Oronde Gadsden II and Mason Taylor Among Week 7 Waiver Wire Tight End Pickups
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Week 7 of the NFL season could be an even wilder ride. A good Tight End off the waiver wire is getting hard to find.
Which Tight Ends are available for Week 7 matchups? It is time to get down to business.
Remember these early waiver wire picks with only two teams getting the week off. A few Tight Ends may be worthy of the hype.
Do note that our roster percentages come from Yahoo and ESPN leagues reflecting a PPR format. Check your league formats as always.
Oronde Gadsden II - Los Angeles Chargers (0.7% Rostered In ESPN Leagues)
Welcome to the top of the waiver wire! Catching passes from Justin Hebert never hurts. The only nagging question is does the expanded role stick this time. Oronde Gadsden II caught seven passes for 68 yards on eight targets. Now, people forget he had five receptions on seven targets during Week 3 against Denver of all teams.
The 75% snap share was nice but the 21% target share was even better. Some solid matchups also follow Gadsden II going forward. That includes a home meeting with Indianapolis and a road game in Tennessee.
Oronde Gadsden II route participation by week:
— Dwain McFarland (@dwainmcfarland) October 12, 2025
Week 3: 28%
Week 4: 50%
Week 5: 64%
Week 6: 82%
20% targets per route (season)
No Quentin Johnston today, which may have been a factor, but Tre' Harris soaked up most of those routes (85%).
Note: Will Dissly was back W6.
Gadsden II rebounded after an early fumble with much gusto providing fantasy football owners with quite a surprise. Aside from Kimani Vidal, the Tight End may have saved a few weeks in fantasy. Anyway, it will be intriguing to see what happens against the Colts, who do leave the middle of the field open sometimes.
Michael Mayer - Las Vegas Raiders (3.1% Rostered In ESPN Leagues)
Mayer looking healthy and playing well finally lets Brock Bowers rest with his PCL issues. Geno Smith trusted his Tight End more and the results were clear. Mayer caught five passes for 50 yards on seven targets. Tennessee defensively is one of the worst in the NFL especially against Tight Ends. Kansas City is not.
However, Smith needs a safety valve and Mayer showed he can be that and more for the next little while. Between Mayer and Ashton Jeanty, the Raiders will need both even more than usual against a Chiefs offense that has looked like its normal self over the past four weeks. The Chargers had immense success against Kansas City with shorter passes in Week 1.
Those passes set up deeper strikes as the game went on. Mayer will again be vital.
Mason Taylor - New York Jets (35.9% Rostered In ESPN Leagues)
Justin Fields holding on to the ball forever was a contributing factor to the debacle against the Denver Broncos. Unfortunately, Mason Taylor suffered immensely. One catch for two yards is a punch to the gut. Fortunately, the Jets get two of the most Tight End friendly matchups back-to-back (Carolina and Cincinnati). Both are Top 3 when it comes to allowing fantasy points to Tight Ends.
Ideal weather conditions are expected at MetLife Stadium on Sunday as well. Taylor should be able to run down the middle of the field. Add in the injury to Garrett Wilson and Taylor expects to see more balls thrown his way.
Mason Taylor in the flat and a drag route waiting for the ball and Fields doesn't know what to do and takes a horrific sack pic.twitter.com/lBVC2Jh2uB
— ۟ (@pregamedullah) October 13, 2025
Taylor was open in several such scenarios against Denver. Expect the Jets to figure this out enough come Sunday against Carolina.
