Week 6 of the 2026 NFL schedule is nearly in the books, but fantasy football managers should be looking ahead to Week 7. It’s another four-team bye week, with the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, and Washington Commanders idle.
Here are nine must-adds from the fantasy football waiver wire for Week 7.
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: 9 Must-Adds for Week 7
Germie Bernard, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
Bernard had 11 catches for 87 yards and a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6. With injuries to Michael Pittman (foot) and Roman Wilson (finger) opening up a bigger role for him, the rookie has at least 80 yards in back-to-back games with a total of 17 catches on 21 targets over that span. He has clearly earned the trust of Aaron Rodgers,
Pittman will miss at least two more games on IR, and Wilson will miss at least three more contests on IR himself. So Bernard has not only seized his opportunity, but he is in line to keep it until further notice. Ahead of a Week 9 bye, matchups against the New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns are not very daunting.
For at least the next two weeks, with some favor toward PPR formats, Bernard will belong in fantasy lineups as no less than a flex option. With rostered rates still at or less than 50 percent, he gets into this space again this week.
ESPN Ownership: 44.4%
Yahoo! Ownership: 50%
Kendre Miller, RB, New Orleans Saints
The Saints’ backfield rotation has been a cluster for fantasy managers to navigate from the start this season. The removal of big-ticket free agent signing Travis Etienne due to injury hasn’t helped at all, with Miller, Alvin Kamara, and CJ Donaldson splitting snaps in recent weeks.
But after getting double-digit carries and scoring a touchdown in Week 5, Miller had 20 carries for 70 yards along with two catches for zero yards against the New York Giants in Week 6. Kamara continues to be banged up, and Donaldson fails to be overly useful despite seeing noticeable snaps with a tilt toward passing downs, while Miller led the committee against the Giants.
Etienne will miss at least one more game on IR, Week 7 against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Paris, then the Saints have a bye in Week 8. So Miller has another week of potential lineup utility in leagues with 12 or more teams, and it’s worth wondering if Kamara might be rested with the bye week in mind.
Fantasy managers who find themselves thinned at running back in Week 7, with James Cook and Bhaysul Tuten on bye to add to any other concerns, should especially consider Miller a must-add.
ESPN Ownership: 33.2%
Yahoo! Ownership: 34%
Omar Cooper Jr., WR, New York Jets
Cooper made his return from his IR stint due to a Week 1 ankle injury against the New England Patriots, and he delivered the first 100-yard game of his career. 48 of his 103 yards came on a touchdown catch, but he also led the Jets in catches (six) and targets (seven).
Adonai Mitchell has not played since Week 2 due to a finger injury. He has not practiced at all over that time, and it’s unclear if he’ll miss more games. Cooper stepped right into the WR2 role alongside Garrett Wilson, playing 51 of 62 offensive snaps with 28 routes run (according to PFF), and he might not give it back.
Mitchell’s return to action would be the fly in Cooper’s fantasy value ointment, whenever it happens. But matchups against the Miami Dolphins in Week 7 and Week 12 bookend a run of nice-looking matchups that includes the Las Vegas Raiders (Week 8), the Kansas City Chiefs (Week 9), the Buffalo Bills (Week 10), and the Los Angeles Chargers (Week 11). By game script or otherwise, the Jets’ passing game shouldn’t have a lot of issues producing all the way to a Week 13 bye. And with Wilson drawing the opponent’s top cover corner, someone will be set up to produce.
After staking his claim to a prominent role, with first-round draft capital investment that suggests he’ll be given every opportunity to keep it, Cooper is at the top of the wide receiver waiver wire adds for Week 7.
ESPN Ownership: 2.9%
Yahoo! Ownership: 4%
Kyler Murray, QB, Minnesota Vikings
Murray went into the Vikings’ Week 6 bye on a high note, completing 22 of 30 passes for 229 yards with a touchdown while also bringing back the running element of his game (10 carries for 51 yards) in Week 5 against the New Orleans Saints. He also has yet to have all the pieces around him healthy for a full game, so the bye week was well-timed in that regard.
From Week 7 to Week 9, Murray gets favorable matchups against the Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions, and Buffalo Bills. The Colts’ standing in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks is going to be helped by facing Cam Ward in Week 6, but the Lions and Bills have combined to allow multiple passing touchdowns in 10 of the 11 games they’ve played, with at least 269 passing yards allowed in nine of those.
If the Vikings get wide receiver Jordan Addison (hamstring) and tight end T.J. Hockenson (concussion) back coming off the bye, not to mention left tackle Christian Darrisaw (neck/concussion), the best situation Murray has had in his career can finally come to fruition. That upcoming schedule could launch him back into a class of fantasy quarterbacks he hasn’t been in very much lately over the rest of the season, and he should be rostered in all 12-team leagues.
ESPN Ownership: 48.6%
Yahoo! Ownership: 51%
Ja’Kobi Lane, WR, Baltimore Ravens
Lane’s preseason hype train was derailed by a Week 1 wrist injury. He returned to practice heading into Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns, and he played 31 of 57 offensive snaps in the game on his way to four catches for 40 yards (on five targets).
Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus noted how it was Devontez Walker, and not Lane, who replaced Rashod Bateman as the Ravens’ WR2 after Bateman suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter against the Browns. It’s also possible, as Jahnke also noted, that the Ravens were easing Lane into action in his first game back.
The Ravens, to put it simply, have struggled to find a consistently capable second wide receiver after Zay Flowers. The door is open for Lane to take the role, and when Lamar Jackson returns under center, the upside will grow. Add in a very late bye in Week 13, which will give him ample runway to take the No. 2 wide receiver role, and the rookie is a viable add in leagues with at least 12 teams.
ESPN Ownership: 9.9%
Yahoo! Ownership: 12%
Mike Washington Jr., RB, Las Vegas Raiders
Regardless of what head coach Klint Kubiak says, or what he’ll say himself, Ashton Jeanty is clearly operating at far less than 100 percent right now. He has added a foot issue to his August ankle injury in recent weeks, and he averaged 2.2 yards per carry against the Buffalo Bills in Week 6.
Meanwhile, Washington had 43 yards on his nine carries against Buffalo, highlighted by runs of 14 and 18 yards. While the Raiders’ run blocking has left something to be desired, Washington has been able to break an explosive run every once in a while.
The clearest indicator that Jeanty is not healthy, and everyone involved knows it, is the recent decline in his snap share. After playing 76 percent of the snaps over the first four games, he played just 53.3 percent of the snaps in Week 5. There’s a deserving nod to a blowout loss there, but against the Bills, in a far more competitive game, he played 57.5 percent of the offensive snaps.
After ESPN’s Dan Graziano indicated there were internal discussions about resting Jeanty for a week so he could get healthy heading into Week 6, Kubiak, of course, rejected the concept. But Kubiak showed he’s less than forthright about injuries before he even coached a regular-season game for the Raiders (see Brock Bowers), so whatever he says about a player’s health can’t be believed.
If Jeanty were to miss time, Washington would be a startable fantasy RB2 for any games he missed. With the Raiders’ bye week so far away, Week 13, that week (or more?) off for Jeanty to rest and get healthy may have to come at some point.
Jeanty’s training camp ankle injury should’ve pushed fantasy managers who drafted him to also draft Washington as the handcuff if plausible. That hypothetical protection in August is moving toward mattering a lot, and Washington is now a must-add for Jeanty’s fantasy managers. Non-Jeanty fantasy managers in leagues with 12-plus teams should also see some appeal here as a “see what happens” bench stash.
ESPN Ownership: 18.7%
Yahoo! Ownership: 30%
Tyler Higbee, TE, Los Angeles Rams
It’s bad enough that Higbee didn’t come close to maintaining his Week 3-5 momentum in Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals, with four catches for 22 yards. But fellow tight end Colby Parkinson had more catches (five) and yards (31) while also catching/vulturing a touchdown.
However, as noted by Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus, Higbee ran 29 routes to Parkinson’s 19 against Arizona. Higbee also played 12 more snaps than Parkinson, yielding a season-high 82.8 percent snap share.
As long as Terrance Ferguson is out, Higbee has clearly become the Rams’ TE1. Production reflected that in the three games before Week 6, and one game where the production didn’t match the deployment doesn’t erase that.
Three of the Rams’ next four opponents (Las Vegas Raiders-Week 7, Washington Commanders-Week 9, and the Cardinals-Week 10) entered Week 6 among the six most generous teams in fantasy points allowed to tight ends. There is a wide range of possible weekly outcomes, as the Rams add randomness to the thinnest position in fantasy football, but Higbee is a must-add for anyone looking for an answer at tight end in the coming weeks.
ESPN Ownership: 22.7%
Yahoo! Ownership: 35%
Jaylin Noel, WR, Houston Texans
Noel had four catches for a team-high 107 yards and a touchdown in Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He has now scored in back-to-back games, and he has had more than 11.5 full PPR points in three straight games. In two of those last three games, he has at least 85 yards with a 50-plus yard catch.
The arrival of Marvin Harrison Jr. stood to impact Noel’s opportunities, and eventually it might. But they are also two very different receivers, with Harrison playing an “X” or “Z” role and Noel being a slot guy. When it comes down to it, any Texans’ wide receiver this side of Nico Collins is risky to rely on in fantasy.
Noel’s recent trend is notable, though, and the slot is his domain among Houston’s wide receivers. A Week 8 bye has to be noted, but the second-year man is in play as a WR3/flex with upside for Week 7 against the New York Giants. On the other side of the Texans’ bye week, there’s a chance he sustains viability along the same line in leagues with 12 or more teams.
ESPN Ownership: 4.7%
Yahoo! Ownership: 7%
Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Let’s go against the grain with the final must-add this week.
In Week 6 against the Houston Texans, Hunter had four catches for 59 yards and a touchdown. He also had an interception, three total tackles, and a pass breakup to deliver some IDP value. He played a season-high nine offensive snaps in the game, according to Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus, but more notably, fellow wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. played zero snaps in the second half.
The Jaguars now head into a bye in Week 7. While it’s not realistic for Hunter to play a full-time role on both sides of the ball in the NFL, as he did in college, more offensive snaps could be in play upon an evaluation of things during the week off. And if Thomas gets traded at some point, which took a big step toward more likely when he didn’t see the field in the second half against the Texans, Hunter would be in line for some of that work.
With the potential payoff as a wide receiver unclear, not to mention potentially very limited, it may be difficult for most fantasy managers to add Hunter and stash him through a bye week. But managers in IDP leagues that count offensive stats should consider him a must-add. In deeper, non-IDP leagues, he’s worth the add-and-stash just to see what happens.
ESPN Ownership: 28.6%
Yahoo! Ownership: 7%
The Last Word
With the obvious regard for specific individual situations that may shift things, here’s a general ranking of the waiver wire must-adds for this week.
1. Bernard
2. Cooper
3. Murray
4. Miller
5. Washington
6. Higbee
7. Lane
8. Noel
9. Hunter
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