Monday, October 15, 2018

2018 Fantasy Football RB Waiver-Wire Options Heading Into Week 7

Every week, we examine players that may be available on your league's waiver wire that could help your team in the short and/or long term.

For a player to be listed, he must be owned in 50 percent (or less) of Yahoo! leagues. The goal is to provide recommendations of players that have a greater chance of being available on your league's waiver wire. Of course, your league's size and settings could significantly impact whether these players (or better options) are available in your particular league(s).

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With that said, here are some running back waiver-wire options that I like heading into Week 7 (Yahoo! ownership in parenthesis):

[Note: Players listed below are sorted by my preference to add.]

1. Peyton Barber, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (33 percent)

Raise your hand if you expected Barber to take a back seat to rookie Ronald Jones in Week 6 -- or at least have fewer touches than the rookie once again. (Me too.) Before the bye, Jones had three more touches than Barber, who had generally disappointed through the first four games of the season -- 2.96 yards per carry on his 50 carries (Week 1 to 4).

Instead of Jones handling a larger percentage of the workload, it was (almost) all Barber. The former UDFA from Auburn carried the ball 13 times for 82 yards and added four receptions for 24 yards and a touchdown in Week 6. On the other hand, Jones had one carry for three yards and three catches for 16 yards. At this point, Jones is nothing more than a stash until/unless he earns a more consistent workload.

2. Latavius Murray, Minnesota Vikings (49 percent)

Dalvin Cook owners should own Murray, but if he's available in your league, he would be worth a start in Week 7 if Cook misses another game. There have been other situations where Murray seemed destined for a big performance only to disappoint, but he delivered for fantasy owners in Week 6 with 24 carries for 155 yards and a touchdown. It's unclear whether Cook will play in Week 7, especially given the fact that it sounded as though he would play (albeit on a snap count) in Week 6.

3. Frank Gore, Miami Dolphins (10 percent)

With double-digit carries in each of the past three games, Gore set season highs with 15 carries for 101 yards in Sunday's win over the Bears. Technically, Kenyan Drake (17) had more touches than Gore (16), who also had a three-week low share of the team's carries (48.39%), but I'm not sure why Gore is still owned in just 10 percent of Yahoo! leagues. In standard-scoring formats, Gore is the RB21, RB34 and RB14 (through SNF) over the past three weeks, respectively.

Now that we enter the point of the season with more than two teams on bye, Gore could certainly be a start for fantasy owners in Week 7 against the Lions. Through Sunday's games, the Lions have allowed the third-most fantasy points to opposing running backs, who have gashed Detroit for a league-most 5.98 yards per carry (to RBs).

4. Marlon Mack, Indianapolis Colts (26 percent)

Making just his second appearance this season, Mack led the team with 12 carries for 89 yards and added a four-yard reception. Mack's 13 touches were more than the rest of the backfield combined -- Nyheim Hines (five) and Robert Turbin (five). Mack has double-digit carries in both games that he has played and assuming he can stay healthy, he should lead Indy's backfield in workload going forward. The next two games -- vs. BUF and at OAK -- are both winnable games where the Colts may try to run the ball more often.

5. Ito Smith, Atlanta Falcons ( percent)

An inefficient 13-touch, 21-yard outing from Smith was turned into a relatively successful fantasy performance since he extended his touchdown streak to three games. On a positive note, it was a season-high 13 touches for Smith and he now has double-digit touches in three of the four games that Devonta Freeman has missed. At this point, the Falcons are expected to be without Freeman (foot) for at least one more week. The Falcons host the Giants on Monday Night Football in Week 7.

6. Jalen Richard, Oakland Raiders (8 percent)

If you're in a full PPR league, Richard should be rostered. Through Week 6, Richard has finished as a top-30 PPR back four times and has averaged 9.92 PPR points per game. With more than 18-percent target share in four of six games, Richard now has 37 targets that he has converted into 31 catches for 253 yards and that's despite a receiving goose egg in Week 2. Tight end Jared Cook is the only Raider with more targets (43) or receptions (32) than Richard.

- More Fantasy Football Waiver-Wire Advice Heading Into Week 7

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