A number of fairly significant injuries across the NFL in Week 6 should lead to a fairly hot waiver wire in fantasy football leagues heading into Week 7. With offensive approaches becoming more clear, we are now able to tell which sleepers are for real and which ones will likely turn out to be duds. We’re hoping the players on our Week 7 fantasy pickups list turn out to be studs.
Nick Foles, QB, Eagles: Michael Vick missed Philadelphia’s Week 6 game with a hamstring injury, and as many expected Nick Foles filled in admirably. Foles and Vick split most of the first-team reps throughout training camp, so Foles is plenty familiar with Chip Kelly’s offense. He doesn’t have the running ability that Vick has, but he can compensate for that with his superior passing ability. Foles threw for a combined 497 yards and five touchdowns against the Giants and Buccaneers over the past two weeks. More importantly, he has not thrown an interception. He has a good chance to put up solid fantasy numbers in Chip Kelly’s video-game offense. He should make for a great bye week filler if nothing else.
Joseph Randle, RB, Cowboys: Surprise, surprise — Demarco Murray has gone down with an injury. He could miss several weeks with a sprained MCL, and backup running back Phillip Tanner is also injured. As a result, Randle is in line to handle most of the work for the foreseeable future. The rookie out of Oklahoma State ran for just 17 yards on 11 carries Sunday night, but he should make for a viable flex play from a pure volume standpoint. The Cowboys move the ball. Any running back that receives most of the carries in an offense that moves the ball is worth rostering.
Keenan Allen, WR, Chargers: Remember all that hype about Eddie Royal? We fell victim to it, too. It has since died out, and rookie Keenan Allen has emerged as one of Philip Rivers’ favorite targets in a San Diego offense that has been surprisingly successful. Allen has hauled in 20 catches for 302 yards and two touchdowns over the past three games. With Malcolm Floyd out indefinitely, it has become obvious that he is going to be the box-score beneficiary. He’s worth an add as a WR3 and possibly WR2 in all formats.
Jarrett Boykin, WR, Packers: Like Randle, Boykin is another player who is worth an add strictly because he should see an increase in his workload. Randle Cobb left Green Bay’s win over the Ravens with a leg injury and is expected to miss six to eight weeks. James Jones was also banged up, though he reportedly avoided any type of serious injury. Boykin dropped a couple of brutal passes when he took over for Cobb, but that could have been nerves. Green Bay runs a ton of three-receiver sets, and Boykin is now their third receiver. An opportunity awaits if he wants to seize it.
Jordan Reed, TE, Redskins: Entering the season, many speculated that this would be the year Washington tight end Fred Davis breaks out. Instead, it has been rookie Jordan Reed out of Florida who has developed a great deal of chemistry with Robert Griffin III. He’s averaging about four catches a week and has only scored one touchdown, but tight end is a fairly thin position in fantasy this year. You could do worse for a back-end TE1 or TE2.
We’re getting close to crunch time, so use your waiver priority wisely. Good luck, folks.
