's Nathan Jahnke noted that the 23-year-old already leads the league in dropbacks and is just one of nine quarterbacks to reach 1,500 passing yards this year.
While he wasn't tasked with throwing much in a blowout victory over the Falcons this weekend, he was coming off a Week 5 performance against the Chicago Bears in which he tossed up a career-high 51 passing attempts. He threw 41 times in Week 4 and hadn't tried fewer than 29 passes in a game until Sunday.
Scoring plays were the main thing holding the North Carolina product back during the first month of the season. He had only connected on four touchdown throws between Weeks 1 and 4, but he's since found paydirt a respectable five times in the last two matchups.
Managers could do far worse than putting a claim in for Howell if their top quarterback is out on bye—which is possible given Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Dak Prescott and C.J. Stroud are among those set to take a break in Week 7—or hasn't been playing at a high level in 2023.
Jordan Mason, RB, San Francisco 49ers (4 Percent Rostered)
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DK DFS Value: $N/A
The San Francisco 49ers have yet to confirm whether Christian McCaffrey will miss more time after he left Sunday's loss against the Cleveland Browns with an oblique injury.
The running back was initially sidelined in the third quarter, but he returned to the game briefly before exiting for good in the fourth.
If the two-time Pro Bowler can't go in Week 7 or is limited due to the injury, Jordan Mason is looking like the top choice to pick up the slack. The second-year back took on most of the rushing duties following McCaffrey's exit, notching 27 yards and a touchdown on his five carries.
It was a rather surprisingly development given Elijah Mitchell was active—his first game back after a two-game layoff with a knee injury—and largely considered McCaffrey's top handcuff option. He finished the game with a disheartening minus-three yards on his two totes.
Mason's solid showing wasn't completely unexpected. He made some noise during last week's blowout victory over the Dallas Cowboys, turning his 10 carries into 69 yards and a touchdown. While most of that production came in mop-up duty, he showed enough to earn head coach Kyle Shanahan's trust going forward.
While Mitchell and Mason should both be rostered while McCaffrey's status is up in the air, the latter looks to be the priority pickup.
The 24-year-old is healthy, playing well and appears poised to get the first crack at leading the backfield should the starter miss time. That could change—especially with Shanahan having a propensity to take a platoon approach to his backfields—but consider Mason an extremely high-upside RB3 for now.
Kareem Hunt, RB, Cleveland Browns (36 Percent Rostered)
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DK DFS Value: $5,000
The Cleveland Browns notched their biggest win of the season on Sunday, becoming the first team to topple the San Francisco 49ers in 2023.
Kareem Hunt, signed less than a month ago after Nick Chubb was lost to a knee injury, played a big role in this victory. With Deshaun Watson sidelined due to a shoulder injury and backup quarterback PJ Walker making the start, the running game largely carried Cleveland to victory.
Hunt finished the contest with 47 yards and a touchdown on his 12 carries and reeled in three receptions for 24 yards. It was his best performance since returning to the Browns in 2019 and could be indicative of his future usage now that he's reacclimated in the offense.
While Jerome Ford is still the clear RB1 in Cleveland—he had 84 yards on his 17 totes and chipped in two receptions for seven yards against the Niners—Hunt could eat into that volume in the coming weeks.
Ford may have had a solid outing on Sunday, but he had been averaging fewer than three yards per carry in the previous two contests and has just one truly impressive showing this year: A 16-carry, 106-yard outburst after replacing Chubb against the Steelers in Week 2.
The Browns have a plus-matchup with the Indianapolis Colts coming up in Week 7. They just allowed the Jacksonville Jaguars to score 37 points while giving up two rushing touchdowns to Travis Etienne Jr. on Sunday.
Even if Watson returns to action—ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that it is a possibility—for this game, Hunt should still have ample opportunity to put up some respectable fantasy numbers against a weak defense.
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Craig Reynolds, RB, Detroit Lions (2 Percent Rostered)
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DK DFS Value: $4,900
The Detroit Lions were dealt a blow on Sunday when David Montgomery went down with a rib injury. He was ruled out after taking a big hit in the second quarter.
While NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported that the initial X-rays were negative, it still remains to be seen what the running back's status will be this coming weekend.
If Montgomery can't suit up or isn't fully healthy for Week 7, Craig Reynolds becomes an intriguing fantasy option.
The second-year back saw his highest carry total of the campaign after replacing Montgomery against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he only managed to turn those 10 totes in 15 yards. He did fare better as a pass-catcher, chipping in a season-high 28 yards on his two catches.
While Reynolds struggled against a tough defensive front, he's shown he can be a capable rusher when called upon. The Kutztown product proved as much last week when he tallied 52 yards and a score on just seven carries during the blowout win over the Panthers.
Reynolds may be worth a waiver claim, but fantasy managers won't want to insert the 27-year-old into their starting lineups just yet. Not only will Montgomery's status impact how much of the field he might see in Week 7, but the potential return of rookie Jahmyr Gibbs could also heavily curtail his potential usage against the Ravens this Sunday.
Gibbs has missed the last two games and hasn't practiced since he strained his hamstring leading up to the Carolina contest. If the first-round pick is able to return in Week 7, Reynolds would likely take a back seat and earn a sporadic amount of touches.
It's worth monitoring this situation closely and making decisions based on the latest news leading up to Sunday.
With depth option Zonovan Knight's season over following a shoulder injury suffered against the Panthers, there is little else standing in the way of Reynolds dominating the backfield should Gibbs and Montgomery both get ruled out. He could even be a week-winning fantasy spot-starter due to a potential lead back role on Sunday.
Kendrick Bourne, WR, New England Patriots (16 Percent Rostered)
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DK DFS Value: $4,400
The New England Patriots' season may be all but over following their abysmal 1-5 start, but at least one of their wideouts is emerging from it as fantasy-relevant.
Kendrick Bourne had been having a decent campaign leading up to Week 6—he posted an 18-catch, 218-yard, two-touchdown line over the first five weeks—but he had his best outing of 2023 against the Las Vegas Raiders, reeling in 10 receptions on 11 targets for 89 yards and even getting a carry that he took for four yards.
While these aren't eye-popping numbers, they are strong enough to put the 28-year-old on the fantasy radar at a position that hasn't seen many worthwhile waiver targets crop up in recent weeks.
Bourne has become one of the few productive options in this broken New England offense, as no other Patriots receiver had more than a single catch or three targets against the Raiders. Tight end Mike Gesiciki was the team's second-most productive pass-catcher in the contest but had just 28 yards on his three receptions.
It's tough to trust anyone in this New England passing attack right now, and Bourne seems to be the only one worth a start. He'll try to build upon his season-best showing in Week 7 when his side meets the rival Buffalo Bills.
It's a tough matchup, so consider Bourne a low-end WR3 with some volume-based upside who should have better days in the weeks to come.
Michael Mayer, TE, Las Vegas Raiders (5 Percent Rostered)
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DK DFS Value: $2,700
Michael Mayer was one of the top tight end prospects in the 2023 draft, but he has not gotten off to as fast of a start as some of his contemporaries such as Sam LaPorta.
His production has seen a spike as he's become more comfortable in the Las Vegas Raiders offense, though, and he took a massive leap in Week 6 after posting some career-best numbers against the New England Patriots.
The 22-year-old finished the day with team highs of five receptions on six targets for 75 yards. It was a strong follow-up to his performance against the Green Bay Packers last week, in which he caught two of three targets for 39 yards. Prior to Week 5, he had just one catch on two targets for two yards.
If Mayer continues to trend upward, he could soon be a worthwhile fantasy starter at a position that is notoriously difficult to find consistent production at. He's already on the streaming radar heading into a Week 7 clash with the hapless Chicago Bears and a defense that has given up 29.3 points per game.
Tight ends have been gashing the unit in 2023, with T.J. Hockenson, Logan Thomas and Travis Kelce all pacing their respective squads in receiving yardage when facing Chicago over the last month.
While Mayer may still have some growing pains ahead, he's starting to find his stride and has too much pass-catching talent to be held in check consistently. The Raiders snapped a three-game losing skid and won each of their last two games by finally getting him involved.
Based on those results, the Notre Dame product should continue to play a prominent role in the offense and could eventually emerge as a worthwhile fantasy starter on a weekly basis.
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