Waiver Wire Week 7: Reviewing Top Pickups and Drops Likely Available
It's always difficult to drop an early- or mid-round draft pick from your fantasy football roster. Even if they're underperforming, you may not be able to bring yourself to omit them.
Six weeks into the NFL season, though, it may be time to cut ties if someone hasn't fared nearly as well as they were projected to at the start of the campaign.
As we head into Week 7, here's a look at the top add/drop candidates for fantasy managers this week.
Add: Latavius Murray, RB, Denver Broncos
The Broncos' backfield picture is a bit unclear at the moment. With Javonte Williams (torn ACL) out for the season, Melvin Gordon III seemed to be in a prime position to become their bell-cow RB, but that isn't how things have worked out.
On Monday night, Gordon had only three carries for eight yards.in the overtime road loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Latavius Murray was instead the workhorse for Denver's running game, as he had 66 yards on 15 carries in his debut for the team.
Gordon, Murray and Mike Boone could all be in the mix moving forward, making each of them a bit risky to start in fantasy lineups. But Murray has a lot of upside, especially if he continues to enjoy the type of workload he had in Week 6.
So, it's worth picking up the 32-year-old now and then leaving him on the bench in Week 7 to see what happens.
If Murray gets a lot of opportunities again in the Broncos' home matchup against the New York Jets on Sunday, then he could be a viable starting option moving forward.
Drop: Cam Akers, RB, Los Angeles Rams
Should fantasy managers wait to see where Cam Akers gets traded (a likely scenario) before parting ways with him? Probably not, especially as roster spots are valuable and the 23-year-old running back is unlikely to be a factor this year, even in a new environment.
In five games with the Rams this season, the 23-year-old has 51 carries for 151 yards. He's scored only one touchdown, and he's been held to 33 or fewer total yards three times.
Akers also didn't play last week, with Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay indicating that "a fresh new start with another team" could be on the horizon.
Maybe a new opportunity could yield better results for the Florida State product, but it's unclear how long it may take for a move to materialize or if one will even happen prior to the Nov. 1 trade deadline.
So, it's not worth having Akers take up a roster spot as an unusable player at this point. Drop him, and then if he becomes fantasy relevant later on, you can try to get him back through the waiver process. But it's not even a sure thing that that will happen, anyway.
Add: Robert Tonyan, TE, Green Bay Packers
The Packers' passing attack hasn't been nearly explosive this season as it has been in recent years.
Their receiving corps needed players to step up, as the unit had yet to jell with quarterback Aaron Rodgers. And tight end Robert Tonyan did just that last weekend.
The 28-year-old got off to a slow start in 2022, but that was to be expected after a torn ACL last season. However, he's been much more of a factor in recent weeks.
Tonyan scored his first touchdown of the year in a Week 4 win over the New England Patriots, and he had 10 catches for 90 yards in the loss to the New York Jets last week.
Plenty of fantasy managers stream tight ends throughout the season because there aren't many top-tier options at the position, but the Indiana State product has the potential to be an every-week starter moving forward.
After last week's performance, Tonyan put himself back on the fantasy radar. So, try to beat your leaguemates to the waiver wire and pick him up for a potentially big boost at tight end.
Drop: Elijah Moore, WR, New York Jets
Elijah Moore had an impressive rookie season in 2021, when he proved he could be an exciting offensive playmaker at the NFL level. However, his lack of involvement in the Jets' offense this year has prevented him from building off of that strong showing.
Over the first six weeks of this season, the 22-year-old has yet to record more than 55 total yards in a game. He has just 16 catches for 203 yards and no touchdowns. And his production has gone down since quarterback Zach Wilson returned from injury.
In Week 5, Moore had one catch for 11 yards in a win over the Miami Dolphins. Last week, he wasn't targeted once in a win over the Green Bay Packers while playing a season-low 58 percent of New York's offensive snaps.
With the Ole Miss product's usage trending in the wrong direction (and the Jets' passing attack not putting up huge numbers), it's best to drop the receiver. He's not nearly involved enough to justify stashing him on the bench right now.