The midseason injuries are piling up, wreaking havoc on fantasy teams across the land. Not to worry, though, because with injuries come opportunities for new players to play and to produce both on the field and on the fantasy scoreboard. To get you set up to be successful, here are some big names from the waiver wire/free agency pool which noted fantasy experts are touting for this week and beyond.
Find more sage advice for Week 7, this time with picking spread winners for the entire slate of NFL games. You can find all that in our Week 7 picks and predictions.
[sc:Football ]
Experts’ Pickups for 2014 NFL Season Week 7
Michael Fabiano – NFL.com
Position
Player
Quarterback
Carson Palmer
Running Back
Antone Smith
Running Back
Brandon Bolden
Running Back
Jerick McKinnon
Running Back
Storm Johnson
Running Back
Ronnie Hillman
Wide Receiver
Mohamed Sanu
Wide Receiver
Malcolm Floyd
Wide Receiver
Cecil Shorts
Wide Receiver
Andre Holmes
Senior fantasy analyst Michael Fabiano over at NFL.com has a host of running back and wide receiver options for this week.
With the injuries to Steven Ridley (season-ending) in New England and Montee Ball in Denver, their replacements – Brandon Bolden and Ronnie Hillman, respectively – should get most of those touches, although with the pass-oriented offenses of the Pats and Broncos, don’t get your hopes too high up for much fantasy return.
Ditto Storm Johnson of the Jags, who will get some of Toby Gerhart’s carries, but no better run blocking from the Jacksonville O-line.
The Falcons’ Antone Smith is a much more interesting pickup. The backup running back actually leads the Falcons with five touchdowns this season. His five scores have had an average of 51 yards per play, which is just outstanding from a fantasy perspective.
Over at wide receiver, breakout games from Mohamed Sanu, Cecil Shorts and Andre Holmes in Week 6 made them easy choices. Sanu’s shelf life as a big time fantasy player may be limited depending on the severity of AJ Green’s injury, which makes Shorts and Holmes – top receivers on bad teams – higher upside fantasy prospects.
Nate Loop – Bleacher Report
Running Back
Wide Receiver
Tight End
Antone Smith
Brandon LaFell
Scott Chandler
Fozz Whittaker
Andre Holmes
Jace Amaro
Isaiah Crowell
Louis Murphy
Jermaine Gresham
Nate Loop over on Bleacher Report has compiled a list of three intriguing pickups for three key positions – running back, wide receiver and tight end.
Smith’s name is mentioned once more along with the Panthers’ Fozz Whittaker and the Browns’ Isaiah Crowell. Whittaker, who scored a touchdown in the Panthers’ tie against the Bengals, isn’t a particularly appealing pickup behind a poor Carolina O-line, but Crowell is.
The undrafted rookie seems to have won over the backup gig for a Browns team with a very good offensive line. Crowell picked up 7.0 yards per carry against the Steelers.
At wide receiver, Brandon LaFell is finally getting the hang of the Patriots’ offense after a very slow start. He and Andre Holmes from the Raiders figure to be the first or second-choice receivers on their respective teams, which means more targets.
Meanwhile, Louis Murphy looks like a third-option behind Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans for the Bucs, but he has struck up a decent understanding with quarterback Mike Glennon. He’s got two touchdowns in the last two games, which is definitely nothing to sneeze at.
Finally, Loop thinks Scott Chandler of the Bills will be more than a one-game wonder after his 105-yard effort against the Pats. He’ll certainly have the monopoly on tight end targets in Buffalo. The same goes for Jets rookie Jace Amaro and the Bengals’ Jermaine Gresham, who could have an increased role in the offense with A.J. Green out injured.
Brad Pinkerton of the Sporting News has compiled a list of dozen possible waiver wire finds for this week.
Let’s start at quarterback, where a quartet of QBs look like solid fantasy plays. Joe Flacco, who exploded for five TDs against the Bucs, may be unavailable in most leagues, but rookies Blake Bortles and Derek Carr should still be on the market. Carr in particular finally had a breakout game with four TDs in a near-upset of the Chargers.
Meanwhile, veteran Carson Palmer is back in commission for the Cardinals after a scary nerve issue. It didn’t seem to bother him in his first game back, though.
Familiar names like McKinnon, Bolden and Johnson, who also appeared in Fabiano’s list earlier were mentioned, along with the Lions’ George Winn. With Reggie Bush still iffy with an injured ankle, Winn is next in line in the Lions depth chart, but any back behind that weak Lions O-line shouldn’t be trusted to produce too much.
As for receivers and tight ends, Holmes, Shorts and Amaro come up again, as well as Dolphins rookie Jarvis Landry. The wideout out of LSU was a standout performer in Miami’s loss to the Packers, and with Brian Hartline failing to cement his status as WR2 alongside Mike Wallace, Landry is a promising pickup going forward.
