6 Last-Minute Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups & Injury Replacements (Week 7)

Fantasy football can be an extremely fun game to play. It can also be highly frustrating at times. Nothing is more annoying than needing to make a last-minute waiver-wire move because someone in your starting lineup is out for the week. Sadly, there isn’t much you can do about it. However, I’m going to try to help.

Every week, I will have six players you can grab off the waiver wire at the last minute and throw into your lineup. Some will succeed, while others will fail. Unfortunately, that’s how the game of fantasy football is played. Let’s dive into my six last-minute waiver wire targets for Week 7.

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Last-Minute Waiver Wire Pickups & Injury Replacements

All the players in this article are rostered in under 35% of ESPN leagues.

Bryce Young (QB – CAR) vs. New York Jets (18.6% Rostered)

Fantasy players will hate the thought of starting Young in Week 7. The former Alabama star has averaged only 191.7 passing yards, 1.7 touchdowns, and 13.7 fantasy points per game this season. Yet, he has taken advantage of fantasy-friendly matchups, totaling 328 passing yards, three touchdowns, and 21.3 fantasy points against the Arizona Cardinals earlier this year. More importantly, Young was outstanding last week despite having only 25 pass attempts, completing 68% of his throws for 199 yards, three touchdowns, and 18.5 fantasy points against an awful Dallas Cowboys defense.

Hopefully, the Alabama star can have similar success against the Jets this week. New York’s defense has severely struggled. Last week, Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos offense couldn’t get on track, as the former Oregon star had only one touchdown and 13.4 fantasy points in London. However, New York had surrendered 2.2 passing touchdowns and 20 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks over the first five weeks, the sixth-most in the league. They gave up four passing touchdowns and at least 25.7 fantasy points twice over those five contests.

Zonovan Knight (RB – ARI) vs. Green Bay Packers (21.4% Rostered)

Arizona’s backfield has been a fantasy landmine since the Cardinals lost Trey Benson to a knee injury a few weeks ago. Last week, Knight took over as the team guy, playing a team-high 51% of the backfield snaps. The veteran finished Week 6 as the RB15, totaling 11 rushing attempts for 34 yards, a reception for 20 receiving yards, and 12.4 PPR fantasy points. By comparison, Michael Carter was the RB27, totaling nine rushing attempts for 34 yards, two receptions for 30 receiving yards, and 8.4 fantasy points last week.

Furthermore, Knight has found the end zone in back-to-back games. More importantly, he faces a Packers defense that has struggled to slow down the run lately. Green Bay has surrendered 84.3 rushing yards and 20 fantasy points per game to running backs over the past month. The Packers gave up over 95 rushing yards, a touchdown, and at least 21.7 fantasy points to the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys backfields in two of their past three games. Knight should score double-digit fantasy points for the third consecutive game on Sunday.

Sterling Shepard (WR – TB) vs. Detroit Lions (19.2% Rostered)

While Mike Evans has a fair chance to return to the lineup on Monday night against the Lions after missing the past three games with a hamstring injury, the Buccaneers will be without Chris Godwin (fibula) and Emeka Egbuka (hamstring). Last week, Tampa Bay’s wide receiver corps stepped up with the three star pass catchers out of the lineup. Shepard had two receptions on three targets for 51 receiving yards and 7.1 PPR fantasy points. More importantly, the veteran has quietly been a consistent flex option this season.

The former Oklahoma star is the WR48 for the year, averaging 8.2 fantasy points per game. Shepard has scored 6.9 or more fantasy points in all but one contest. Meanwhile, Detroit has surrendered 36.3 fantasy points per game to wide receivers, the sixth-most in the NFL. Furthermore, they have given up 11.5 receptions for 168 receiving yards, three touchdowns, and 46.6 fantasy points per game to wide receivers over the past two weeks. Unfortunately, the Lions will be without their two starting cornerbacks for the second consecutive game.

Tutu Atwell (WR – LAR) vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (3.9% Rostered)

Unfortunately, the Rams won’t have Puka Nacua this week after he suffered an ankle injury in Week 6. Thankfully, they do get Atwell back after he missed last week’s contest with a hamstring injury. The former Louisville star got off to a slow start this season, totaling three targets and 1.4 PPR fantasy points over the first three weeks. However, Atwell has had three receptions on six targets for 160 receiving yards, a touchdown, and 25 fantasy points over his past two games, totaling 9.2 or more in both outings.

Meanwhile, he has a fantasy-friendly matchup against the Jaguars in London. Jacksonville has surrendered 35.7 fantasy points per game to wide receivers this year, the seventh-most in the NFL. Furthermore, they have given up 181.2 receiving yards, 1.2 touchdowns, and 39.1 fantasy points per game to wide receivers since Week 1. More importantly, the Jaguars have allowed double-digit receptions of 20 or more receiving yards to wide receivers this season, including a 61-yarder to Jaxon Smith-Njigba last week. Expect Atwell to have a couple of downfield receptions in London.

Mason Taylor (TE – NYJ) vs. Carolina Panthers (27.6% Rostered)

Taylor made this article last week as my favorite last-minute replacement tight end. Unfortunately, the rookie was a massive fantasy bust, catching his only target for two receiving yards, scoring 1.2 PPR fantasy points against the Denver Broncos. However, the former LSU star was playing well before last week’s flop, totaling 14 receptions on 19 targets for 132 receiving yards and 29.2 fantasy points over the previous two games, scoring 11.5 or more in both contests. Thankfully, he has an excellent chance to bounce back on Sunday against the Panthers.

Last week, Carolina gave up 33 receiving yards, a touchdown, and 12.3 fantasy points to Jake Ferguson. They’ve surrendered the second-most fantasy points per game to tight ends (17.6) this year, allowing 15.3 or more in all but one contest. Furthermore, the Panthers have given up 74 receiving yards, a touchdown, and 19.7 fantasy points per game to tight ends over the past three weeks. More importantly, Taylor will be the Jets’ No. 1 option in the passing game with Garrett Wilson unlikely to play because of a knee injury.

Cade Otton (TE – TB) vs. Detroit Lions (26.5% Rostered)

Thankfully, the Buccaneers should have Mike Evans back after the star wide receiver missed three games with a hamstring injury. Unfortunately, they won’t have Chris Godwin and Emeka Egbuka because of injuries on Monday night against the Lions. Last year, Otton stepped up when Tampa Bay was dealing with multiple injuries at wide receiver, ranking as the TE2, averaging 7.3 receptions on 9.7 targets for 64.3 receiving yards, a touchdown, and 19.8 PPR fantasy points per game, totaling 21.7 or more twice in the three contests without Evans and Godwin.

More importantly, the veteran has played well lately. Otton has averaged 4.5 receptions for 66 receiving yards and 11.1 fantasy points per game over the past two weeks, scoring double-digits in both contests. Meanwhile, the Lions’ secondary has been destroyed by injuries. They have surrendered 13.2 fantasy points per game to tight ends, slightly above the league average. However, Detroit has given up 5.8 receptions for 66.3 receiving yards, 0.5 touchdowns, and 15.4 fantasy points per game to tight ends over the past month, allowing 18.3 or more twice.

Mike Fanelli is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @Mike_NFL2.