Fantasy Football: Playing the waiver wire for Week 7

Week 6 will be completed on Monday night with the Dallas Cowboys taking on the Los Angeles Chargers. Shifting focus to Week 7, six teams are on bye (Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans) to test the depth of fantasy football rosters.

Going a little deeper than we might ordinarily in some spots, here's Week 7's "Playing The Waiver Wire."

RB Justice Hill, Baltimore Ravens

Hill started Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans. While Gus Edwards out-snapped (44 to 27) and out-carried him (16 to eight) in the game, he was still the favorite in passing situations (three catches, to one for Edwards) and he had a better yards per carry average than Edwards.

It's hard to comfortably rely on any Ravens' running back in fantasy, and there's always someone lurking to enter the mix for carries. Melvin Gordon and Kenyan Drake on the practice squad, and rookie Keaton Mitchell (now off IR), are the lurkers this year.

Hill is a low-end flex option fantasy owners will hope they don't have to deploy very often (or at all). But on the "running back with a role/pulse" idea, in a run-heavy offense, he is worthy of a roster spot in leagues with 12 or more teams.

ESPN Ownership: 32.3%
Yahoo! Ownership: 42%

WR Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs

Trying to predict what the Chiefs' wide receivers will do is largely foolish, and frustrating in fantasy football as Patrick Mahomes is content to spread the ball around sans a true No. 1 guy at the position. But Rice is becoming hard to ignore, with more than 50 yards or a touchdown in three of his last four game and four of six games this season.

The Chiefs next three opponents before a Week 10 bye (Los Angeles Chargers, the Broncos and Miami Dolphins), all entered Week 6 in the bottom half of the league against wide receivers (Yahoo!, 0.5-point PPR). The games against the Chargers and Dolphins are lined up to be high-scoring.

A pass catcher this side of Travis Kelce who's attached to Mahomes and doing anything consistently is a fantasy-relevant player. Even simply as a depth piece to help navigate bye weeks, Rice should be owned in 12 and 14-team leagues.

ESPN Ownership: 30.4%
Yahoo! Ownership: 45%

RB Craig Reynolds, Detroit Lions

David Montgomery left Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a rib injury, and with Jahmyr Gibbs (hamstring) out again that left Reynolds as the lead back for the Lions. He didn't get a lot going on the ground (15 yards on 10 carries), but he have a 28-yard reception among his two catches.

When called upon to be the Lions' lead back late in the 2021 season, Reynolds was useful in fantasy with games where he had 83 rushing yards (99 total yards), 112 rushing yards and 51 total yards. So if he has the lead back role in Week 7 against the Baltimore Ravens, with Montgomery lined up to miss time and Gibbs not seeming close to suiting up last week, there's some utility here during a six-team bye week (and maybe beyond).

ESPN Ownership: 6.5%
Yahoo! Ownership: 2%