Tez Johnson Among Must-Add WRs in Fantasy Football for Week 7

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Mike's Hard Lemonade:

Six weeks into the season and heads are starting to roll while offenses are turning into infirmaries.

Here’s the latest (and how to attack it on the waiver) …

🤕 The Bucs are banged up. Ugh, this is rough. Emeka Egbuka (hamstring; will undergo testing today), but is expected to miss time. Meanwhile, Bucky Irving and Chris Godwin have basically already been ruled out for next Monday (“not in play”).

Waiver move: Rookie WR Tez Johnson saw his routes jump from 49% > 84% in Week 6. Also, he can do backflips and is confident enough to think the MVP chants were for him instead of Baker Mayfield (!). There’s some really nice upside here because we know Baker is a kingmaker (feel free to use that one, songwriters).

🪓 The Titans axe Callahan. The most depressing team in football has decided to shake things up after they dropped to 1-5 this week. Cam Ward has done this team no favors, but as the No. 1 overall pick, he’s obviously getting the longer leash here. Whoever is named as the interim coach will get the pleasure of hosting a jacked-up Mike Vrabel in a homecoming revenge game on Sunday. Good luck with that.

Waiver move: This doesn’t have anything to do with Callahan, but with Calvin Ridley dealing with a hamstring injury. Elic Ayomanor needs to be rostered everywhere in case this team can turn things around.

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✏️ Other injuries to note (and moves to make). Mike Gesicki (pectoral) will be out a while, and Tanner Hudson is in the concussion protocol. That leaves Noah Fant as the only healthy TE there.

Perhaps my favorite add for Week 7, however, is on the Rams with Puka Nacua likely to miss this week (and perhaps more). He ran 86% of the routes and earned a 15% target share in Puka’s absence. Grab the name (and more info) in Kendall’s Week 7 waiver column:

YOUR WEEK 7 WAIVER WIRE GUIDE

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About Last Night …

Another Monday Night Football doubleheader brought with it some scintillating performances, a big upset and a walk-off field goal by a kicker making his debut with his new team. Ho hum. Here are the highlights from the Falcons’ 24-14 takedown of the Bills and the Bears’ 25-24 nail biter over the Commanders in DC.

Overhead view of Bijan Robinson’s tightrope walk on his 81-yard score. Bijan’s big night netted 238 total yards and a score.
Not to be outdone, Drake London went for 10-158-1 and ALMOST got a second score. Though his first TD was an imitation of Elasticman.
Yes, it was a “quiet” 180 passing yards and 2 TDs for Josh Allen.
Caleb Williams went for 252 passing yards and 2 total TDs, including this keeper.
A little rain? Jayden Daniels dried off enough for 3 TDs passes.
D’Andre Swift carried a big load, good for 175 total yards and a TD.

CHECK OUT THE UTILIZATION REPORT DATA AFTER THESE BIG GAMES

Editors’ Picks

Week 6 is in the books. Who’s ready to look toward Week 7? Get a head start with some of the latest Fantasy Life content to come through the Week 7 pipeline …

Week 7 DST Streamers

The Seahawks might be developing into a legitimate NFC contender, and their defense has been a major factor. Jonathan Fuller breaks down their Week 7 matchup and what other DSTs are worth streaming.

Week 7 Vibe Check

Is Rico Dowdle’s hot run going to pull the rug out from under you? John Laghezza looks at Dowdle and other players and teams for their long-term outlook.

Players To Drop In Week 7

From the 49ers WR1 to droppable … this is the story of Jauan Jennings. Geoff Ulrich breaks down all of the players whom you can feel confident breaking up with in Week 7.

The #1 Utilization Takeaway From Week 6 is …

Kimani Vidal: Chargers' RB1 with Omarion Hampton out?

A one-game sample can be problematic to forecast from (see Michael Carter last weekend), but it is all we have in this scenario. And the split wasn't even close. Vidal's 88 Utilization Score dwarfed that of Hassan Haskins. Vidal outsnapped Haskins 67% to 31%.

That looks more like a lead back and a backup than a split backfield. To this point, Vidal has also looked like the far better player.

Yards per carry: Vidal 6.5 vs. Haskins 2.5
Yards after contact: Vidal 3.4 vs. Haskins 2.9
10-plus yard attempts: Vidal 23% vs. Haskins 9%
Targets per route run: Vidal 17% vs. Haskins 9%

Those numbers are from tiny samples of 22 and 11 attempts for Vidal and Haskins, so we could still see a hot-hand strategy emerge. While that is in the range of outcomes, we’re leaning into Vidal as the lead back, given the data we have.

Hampton is eligible to return in Week 10, but with the recent news emerging that he will miss more than four games with his high-ankle sprain that landed him on IR, and a Week 12 bye for the Chargers, we could see Vidal as the lead back for another five games. That is a significant chunk of playing time.

Vidal UPGRADES to low-end RB2 territory and could provide fantasy managers with low-end RB1 production until Hampton returns. Vidal is available in 70% of leagues and is a PRIORITY WAIVER WIRE TARGET if you need short-term help.

Haskins DOWNGRADES to RB4 status.

» Continue on for the rest of Dwain McFarland’s Utilization Report ahead of Week 7

MORE UTILIZATION NOTES FROM WEEK 6

Early Week 7 Rankings: Are There More Bell Cow RBs?

Does it seem like there are more bell cow running backs at our disposal for fantasy in 2025? Well, after begging the injury gods to leave these every-down ballers alone, we have nine players projected surpass 300 touches this season, with three more expected to just miss that mark. That’s the most since 2019. If you don’t have one of these players—and preferably a couple—you might be left wanting when it comes to the fantasy playoffs.

Ian Hartitz jumps in with an early look at the rankings for Week 7, showing players who are moving up and down at each position. He spends more than a few words breaking down how Jaxson Dart may be climbing into the QB1 discussion. And the players stopped near the goal line will leave you saying, “Sheesh!” ⬇️

WE HAVE A NEW OVERALL WR1

Around the Watercooler

The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds.

📺 Who are you targeting in the Buccaneers WR room?

❓Who had some of the best performances of Week 6?

🤔 Is Rico the new starting RB? Canales says not so fast!

🙏 Cowboys getting a superstar back? Let’s pray.

🤝 It’s not your fault. Say it again. It’s not your fault.

🤗 It’s not a hug, Saquon fantasy managers, but it’s almost as good.

✌️ Brian Callahan may be gone from Nashville, but he left us this.