Welcome to the Week 7 waiver wire brought to you by injuries and breakout games. Injuries have been the one constant this season, and they’ve had most of us scrambling to the wire to put in our claims for some painful and not so painful backups, especially at running back. If you picked up Najee Harris or Jaleel McLaughlin for spot starts in Week 6, you were not happy with your decision. But, if you grabbed Dameon Pierce or Roschon Johnson for that start, you likely are feeling good that both got into the end zone. That’s usually the way things go with backup backs, as a touchdown can make or break their fantasy day since they aren’t putting up bell cow back numbers in relief.

This week we have a few strong pickups, but mostly at the receiver position, as some young guys stepped up big this week. We’ll use Yahoo’s rostership percentages and try to stick under 50% if possible.

We have some strong players on bye, as the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars. Los Angeles Chargers, and Washington Commanders will take a week off.

Murray was on bye this week, but the previous week was his best fantasy game of the early season. Getting Justin Jefferson back and healthy was huge for Murray. Plus, in their win over the Saints, he rushed 10 times for 51 yards. That is great to see for his fantasy upside. This week they face a Colts team at home that has allowed the 7th-most fantasy points and rushing yards to opposing quarterbacks. He also should get TE T.J. Hockenson back from a concussion. Plus, Murray faces the Lions and Bills after the Colts. Both teams have been giving up big fantasy points to quarterbacks, but will also push their opponents due to their strong offenses.

Smith has been up and down with the Jets so far, but he has shown enough to believe there is upside in good matchups. And this week he gets a great matchup against a Dolphins team that is very much in tank mode. Add in the breakout by rookie wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. today, and you have a great new weapon for Smith. With Garrett Wilson already manning the No. 1 slot and Adonai Mitchell possibly returning next week, Smith should be poised for a good game.

Miller didn’t have a big fantasy day against the Giants on Sunday, but he did get 22 touches in their win. He finished with 70 total yards and didn’t find pay dirt, but the usage was great. He’ll face a good Steelers defense in Paris next week, but one that has been middling against the run. The Saints then have a bye in Week 8. It’s tough to find usage like his on waivers, but we also don’t want to go all in on a guy who hasn’t shown much upside.

Knight outplayed Tyler Allgeier in their win against the Rams on Sunday, rushing 15 times for 80 yards and catching two passes for 18 more yards. Allgeier on the other hand rushed 18 times for just 38 yards and caught one pass for 10 more. There was little doubt that Knight had more juice than Allgeier and if Jeremiyah Love can’t get back for their home game against the Broncos, I’d expect Knight to get plenty of chances to pick up where he left off. But, if Love is back, Knight loses waiver wire appeal.

Perine out-played Chase Brown in their win over the Dolphins in Week 5 and should have won more work moving forward. He’s not a must-add, but the Bengals’ offense is good enough to help Perine put up usable fantasy numbers if he continues to see a big chunk of the work.

Other RBs worth a look — Tyrone Tracy, Corey Kiner, Jordan Mason

Bernard has seen increased usage with Michael Pittman and Roman Wilson out, but this week was his breakout. The rookie caught 11 passes for 87 yards and the game winning touchdown in overtime against the Buccaneers. Bernard is good on underneath routes and that fits Aaron Rodgers, who is a check down merchant at this point in his career. This matchup with the blitz happy Bucs fit Bernard’s underneath work well, as Rodgers needed to get rid of the ball quickly. That might not always be the case, but Rodgers has shown an affinity for quick hitters and Bernard fits the bill.

The rookie caught six passes for 103 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots. This was his first game back from his ankle injury, which is fairly miraculous. Adonai Mitchell missed his fourth game with his finger injury, which helped Cooper see more snaps in his first game back. But, Cooper is a first round pick who just put up great numbers in his first full game in the NFL. The Jets have no reason to not make him a big part of their offense moving forward.

Noel had a huge game against the Jaguars across the pond Sunday morning, as he caught four passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. There’s talent there to be sure and he’s worth rostering if you can fit him, but the Texans and C.J. Stroud are going to spread the ball around. And, with Marvin Harrison Jr. added to the rotation, it’s still going to be difficult to pick the right Texans’ fantasy wide receiver not name Nico Collins.

Other WRs worth a look — Travis Hunter, Darius Cooper, Kendrick Bourne, Demario Douglas, Ja’Kobi Lane

Hockenson suffered a concussion early in Week 5, but should be ready to return following their Week 6 bye. He hasn’t had a great season so far, but his 13 receptions for 119 yards in Week 4 against the Dolphins shows us that Kyler Murray has no reservations in throwing to his tight end. Also, he gets a strong matchup against the Colts in Week 7, who have given up big games to Travis Kelce and Pat Freiermuth so far this season.

Other TEs worth a look —Brenton Strange, Hunter Henry, Mike Gesicki

The Jets face the Dolphins at home. Miami hasn’t allowed any D/ST to score under 8 fantasy points this season and despite coming off their bye, there’s no reason to believe they are close to competing this season.

Both of these teams are in the Top 7 in giving up fantasy points to D/STs. It might not be pretty, but if I need a D/ST off waivers this week, I have no qualms with taking either of these teams.