Fantasy Football Week 7 Waiver Wire Debate: Kimani Vidal vs Zonovan Knight

Kimani Vidal and Zonovan Knight both were Week 7 breakouts, leading them to be top waiver wire targets. Which one is better?

Oct 12, 2025; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins safety Ashtyn Davis (21) tackles Los Angeles Chargers running back Kimani Vidal (30) during the second quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-Imagn Images | Rich Storry-Imagn Images

The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind of different quality waiver wire pickups. Two players that have emerged unexpectedly were Kimani Vidal and Zonovan Knight. When players go down injured and commitee's come to the surface, it can be very difficult to telegraph the result. The teams often go with which one fits the installs better and catch fire mid-game. These two players did just that. We now will debate which is a better waiver wire pickup.

The Case for Kimani Vidal

Los Angeles Chargers Year 2 RB Kimani Vidal in Week 6:

+ 63% snap rate
+ 51% route rate
+ 18 of 24 RB rushes

Red zone:
+ 72% snap rate
+ 6 of 7 rushes
+ 2 red zone receptions

21 touches for 138 yards and a TD in total for the 2024 Round 6 pick in his first NFL start https://t.co/BdKxfxBaej

— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) October 12, 2025

The thought was that Haskins would be the leadback, but sometimes it take a sixth sense to read coach-speak. The Chargers clearly lead not preference to one or the other. Reports had just suggested that Haskins would lead the way, but this come from nothing more than false practice analysis' and the fact that Haskins played for Harbaugh at Michigan.

Vidal is a good player. He was cut back in late August be immediately re-signed to the practice squad. No one picked him up and sure enough, he found himself playing in due time. Vidal became the hot hand in Week 6, carrying 18-of-25 team rushes for 124 Yards. He also caught 3 footballs for 14 Yards and 1 Touchdown.

Vidal should be heavily used until Omarion Hampton comes back. Expect his snap-split to maintain to be well over 50%, which has great value in Los Angeles.

The Case for Zonovan Knight

#Cardinals Week 6 RB Usage

- Bam Knight: 49% snaps, 11 carries, 14 routes, 2 targets (54 yds, TD)
- Michael Carter: 46% snaps, 9 carries, 20 routes, 5 targets (64 yds)

Demercado played 3 snaps

— Michael F. Florio (@MichaelFFlorio) October 12, 2025

In a late week surprise, the Cardinals announced that Knight would be the leadback over Michael Carter. This was not only surprising in of itself, but cemented the fact that Emari Demercado was done after his issues in Week 6. Jonathan Gannon had zero tolerance and Knight lead the running back room just ahead of Carter.

Knight had 11-of-24 team carries in Week 6. He ourcarried Carter by just two snaps. Knight had 34 Yards for 1 Touchdown. Carter had 34 Yards, but no score. The output was very similar. I would honestly venture to say that Carter is better, but not by much.

It will be very hard to truly telegraph this Cardinals backfield, but it looks that these two will be in a split until Trey Benson is back. Both upsides may be limited, but they are both very startable in a run-heavy offense.

Waiver Wire Debate: Kimani Vidal vs Zonovan Knight

When you are picking guys off of waivers, you are going for upside. That's all that is will be the majority of the time. The output can be so small that you should not chase anything safe. You should go for that 10+ carry upside.

In this case, Vidal has the upside. Hampton is not due back for at least four more weeks, potentially even six or more. The team has been vocal that the IR stint will not have him back at the minimum possible date of return. It may be Thanksgiving before Hampton is seen. For that reason, Vidal has indefinite value. So long he remains better than Haskins, this is a great value add in a good offense.

In Arizona, Benson is also out injured, but due back sooner. He should be out at least two more weeks and seemingly 3-4 more weeks. We do not know, but what we do know is that Benson will be back sooner than Hampton. Meanwhile, this backfield is more volatile and truthfully, I am not sold that Knight is the best back in Arizona. For all we know, they could sign someone out of the blue. I think that Arizona would be more likely to do that than Los Angeles.