Week 7 Waiver Wire: Projecting Top Fantasy Football Adds and Drops

The fantasy football playoffs loom nearer with each passing week. As dedicated managers seek the promised land, we shepherds must make the difficult decisions to trim our herd's fat in favor of the muscle needed to earn the coveted glory of superiority over our peers. 

After six weeks of play, it's becoming more reasonable to latch on to this season's trends and adjust roster depth accordingly. Using a baseline of 33 percent ownership in Yahoo fantasy leagues, we examine the top adds and drops at each position going into Week 7. 

As a general modus operandi in a week without many standout waiver-wire adds, we are emphasizing ceilings for most of our adds (owned in under 33 percent of leagues) and drops (owned in over 33 percent).

Quarterback Adds

Kyle Allen, Carolina Panthers (10 percent owned)

Allen is 4-0 this season and has been incredibly efficient despite not lighting up the box score. He has yet to throw for over 261 yards, but the Houston product has thrown 122 passes without an interception while converting seven touchdowns.

Although the lack of volume or running is a detriment to his upside, the 6'3" signal-caller has proved he is a legitimate high-floor quarterback who can take advantage of Carolina's weapons and potentially compete for the starting job even when Cam Newton returns to full health.

Sam Darnold, New York Jets (16 percent owned)

If you're more interested in ceilings than floors, Darnold is your guy. After returning from a bout of mononucleosis, he dropped a hefty 338-yard, two-touchdown game in a win against the Dallas Cowboys.

Those numbers aren't earth-moving and the 22-year-old did throw an interception, but the Cowboys had only been allowing 220.4 passing yards per game in 2019, so his performance deserves notice. 

He can hit on a deep ball to Robby Anderson and should be boosted by the dink-and-dunk security blanket provided by Jamison Crowder and Le'Veon Bell. Darnold is a gamble at quarterback, but he could pay off in a big way by season's end.

Quarterback Drops

Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers (63 percent owned)

This is no slight against Garoppolo's ability. This is a credit to the potency of the 49ers running attack and the impermeability of their defense. At 6-0, San Francisco has no real need to change up their formula just yet. 

That has included the 27-year-old throwing 29.2 times per game, 30th among quarterbacks this season. The 49ers are rushing for 179.8 yards per game while limiting opposing offenses to just 12.8 points per game, both second-best in the league. 

Unless Garoppolo is forced into throwing the ball more and becomes a volume play, his inefficiency (seven touchdowns to five interceptions) makes him a mediocre play at best and not worth rostering.

Running Back Adds

Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings (22 percent owned)

Mattison was already the most valuable handcuff in fantasy football this season. Now, with double-digit carries in two of the past four weeks, he is in must-own territory.

No one wants Dalvin Cook to go down, but the phenomenal back has yet to play a full season in his two prior two seasons, and Mattison would become a league-winner if that bell-cow role opened up.

Through six games, the 21-year-old is averaging 5.3 yards per carry (on a respectable 48 attempts) and has shown enough juice to comfortably close out games for the run-first Minnesota Vikings.

Fantasy football's trophy handcuff is beginning to show signs of standalone value when the Vikings are blowing teams out, so any manager's bench should be happy to have him. 

Jamaal Williams, Green Bay Packers (15 percent owned)

I was never a believer in Jamaal Williams, but he stormed into my ill-prepared consciousness after Aaron Jones graciously opened the door on Monday Night Football with a fumble and a dropped touchdown.

The 24-year-old proceeded to erupt for 136 total yards and a touchdown on 19 looks (five targets and 14 carries).

Like his teammate Allen Lazard, who could be a speculative add himself, Williams looked the part and matched Aaron Rodgers' mojo on prime-time television.

Weeks of games tell me Jones is still the better back, but Williams cannot be ignored after an impressive clutch performance for a team that was already hungry to balance out its backfield's snaps.

Running Back Drops

Chris Thompson, Washington Redskins (65 percent owned)

Aside from the obvious injury concerns with Thompson, the production has just not been there this year and there is no reason to expect it will be. The elusive back is averaging a decent 59.2 yards per game this season but has yet to find the end zone. 

Bill Callahan gave Adrian Peterson 23 carries in his first game as Washington's head coach, and the veteran responded with a vintage 118-yard performance.

Thompson was already hard to hold onto this season, and his team's new direction makes him a premium candidate for replacement by a high-upside player off the waiver wire. 

Wide Receiver Adds

Dante Pettis, San Francisco 49ers (17 percent owned)

The 49ers may not be passing much, but Pettis could still become fantasy-relevant if he firmly takes hold as their top wide receiver.

The 23-year-old lived in Kyle Shanahan's doghouse for the summer and into the season, but he has shown signs he is finally back on track.

Pettis has paced the team's receivers in targets in two of the past three weeks and, after scoring the game-winning touchdown in Week 3, he has just nearly missed on turning a target into a touchdown in the two weeks following their bye.

The Washington product has talent and is beginning to get the opportunity, so this could be the chance to get him cheap before the big games start coming.

Auden Tate, Cincinnati Bengals (23 percent owned)

At some point, A.J. Green and John Ross will each be back for the Bengals. That certainly dampens expectations of Tate's value, but his play and role remain fascinating.

The 6'5", 227-pound receiver has been averaging 8.5 targets per game over the past four weeks for a quarterback who has attempted the fifth-most passes per game in 2019. 

Without a tight end to vie for Andy Dalton's attention, the 22-year-old seems to have carved himself a healthy role as the big-bodied receiver in a pass-heavy offense. That could keep Tate in the lineup moving forward. 

Wide Receiver Drops

Demarcus Robinson, Kansas City Chiefs (54 percent owned)

Robinson and Mecole Hardman were already boom-or-bust options, and they will continue to be. But one week of Tyreek Hill's return, even without Sammy Watkins involved, was enough to curtail confidence in Robinson's remaining upside. 

Against the Houston Texans, the 25-year-old failed to pull in any of his four targets. That automatically makes him a reasonable drop for a waiver-wire pickup who should factor more heavily into their team's game plan.

Tight End Adds

Dawson Knox, Buffalo Bills (8 percent owned)

After being drafted in the third round, Knox has only averaged 3.6 targets per game in his rookie campaign. That's translated into 33 yards per game and only one touchdown on the season, but the 6'4", 254-pound juggernaut has shown enough juice to warrant adding in a desolate tight end landscape.

Against the Bengals, Knox demolished defenders on a huge 49-yard gain; against the New England Patriots, he showed tremendous vision, hands and extension on a 21-yard reception.

The Mississippi product is a fun prospect, especially if he continues his upward trajectory against a miserable Miami Dolphins defense in Week 7.

Chris Herndon, New York Jets (27 percent owned)

The Herndon hype subsided after his highly anticipated return from suspension was derailed by a hamstring injury in practice.

Nevertheless, if the 23-year-old is able to bounce back from this injury, he could become a contributor at a position that has been mostly devoid of production in 2019.

Tight End Drops

Will Dissly, Seattle Seahawks (88 percent owned)

As reported by John Boyle of the official Seahawks website, Dissly's injury in Week 6 is likely a season-ender.

With a presumed Achilles tear, it seems fantasy managers will need to move on from the 23-year-old just as soon as they had begun accustomed to him lighting up their weekly scoreboards.