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

Fantasy Football
October 20, 2015

With one of the worst bye weeks of the fantasy football season upon us, people are left scrambling for replacements on the waiver wire. As always, we are here to help.

The Green Bay Packers, Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears are all on bye, taking away many of the quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends and even defenses you have been depending on for much of the year.

Without many notable injuries, the obvious replacements just aren’t there. Still, you can get through the week and beyond by adding these players on the waiver wire, all of whom are available in more than 50 percent of ESPN leagues.

Brian Hoyer, QB, Houston Texans

It’s easy to question playing a quarterback who can seemingly get benched at any minute, but Brian Hoyer has played extremely well over the past three weeks, as noted by the team’s public relations Twitter account:

The veteran tossed three touchdown passes last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, marking his third game in a row with multiple touchdowns. It certainly helps to have the hottest receiver in the sport, DeAndre Hopkins, catching his passes. The third-year wideout currently leads the NFL in receiving yards and seemingly catches anything in his area.

This simply makes it easier for Hoyer, who has been avoiding mistakes and finding his top targets for big gains.

With a bunch of quarterbacks on bye and Baltimore’s Joe Flacco having a tough slate of upcoming games, Hoyer and Blake Bortles might be the best options for a lot of teams.

Theo Riddick, RB, Detroit Lions

The choices at running back aren’t great this week, but Theo Riddick now deserves a spot on all rosters thanks to his versatility and opportunity in the Lions backfield.

Joique Bell has been in and out of the lineup all year, and Zach Zenner is now out for the season with chest injuries, according to Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com. This has left Ameer Abdullah for the starting job, but fumbling issues and his own injuries cause hesitation from the coaching staff.

This leaves Riddick, who finally got some chances to run the ball after being used almost exclusively on pass plays this season, per Mike Clay of Pro Football Focus:

The former Notre Dame star had a respectable 28 rushing yards on seven carries, much better than we have seen from Detroit’s other running backs this season. He also added 50 receiving yards, giving him 278 for the season.

He is not a prototypical running back, but he has a chance to keep posting big numbers if he can stay healthy.

Stefon Diggs, WR, Minnesota Vikings

He didn’t score a touchdown, but Stefon Diggs should probably be the first priority on the waiver wire this week. After catching six passes for 87 yards in his debut in Week 4, the rookie receiver came back after the bye with an impressive 129 receiving yards on seven catches.

Although the fifth-round pick took awhile to get onto the field, he has impressed many in the organization along the way. Cornerback Terence Newman had especially high praise for the receiver, per Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune:

He’s polished. Runs good routes. Quick as a hiccup. Very smooth. When I first got here I was like, ‘Hey, who is this kid?’ I was impressed with him from Day 1.

If he keeps his head on straight and keeps doing what he’s doing, he’ll be one to watch. Potential Hall of Famer, down the road.

College injuries kept him from being an early-round draft pick, but it seems the Vikings could have a steal on their hands with Diggs. As Teddy Bridgewater’s new favorite target and little legitimate competition for targets (sorry, Mike Wallace), the rookie could end up being a star for the rest of the season.

Michael Floyd, WR, Arizona Cardinals

John Brown was the star at receiver in Week 6 for the Cardinals, finishing with 10 catches for 196 yards. However, the game was also a bit of a breakout for Michael Floyd, who scored for the first time this season and had five catches for 50 yards. His eight targets were also a season high.

Floyd has dealt with injuries this season but finally got back into the swing of things Sunday. Evan Silva of Rotoworld noted the playing-time increase:

In reality, the receiver could have had an even bigger day if not for a few more misses in the end zone.

The former first-round pick hasn’t been able to replicate his 2013 season, when he had 1,041 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Still, the Cardinals passing attack might be better than it has been in years. If healthy, he could have more big games, even while splitting targets with Brown and Larry Fitzgerald.

Everyone knows all about Jay Cutler and Joe Flacco by now, but both have become more aggressive in the passing attack this season. Cutler is on bye, and Flacco has to deal with tough matchups against the Cardinals and San Diego Chargers over the next two weeks, which makes picking either up this week unnecessary. Still, there could be more quality games ahead.

The most interesting player on this list might be Robert Turbin. The former Seattle Seahawks running back made his first appearance of the season in Week 6 with the Cleveland Browns and finished with 10 carries for 27 yards.

While the numbers don’t look all that impressive, Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com noted the running back’s impact:

Considering his 10 touches were almost as many as fellow running backs Isaiah Crowell (13) and Duke Johnson (12), Turbin remains someone to keep an eye on going forward.

Lance Moore could also potentially return to fantasy relevance after totaling 106 receiving yards Sunday while grabbing a touchdown for the second game in a row. Even if he is the third option in the Lions passing attack behind Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate, there could be a lot of targets in an extremely pass-heavy offense.

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