Fantasy Football

Some fantasy football managers may already be trawling the waiver wire after Seattle Seahawks star DK Metcalf was carted back to the locker room during Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

It's unclear how serious Metcalf's injury is, so dropping him altogether might be premature. But the odds of him missing some time look pretty strong, creating the need to replace his lost production.

Kansas City Chiefs wideout Mecole Hardman is in the middle of a monster fantasy performance against the San Francisco 49ers. He has four receptions for 32 yards and one touchdown and padded his fantasy production with 28 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.

Hardman is rostered in just 23 percent of Yahoo Sports leagues, which underlines his risk. Entering Week 7, his 21 targets were fourth-most on the Chiefs, and you can't count on him to find the end zone through the running game every week.

Teammate Marquez Valdes-Scantling (19 receptions, 258 yards) might be a slightly safer play, and he's likely to be available as well since he's rostered in 36 percent of Yahoo leagues.

Like Hardman, Marquise Goodwin is enjoying a strong Week 7. The Seattle Seahawks wideout has hauled in four passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns.

Goodwin figures to move up the pecking order in Seattle's offense in the wake of Metcalf's injury, which would likely be accompanied by an increase in his targets.

Even though the ninth-year pass-catcher has had a limited role (six receptions for 79 yards on 10 targets), he might be the most logical pivot if you need an alternative to Metcalf.

Darius Slayton quickly fell back to earth following a six-catch, 79-yard outing in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers. However, the New York Giants receiver's stock is climbing again after he finished with three receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown Sunday in a 23-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Adding Slayton is certainly a high-upside play and makes more sense for fantasy managers who already have some depth on their squad.

Like Slayton, Parris Campbell is trending in the right direction. The Indianapolis Colts receiver has 17 catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns over the past two weeks.

Because this stretch is such an outlier in Campbell's career—he had 360 receiving yards and two touchdowns through his first three seasons—the 25-year-old could be due for a major regression.

Depending on how aggressive your fellow managers approach Campbell, you may not have another week to find out whether his current run is sustainable across the remainder of the season.

Jonathan Taylor will return to the Indianapolis Colts offense for Week 7.

The top selection in most fantasy football drafts was close to playing last weekend, but his ankle injury prevented him from doing so.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Friday that Taylor has no injury designation from the Indianapolis Colts.

Taylor's return is not only a welcome sight for the Colts, but also for fantasy football players trying to navigate other injuries and the Week 7 byes.

Russell Wilson has not been kind to fantasy football players this season, but he may be used out of necessity in Week 7 with Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Matthew Stafford and Kirk Cousins all on bye weeks.

Wilson was limited in practice Thursday and Friday, and he was confirmed as a game-time decision for Sunday by head coach Nathaniel Hackett.

Below is a look at all of the other injuries that could affect fantasy football rosters for Week 7's games.

• Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, DET: full participant in practice (ankle), per NFL.com.
• D'Andre Swift, RB, DET: questionable (ankle/shoulder)
• Mark Andrews, TE, BAL: questionable (knee), per ESPN's Adam Schefter.
• J.K. Dobbins, RB, BAL: out (knee), per Schefter. 
• Julio Jones, WR, TB: out (knee), per NFL.com.
• Baker Mayfield, QB, CAR: doubtful (ankle), per NFL.com.
• Saquon Barkley, RB, NYG: full participant in practice (shoulder), per The Record's Art Stapleton.
• Kenny Golladay, WR, NYG: out (knee), per NFL.com.
• Randall Cobb, WR, GB: out (ankle), per NFL.com.
• Christian Watson, WR, GB: out (hamstring), per NFL.com.
• Jahan Dotson, WR, WAS: questionable (hamstring), per NFL.com.
• Darren Waller, TE, LV: did not practice Friday (hamstring), per The Athletic's Tashan Reed.

Jonathan Taylor Set to Return

Taylor's injury status is much more promising than it was last week.

The running back was listed as questionable with his ankle injury ahead of the Week 6 clash with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he was ruled out 24 hours before the game.

Taylor is in better shape to be on the field for Week 7, as is Nyheim Hines, who suffered a concussion in Week 5.

Indianapolis was able to get by without either in Week 6 thanks to the contributions of Deon Jackson.

Jackson was a one-week streaming option for fantasy players and will likely not make a significant impact as long as Taylor is healthy.

As for Taylor, the extra week of rest may allow him to feel more comfortable with his cuts and acceleration.

Taylor has never had more than 70 rushing yards in four career games against the Tennessee Titans. He had over 10 carries in three of his last four meetings and was limited to 42 yards on 20 carries in Week 4.

Tennessee held its last three opponents under 100 rushing yards, but even with that matchup in play, Taylor will be a starting running back across all fantasy formats.

The last thing you want is for one of the top running backs in the NFL to go off for a ton of points on your bench, especially in a week where so many fantasy stars have bye weeks.

Russell Wilson Is a Game-Time Decision

Wilson's injury designation may turn you away from him as a bye-week replacement. You will have to wait until the middle of the 1 p.m. ET games to find out if he will be active.

The nine-time Pro Bowler has been one of the most disappointing offensive players in the NFL this season. He is coming off an 188-yard passing performance in Week 6.

The former Seattle Seahawks quarterback has one 250-yard passing outing in the last five weeks and just five touchdown passes with his new team.

If Wilson was healthy, he may have been considered by some fantasy football players to replace one of the bye-week QBs.

Instead, a banged-up Wilson going up against a tough New York Jets defense seems like one of the worst matchups on the board.

Marcus Mariota, Jimmy Garoppolo and Jared Goff are among the better bye-week replacements who are guaranteed to play Sunday.

The selection of waiver-wire quarterbacks is far from great, but you can get by with one of those players other than Wilson.