Fantasy Football WR Rankings Week 7: Who to start, best sleepers, injuries, waiver wire picks at wide receiver

Week 6 proved to be a relatively quiet week for the wide receiver position as only four players eclipsed the 100 yard mark heading into Sunday Night Football between the Bengals and Giants. 

A.J. Brown returned from a hamstring injury and the bye for Philadelphia, and he came up big immediately going for 116 yards and a touchdown. Lamar Jackson outdueled rookie Jayden Daniels, and his top target Zay Flowers was a big reason why as he turned nine catches into 132 yards. Deebo Samuel only needed three catches to garner 102 yards and a touchdown. And Chris Godwinn led all WRs in fantasy points as he hauled in 11 catches for 125 yards and two TDs for Tampa Bay. 

Week 7 could definitely see a rebound at the WR position, though, as Cooper Kupp and Malik Nabers will likely be back from injury, and Tyreek Hill and Justin Jefferson will be back from their byes. Let's take a look at how the position is shaping up for Week 7. 

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Fantasy WR Rankings Week 7: Who to start, sit at wide receiver

Rankings based on PPR scoring. These rankings will be updated throughout the week, so check back often. 

Who are the best fantasy WRs Week 7?

While the Cleveland defense can buckle down at times, they're not at full health right now, and Ja'Marr Chase is on a heater. Although Tee Higgins returning a couple of weeks ago meant another mouth to feed, more importantly, it meant there was another prominent WR to keep track of, which means defenses can't key in on only Chase. Look for Joe Burrow to keep the pair's hot streak going in this divisional clash in Week 7.

Justin Jefferson will be coming off a bye for Minnesota to host a divisional foe of their own in the Lions. Detroit is excellent at stopping the run, so the Vikings will likely have to take to the air early and often, which means it should be a big day for Justin Jefferson. Detroit's run defense is vastly improved, but the pass D is still a work in progress. Jefferson should be able to get open often, and Sam Darnold's offensive line should give him enough time to find his No. 1 target. 

And A.J. Brown finally made his return from a hamstring injury for the Eagles coming off a bye against the Browns. He hauled in six of his nine targets for 116 yards and a touchdown. He also hauled in a 40-yarder with less than two minutes left to play to lock in the win for the Eagles. And this will make it 3-for-3 with our top WRs all facing division rivals as the Eagles take on the Giants.

Who are the WRs on byes in Week 7? 

Dallas Cowboys: CeeDee Lamb is clearly the player on bye who will hurt his fantasy managers the most this week. There just isn't another wide receiver who demands a target share as big as Lamb. Jalen Tolbert has come on as a serviceable Flex option, as well, but his absence won't be felt nearly as much as Lamb's. 

Chicago Bears: It took a few weeks, but Caleb Williams has the passing game rounding into form for the Bears. DJ Moore was quiet for the most part in Week 6, but he's still the No. 1 option at wide receiver. Keenan Allen showed his first signs of life this season, so he's back on the radar. And Rome Odunze will eventually be the best WR of this bunch, but he isn't yet, and likely won't be this season. But all three are fantasy-relevant, so the Bears being on bye is a tough one.     

Who are the best fantasy WR waiver pickups Week 7?

Romeo Doubs sat out Week 5 on a 1-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. Doubs was unhappy with his usage in the offense, and wasn't shy about it. Doubs returned to the team this week, and said that he had a good talk with his teammates and said he was dealing with some mental health issues. He certainly seemed in a much better head space this week as caught three of his four targets for 49 yards, but two of those catches were also touchdowns. Dontayvion Wicks also went down in this game a shoulder injury. If he misses this week's tilt against the Texans, it could mean even more targets for Doubs, who is 35% rostered in Yahoo! leagues.

And our next waiver suggestion is a familiar one. For some reason, Josh Downs is still rostered in just 48% rostered in Yahoo! leagues despite us suggesting him for multiple weeks now. Downs led the team in both targets and catches again as he hauled in seven of his nine targets for 66 yards and a score. Even when Anthony Richardson comes back, we're not expecting a major dropoff in target share, but there may be less passing volume in general once AR is back and running back Jonathan Taylor is healthy. But even in those circumstances, Downs should still have weekly Flex value, which could spike in favorable matchups.

Week 7: Check out our full Waiver Wire advice article

Who are the best fantasy WR sleepers Week 7?

With the Cardinals facing the stout defense of the Chargers this week, it will take some faith to play some of the Arizona Cardinals skill players. But with Marvin Harrison being forced from the Week 6 game against the Packers with a concussion, it's not a given he'll be ready for Monday night. The Cardinals are going to have to pass the ball, so if Harrison can't suit up, then Michael Wilson could become his primary wide receiver target. Trey McBride will likely see the most targets, but look for Wilson to play a larger role in the offense if Harrison is out. 

We already touched on Romeo Doubs above as a waiver suggestion, but his teammate Christian Watson is another sleeper. While it can be maddening trying to figure out the hierarchy of the WR target tree outside of Jayden Reed, the beauty of this offense is that it can support multiple receiving options on any given week. In Sunday's win against the Cardinals, Jordan Love tossed four TDs and spread them out among Watson, Doubs, and Reed. Watson is probably the top big-play threat on this offense, and Arizona is very burnable on the backend.  

What are the biggest WR injuries Week 7?

As mentioned above, Marvin Harrison had to exit with a concussion. With Arizona playing on Monday, it gives him another day to rest, but concussions are impossible to predict. You'll want contingency plans ready, and until we get some good news, we're leaving him unranked for now. And also mentioned above, we'll be waiting on more information regarding Dontayvion Wicks' shoulder injury. For now, he's also unranked. 

Like Harrison, Chris Olave also departed Week 6 with a concussion following a brutal collision. With the Saints playing on Thursday night, there's even less time for Olave to clear protcol, so he's unranked unless we hear otherwise. 

Davante Adams continues to deal with a hamstring injury, and is destination for the rest of the season is still up in the air as well. Adam Schefter did report today that he may end up staying in Las Vegas after all. Apparently the switch away from Gardner Minshew to Aidan O'Connell was a change that Adams might be able to get behind. But there's also still a chance he's traded to the Jets, Bills, Steelers, or any number of teams that seem to be interested in his services. With so many questions, he's unranked for now, but we'll be monitoring closely. 

Speaking of the Raiders, Jakobi Meyers battled an ankle injury all week and was finally downgraded to doubtful on Saturday before finally being out on Sunday against the Steelers. The Raiders' passing game has left a lot to be desired, but Meyers would give the passing game a much-needed boost against a poor Rams secondary.

Malik Nabers missed a second straight game with a concussion. He seemed on the verge of getting cleared for this week after what seemed like a productive practice on Wednesday. But then it was also learned that he attended a Travis Scott concert that same night, and was then a DNP the next day. He was finally ruled out on Friday. Since he seemed close at one point this week, and since this is now two full weeks off, we've added him into our rankings, but his status is far from certain. 

This should also be Cooper Kupp's return to action after suffering a high ankle sprain in Week 2. Matthew Stafford has done the best he can with limited options in the receiving game, so Kupp's return should be huge news, and Puka Nacua may not be too far behind. There could be some early rust, but Stafford and Kupp's connection is strong enough where it's not a major concern heading into this week's matchup against the Raiders. His return isn't locked in stone, but this was the week the Rams were targeting.