Kyler Murray & Geno Smith Rise Among 3 Fantasy Football Week 7 Waiver Wire Quarterbacks
Kirk Cousins was a high-end waiver wire option in Week 6 of fantasy football. He finished as QB9, and through six games, Cousins is QB7 overall. It proves that if a matchup suits a starter, the upside is worth it. Look no further than the following when searching for a waiver-wire quarterback. That may deliver you a Week 7 win.
Availability Percentages are from Sleeper.
Fantasy Points Allowed are from Footballdb
Defensive EPA is from Draftwithdoug
Kyler Murray — 59% Available
Murray has a fair matchup against the Colts this Sunday, as the Vikings play at home. The Colts rank 22nd in Fantasy Points Allowed to Quarterbacks. They also just lost cornerback Sauce Gardner for at least one game with a calf strain.
The Vikings, of course, offer a great fallback for Murray. His playmakers have shown formidable ability, as Justin Jefferson ranks 5th in receiving EPA per Target, and TJ Hockenson ranks 4th at his position.
Flying under the radar, the Vikings offer an elite home-field advantage. Over their last 16 games, U.S. Bank Stadium has the third-best home-field advantage in the NFL, trailing Gillette Stadium (Patriots) and Everbank Stadium (Jaguars).
Geno Smith — 87% Available
The Jets expect to win their upcoming Week 7 affair against the Miami Dolphins. Their defense ranks 23rd-best in Fantasy Points Allowed to Quarterbacks and 2nd-worst in Defensive Pass EPA Allowed per Play.
This game should give the Jets plenty of possessions. The Dolphins are the ESPN FPI's 6th-worst offense. They are 28th in Time of Possession. More time with the football means more statistical output for Smith.
The red zone is then expected to be a capable scoring area for Smith and the Jets. The Dolphins rank a mere 20th in Red Zone Scoring Efficiency Allowed. The Jets are also mostly healthy, finally, with Garrett Wilson, Omar Cooper Jr., and Kenyon Sadiq all active.
Deshaun Watson — 87% Available
The Browns will face off against the Titans this Sunday. Their defense ranks top-10 in Fantasy Points Allowed to Quarterbacks. But that statistic may be misleading because of normalization. Why? The Titans are 6th-worst in Defensive Pass EPA Allowed per Play.
Watson is doing impressive things this season compared with past years. The Browns rank 26th in Passing Attempts per Game while ranking 20th in Pass Rate. They haven't had enough time of possession, and Tennessee should fix that.
Per game, the Titans are averaging 24:00 minutes of possession. If Watson can raise his passing attempts per game from 29 to, say, 35, he could be QB1-worthy. Despite his low volume, Watson has been the QB17 in fantasy football.
More Fantasy Sports On SI News:
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.