With one game left in Week 7, it’s time to hit the waiver wire. These are my biggest waiver wire and FAAB targets for Week 8. Every player in this article is available in at least half of all Yahoo leagues.
Rivers McCown highlights four fantasy players whose fantasy football stock rose in Week 7 of the NFL season and four whose stock fell.
▶ Quarterback
Jacoby Brissett, Cardinals
Brissett isn’t the free square QB1 he was in 2025, but that should change for at least one week when he takes on the Cowboys on Sunday. Pending their Monday Night Football game, the Cowboys are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. They rank dead last in EPA per dropback allowed. This is the easiest matchup in the league.
Michael Penix, Falcons
After his second 20-point fantasy outing in a row, Penix is up to ninth in the league in EPA per dropback. He’s top-five in both touchdown rate (6.3 percent) and yards per attempt (8.0). Penix gets a tough matchup with the Bucs this week, so he isn’t a premier Week 8 streamer, but he is still the best talent-based bet on waivers right now.
Malik Willis, Dolphins
Like Penix, Willis is starting to heat up with his first and second 20-point fantasy outings of the year coming in his past two games. Week 7 was his best day as a passer by far. His 66.7 percent completion rate and 9.9 yards per attempt both go down as season highs. He also found the end zone on the ground for the second week in a row. Willis is only a QB2 for Week 8, but that’s as good as it gets on the waiver wire.
J.J. McCarthy, Giants
The Giants have Week 8 off, so McCarthy is only a long-term play, but he might be the best season-long bet Superflex players get to make this year. McCarthy has been lights out through five quarters with the Giants. Among quarterbacks with at least 50 dropbacks, NINE is 11th in EPA per play and fifth in completion percent over expected. He’s averaging over 10 yards per pass attempt this year and will face a struggling Philly defense coming out of the bye.
▶ Running Back
Jonah Coleman, Broncos
Coleman was activated from injured reserve over the weekend and immediately took control of the Denver backfield. His nine carries led the team and 54 rushing yards would have also led the way had Bo Nix not broken off a 62-yard rushing touchdown of his own. Coleman also led the Broncos backs in snap share (50 percent) and route rate (34 percent). It was ultimately a messy committee in Week 7, but a committee that Coleman stood atop after missing a month of football. We should expect the rookie’s role to grow in the coming weeks, even if J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey will both see touches as long as they’re healthy. I’m spending 15-20 percent of my FAAB on Coleman.
Dylan Sampson, Browns
Sampson returned to the lineup in Week 7 after missing over a month while on IR. As expected, he operated as the team’s primary back on passing downs, running a route on 42 percent of Deshaun Watson’s dropbacks. He was targeted on 19 percent of his routes, resulting in three grabs for 32 yards to go along with his 45 rushing yards on six carries. Without many carries or goal line work to his name, Sampson is only worth a look in PPR leagues. As long as you get the full point per catch, he’ll be an RB3 going forward.
Bam Knight, Cardinals
Knight played a 1B role in Week 6. While Tyler Allgeier still out-carried him (by one attempt) this week, Knight flipped him in several other usage metrics. Knight led the team with a 53 percent snap share and a 48 percent route rate. He also earned a 10 percent target share compared to seven percent for Allgeier. The backs split Arizona’s two goal line carries, though Knight added an uncaught end zone target to his expected fantasy points ledger. If Jeremiyah Love remains out this week, Knight will be a solid RB3 bet.
Chris Rodriguez, Jaguars
Rodriguez forced a backfield-by-committee before the Jags’ bye week, seeing 11 carries to Bhayshul Tuten’s 12 in Week 6. He was only targeted once but did handle the team’s only goal line carry. Favored by over a touchdown at home versus the Colts, both Tuten and C-Rod should get rolling downhill this week. The Jags then get the Titans twice over the next month, so there could be several spots where Rodriguez is a viable RB3 during November.
Kaelon Black, 49ers
Christian McCaffrey got banged up in Week 7 and missed several drives, though he did return to the game after halftime. With the backfield wide open for a few minutes, Black racked up a dozen carries for 63 yards and a score. Black is arguably the best contingent bet on the board. If anything happens to McCaffrey, he’s a plug-and-play RB1. The CMC injury might also force the 49ers to get Black more involved on a weekly basis. Unfortunately for fantasy managers, the 9ers get their bye this week, so Black won’t even be a FLEX consideration until Week 9.
Devin Singletary, Giants
Tyrone Tracy left Week 7 with a hamstring injury and did not return. Cam Skattebo then injured his hamstring on his final run of the day, a 42-yard sprint that saw him go down untouched because of the injury.
Skattebo didn’t seem too worried about the injury after the game, telling reporters it’s a “Good thing we have a bye week.” If and Tracy can’t get healthy through the bye, Singletary would be the lead back on an offense now showing signs of life under McCarthy. Because we won’t know if Singletary has any fantasy value for over a week, this is another deep-league-only stash.
▶ Wide Receiver
Omar Cooper Jr., Jets
Cooper Jr. is somehow not rostered in half of Yahoo leagues yet. He broke out in Week 6 with a 6/103/1 receiving line and gave fantasy managers an encore on Sunday with 115 yards and a touchdown on five catches. In his two healthy games, Cooper Jr. leads the Jets with a 22 percent target share and 35 percent of their air yards. He’s averaging 4.77 yards per route run, which leads all wideouts with at least 50 routes. Zay Flowers is No. 2 on the list at 3.73. Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell combined for two catches on six targets last week. Once one or both of them get going, Cooper Jr.’s numbers will take a hit. The good news is that he can afford to lose some production and still be a weekly WR3. If he’s just the alpha now, the sky is the limit for Cooper. This is a FAAB Brink’s truck situation. Spend it all.
Caleb Douglas, Dolphins
Douglas was back this week after missing a month due to an ankle injury. He ran over 80 percent of the routes, which he’s done in all three of his appearances this year, and exploded for 21 fantasy points off the back of 70 yards and two scores.
Douglas only caught two passes on three targets, but we should expect his role to grow as he gets more practice reps under his belt. Douglas was already looking like the Dolphins’ WR1 to start the year before getting injured. He accounted for 37 percent of Malik Willis’ first-read targets in his first two games. This is another strong waiver/FAAB option. I’m getting down 20-25% of my FAAB to land Douglas.
Ja’Kobi Lane, Ravens
Lane got back on the field in Week 6 after missing a month with a fractured wrist. He only ran 58 percent of the routes but did manage five targets. He upped his route rate to 75 percent on Sunday and his target total held steady at five. Lane ran more routes and earned more opportunities than Rashod Bateman. It was his third NFL game. We’re witnessing a changing of the guard in Baltimore. If Lane can put some distance between himself and Bateman while presumably getting Lamar Jackson back next week, he should be in line for a breakout performance.
Kendrick Bourne, Cardinals
Bourne isn’t doing much with his newfound No. 2 gig in Arizona, but the role is his. He has a 66 percent route rate and a 17 percent target share in three games sans Marvin Harrison Jr. Bourne would normally be more of a WR5, but a date with the Cowboys will get him in the WR4 mix this week.
Travis Hunter, Jaguars
Hunter finally operated as a two-way player in Week 6, catching four passes for 59 yards and a score while also bringing down C.J. Stroud’s first interception of the year. The bad news is that he was only on the field for seven routes. Hunter is a fun stash if you’ve got a roster spot to burn, but it’s possible you wind up sending him back to waivers next week.
Jordyn Tyson, Saints
Tyson is available in just over half of Yahoo leagues, but that number should soar in about nine days. The Saints are on bye this week and then return to the states to face the Browns. Tyson has missed the first two months of the year with a hamstring injury, but his recovery timeline always had Week 9 as the most obvious return date. Tyson was an elite producer in college and the Saints spent the No. 8 overall pick on him. Fantasy managers should be finding any way to clear a roster spot for him if he’s still on waivers.
▶ Tight End
Mason Taylor, Jets
Taylor has run at least 60 percent of the Jets’ routes in all four of his healthy games this year. He is being targeted on a respectable 17 percent of his routes, and that number has ballooned to over 25 percent in each of his past two appearances. Taylor finally cashed in on Sunday with a pair of touchdowns, plus a two-point conversion. He accounted for 23 percent of Geno Smith’s targets and 53 percent of his air yards. This role is too good to be true, but it’s clear Taylor is the starting tight end for the Jets, and a solid one at that. He’s in the TE2 mix for Week 8.
Brenton Strange, Jaguars
Strange dipped below a 50 percent roster rate over the Jags’ Week 7 bye. He was looking like a weekly TE1 going into the break. In his previous three games, Strange averaged 6.3 catches for 69 yards on 7.7 targets. He finished as a top-10 fantasy tight end in two of those three games.
Greg Dulcich, Dolphins
After a slow start to the year, Dulcich is starting to develop a modest PPR floor. He has at least four catches in three of his past four games. He was, however, held without a catch in the fourth. Dulcich led the Dolphins with a 24 percent target share in Week 7. He also tallied a 21 percent target share in Week 5, before the team’s bye. Miami’s run-first approach will prevent him from ever projecting for TE1 numbers, but you could do worse on waivers this week.
Davis Allen, Rams
I don’t buy that Allen’s two-touchdown performance in Week 7 is indicative of future fantasy points, but I’m obligated to mention the TE4 of the week in this article. Allen only ran 38 percent of the Rams’ routes, but he was targeted on 42 percent of them, allowing him to amass five targets in total. He caught four passes for 20 yards and the pair of touchdowns. As the third tight end on the team by routes, it’s hard to view Allen as anything more than a TE2 for Week 8.