One of the earliest moves the New York Jets made this offseason was signing Mecole Hardman. But they never used him. They’ve now traded him back to the Kansas City Chiefs, where his role can’t possibly be worse. Should fantasy football managers add Hardman off the Week 7 waiver wire?
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Should Mecole Hardman Be a Fantasy Waiver Wire Add in Week 7?
No one is going to mistake Hardman for an elite football player or even a high-end player. But he’s not terrible. Yet, the Jets treated him like he was. There really is no justification for Hardman playing behind 33-year-old Randall Cobb.
Rather than have Hardman continue to languish on their bench, the Jets sent Hardman back to the Chiefs for a late-round pick swap, according to Adam Schefter.
This move makes sense for both sides. The Jets weren’t using Hardman, while the Chiefs get a veteran receiver who already knows their offense.
Hardman is not going to light the world on fire. He’s not going to be someone you want to start weekly in fantasy. But we know he has the potential to be an injury or bye-week filler.
Although he only played in eight games last season due to injury, Hardman averaged 11.7 fantasy points per game. He had games of 28.0 and 19.9 fantasy points. In 2021, he had a game with 16.6 fantasy points. These spike weeks are admittedly few and far between. But at least they exist.
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Currently, the Chiefs have Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Skyy Moore running the most routes on the team. You will be hard-pressed to find a less exciting WR duo.
Again, Hardman is no amazing talent, but he’s vastly superior to MVS, Moore, Kadarius Toney, and everyone on the Chiefs other than Rashee Rice.
Given Hardman’s familiarity with the offense, it’s possible he could play as soon as this Sunday. I still wouldn’t expect a heavy snap share right away, but within a couple of weeks, we should see Hardman running the second-most routes on a weekly basis.
So, will Hardman be fantasy-relevant? Maybe? I wouldn’t go dropping any top 48 WRs to pick him up. If you have a spot at the end of your roster to stash Hardman, you can certainly do worse things with a bench spot.
There is nothing wrong with chasing upside. Fantasy managers chased just about every WR playing with Patrick Mahomes this year. We know Hardman is better than all of them except Rice. As long as you’re not dropping anyone of consequence, I don’t see the harm in stashing Hardman to see what happens.