The waiver wire is rarely rich at the QB position. We are now in Week 7. At this point, the surprise QB1s have already been added. Unfortunately, all we really have are glorified streamers. Fantasy football managers will need to either make a trade or make do with what’s available.
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Top QB Waiver Wire Targets in Week 7
More Waiver Wire Targets: WRs | TEs | RBs
Sam Howell, Washington Commanders (38% Rostered)
Don’t let the final line fool you; Sam Howell did not play particularly well against the Atlanta Falcons. He did throw three touchdowns, but whether the Washington Commanders score via the ground or the air is random. Otherwise, Howell only threw for 151 yards and did not run at all (four carries for three yards).
With that said, it’s difficult to find startable quarterbacks on the waiver wire. Howell has a road matchup against the New York Giants next week. He’s scored at least 18 fantasy points in three straight games and is well worth a pickup.
FAAB Recommendation: 5-15%
Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (28% Rostered)
It was a week to forget for Baker Mayfield. He threw for a mere 206 yards and didn’t throw a touchdown for the first time all season. Mayfield had opportunities. A would-be 90+ yard touchdown to Mike Evans was batted down at the line, and he missed Chris Godwin on an easy long touchdown in the fourth quarter.
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Other than last week’s mishaps, Mayfield has played reasonably well. The Bucs have a home matchup against a Falcons defense that just allowed Howell to throw for three touchdowns. Mayfield is far from a must-add, but he’s a decent streamer on a week where several QBs are out due to injuries and byes.
FAAB Recommendation: 0-2%
Which QBs Should You Roster in Fantasy Football?
Should You Roster Sam Howell or Jordan Love?
Howell has been the better QB as of late. But the reality is Jordan Love has only had one bad game for fantasy.
From Weeks 1-4, Love never scored lower than 19 fantasy points. He completely faceplanted against the Raiders in Week 5, and then the Packers had a bye in Week 6. So, we haven’t seen Love play well in what is essentially three weeks.
During that span, Howell has posted two QB1 weeks. Recency bias is strongly in favor of Howell.
While I think Howell is the better long-term option, Love has a really nice schedule coming up. His next two games are against the Broncos and Vikings.
This one is very close. I lean toward Love if you need someone for the next two weeks, but Howell if you need someone for the rest of the season.
Should You Roster Derek Carr or Kirk Cousins?
If you roster Kirk Cousins as your QB1, you know the deal. He’s going to average around 19 fantasy points per game. Mixed in will be weeks where he throws 3+ touchdowns and carries your team and weeks where he completely flops. It’s just what he does.
The most frustrating part of rostering Cousins is his booms and busts are completely unpredictable. It’s been this way for his entire career. Cousins smashed the Eagles and then completely fell apart against the Bears. The only way to use Cousins is to start him every week and take the good with the bad.
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While Cousins can be frustrated, he has a very high ceiling. Derek Carr does not possess that. He hasn’t so much as hit 18 fantasy points in a single game this season.
With just one game throwing more than a single touchdown pass, Carr is not someone who should be on fantasy rosters. Stick with Cousins.