CFB Waiver Wire: Players to Pick Up Week 7

CFB Waiver Wire: Players to Pick Up Week 7

This article is part of our CFB Waiver Wire series.

ACC

Bryn Renner, QB, North Carolina

Renner has a lot of work to do as far as decision making and pocket awareness go, but he has shown a lot of natural passing ability when he knows where to put the ball. He enters this week as a potentially strong start against a Miami defense that can't seem to stop anyone. With 74.4 percent of his passes completed, an average of 9.8 yards per attempt and 13 touchdowns (one rushing) through six games, Renner should do well at home against the Hurricanes.

Michael Campanaro, WR, Wake Forest

While the Virginia Tech pass defense can probably be expected to play better against Wake Forest than it did against Miami a week ago, Campanaro still looks like a viable start for those seeking help at receiver. The Demon Deacons are playing at home, quarterback Tanner Price has been quite impressive this year and Virginia Tech's resources in coverage likely will focus primarily on Chris Givens rather than Campanaro. Campanaro is a good player, but Givens heads into this potential shootout with 595 yards and five touchdowns in five games. Campanaro should see single coverage.

Big East

Cincinnati DST

Since getting annihilated by a loaded Tennessee offense in Week 2, the Cincinnati defense has been quite opportunistic, totaling 14 sacks and seven interceptions while allowing 28 points over three games. With a home game against a potential Teddy Bridgewater/Will Stein platoon this week, Cincinnati has another favorable on-paper matchup against Louisville.

ACC

Bryn Renner, QB, North Carolina

Renner has a lot of work to do as far as decision making and pocket awareness go, but he has shown a lot of natural passing ability when he knows where to put the ball. He enters this week as a potentially strong start against a Miami defense that can't seem to stop anyone. With 74.4 percent of his passes completed, an average of 9.8 yards per attempt and 13 touchdowns (one rushing) through six games, Renner should do well at home against the Hurricanes.

Michael Campanaro, WR, Wake Forest

While the Virginia Tech pass defense can probably be expected to play better against Wake Forest than it did against Miami a week ago, Campanaro still looks like a viable start for those seeking help at receiver. The Demon Deacons are playing at home, quarterback Tanner Price has been quite impressive this year and Virginia Tech's resources in coverage likely will focus primarily on Chris Givens rather than Campanaro. Campanaro is a good player, but Givens heads into this potential shootout with 595 yards and five touchdowns in five games. Campanaro should see single coverage.

Big East

Cincinnati DST

Since getting annihilated by a loaded Tennessee offense in Week 2, the Cincinnati defense has been quite opportunistic, totaling 14 sacks and seven interceptions while allowing 28 points over three games. With a home game against a potential Teddy Bridgewater/Will Stein platoon this week, Cincinnati has another favorable on-paper matchup against Louisville.

Sterling Griffin, WR, South Florida

After the Connecticut defense was lit up for 948 yards and nine touchdowns through the air the last two weeks, South Florida will probably head into this weekend's matchup with the Huskies looking to air it out a bit more than usual. If that happens, Griffin is the receiver most likely to benefit for the Bulls. His 27 receptions easily leads the team, as the next closest player has just 12 catches.

Big Ten

Drake Dunsmore, TE, Northwestern

With the return of Dan Persa and the consequent revival of the Northwestern passing game, Dunsmore appears to have regained his relevance for the Wildcats. He has 10 catches the last two weeks after catching just six in the first three games, turning those 10 catches into 99 yards and a touchdown. He's not a great tight end option by any means, but if you need help at the position he could be worth a shot.

Keenan Davis, WR, Iowa

Davis struggled last week in Iowa's 13-3 snorefest loss to Penn State, but look for him to bounce back against Northwestern in Week 7. With a touchdown in each of the three games prior to last week, Davis should see a number of targets as the Hawkeyes try to keep up with the Dan Persa-led Northwestern offense that threw for 331 yards against a strong Michigan pass defense. Considering Northwestern is allowing 9.9 yards per attempt so far this year, Davis should be able to get open.

Big 12

Jaxon Shipley, WR, Texas

The Texas program remains unimpressive, but Shipley is definitely the real deal. He's well ahead of his brother Jordan at this point in their respective careers. With 369 yards and three touchdowns on 25 catches through five weeks, he has an outside shot at approaching 1,000 yards before the season is finished. He has 15 catches for 230 yards and two scores the last two weeks alone, so it looks like he's picking up steam.

DeAndre Washington, RB, Texas Tech

Aaron Crawford took over for Eric Stephens when the latter suffered what is believed to be a season-ending knee injury against Texas A&M, but Crawford hasn't really shown the ability to produce in his career. Washington, however, averages 4.9 yards per carry and is almost definitely the better talent. He's worth a roster stash in deeper leagues just in case he emerges as the team's lead runner in the next couple weeks - Texas Tech's immediate schedule (Kansas State, Oklahoma) is a bit tough, anyway.

Conference-USA

Aaron Dobson, WR, Marshall

Dobson has been quiet the last two weeks after a fast start to the year, but look for him to get back on track against Rice this week. The Rice defense made even Garrett Gilbert look good earlier this year, so Dobson should find it a bit easier to get open against Rice than he did against Louisville and UCF the last two games. He's not a bad spot start in deeper leagues this week.

Brynn Harvey, RB, UCF

The UCF backfield is still loaded thanks to the presences of Latavius Murray and Ronnie Weaver, but Harvey may have pulled away a bit thanks to his 30-carry, 180-yard showing against Marshall last week. Harvey ran for 14 touchdowns in 2009 before a knee injury wiped out his 2010 season, so UCF has reason to believe that he can continue carrying the load effectively.

Independents

Riley Nelson, QB, BYU

Nelson is a bit reckless and mistake-prone, but he's still much better than Jake Heaps, and his running ability makes him a better fantasy option than one might expect. He has five passing touchdowns in his last 38 pass attempts and has 127 yards on the ground in basically one and a half games the last two weeks. You can probably find a worse spot start this week as BYU takes on an Oregon State pass defense allowing 8.3 yards per pass this year, with 11 touchdowns allowed in five games.

MAC

Robert Arnheim, WR, Western Michigan

The Northern Illinois defense has been a mess so far this year, allowing 8.9 yards per pass and 12 touchdowns through the air through five games. The Western Michigan offense should tear the Huskies defense apart this week, with Jordan White being the primary concern to Northern Illinois. With the Huskies doing their best to contain White, Arnheim should see favorable coverage. There are worse options as a spot start.

Ryan Radcliff, QB, Central Michigan

Radcliff's season has been ugly, but he could be a decent spot start in Week 7 as Central Michigan takes on Eastern Michigan. The Eagles haven't defended the pass very well this year, allowing 13 touchdowns while intercepting just three passes. For a mistake-prone player like Radcliff, that makes a good matchup on paper.

Mountain West

Geraldo Boldewijn, WR, Boise State

If Boldewijn was cut in your league while he was suspended, he may be worth a pickup at this point. Boise State spreads the ball around a lot at receiver, so he doesn't come without risk, but it's encouraging that he caught two touchdowns in his first game back. He was the talk of training camp, so he could earn a bigger role from here.

Asher Clark, RB, Air Force

Clark is always a bit of a risk due to the light workload he gets, but he has been extremely productive this year on a per-carry basis. He has run for 341 yards and three touchdowns over the last three games despite receiving just 32 carries over that span. He's averaging 9.3 yards per carry on the year, so he would presumably be in for a huge game if he could make a push for 20 carries in a contest.

Pac-12

Markus Wheaton, WR, Oregon State

Wheaton has managed to avoid the end zone all year, but his catch volume (38 catches through five games) means he should find his way there soon enough. The team is showing a firm commitment to throwing the ball with new quarterback Sean Mannion, and Wheaton is the team's top target.

Marshall Lobbestael, QB, Washington State

While Jeff Tuel will have the offense back next year at the latest, it appears that Lobbestael has taken the job away for this year, or until he plays like he did before this year. Lobbestael has 1,570 yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions through the air so far despite throwing just seven touchdowns to 12 interceptions prior to this year. As long as he's starting, he should post good fantasy numbers in an offense that features a strong group of receivers.

SEC

Connor Shaw, QB, South Carolina

Shaw won't have it nearly as easy against Mississippi State as he did against Kentucky a week ago, but a five-touchdown game is almost always worth a flier. Shaw has demonstrated good running ability throughout his career, so if he can remain sharp as a passer he could turn into a strong matchup play.

Trey Burton, TE, Florida

If Burton is TE-eligible in your league and was dropped due to his rough two-game stretch against Alabama and LSU, pick him up. He'll remain merely an occasional target in the Florida passing game, but he's still the team's primary short-yardage and inside runner. The schedule is not nearly as brutal for Florida from here.

Sun Belt

Brent Leonard, WR, Louisiana-Monroe

Leonard has been very good the last three weeks, totaling 31 catches for 311 yards and three touchdowns. He has a good chance to maintain the momentum heading into Week 7, as Monroe is taking on a Troy defense that has allowed 7.8 yards per pass and 12 touchdowns through the air through five weeks.

Javone Lawson, WR, Louisiana-Lafayette

Like Leonard, Lawson has come on strong in recent weeks after a quiet start to the year. In the last four Lafayette games he has 17 catches for 331 yards and three touchdowns. A Week 7 showdown against North Texas isn't the most intimidating matchup, either.

WAC

Jalen Saunders, WR, Fresno State

If someone dropped Saunders in your league in response to his one-catch showing against Boise State in Week 6, go grab him. He had 423 yards and four touchdowns in the three games before that, and Utah State's defense is not good at stopping the pass. He has a very good chance to get going again this week.

Noel Grigsby, WR, San Jose State

Grigsby is primarily a deep-league consideration outside of PPR leagues, but it seems like he should have a decent chance to be worth a spot start against Hawaii this week. He's coming off an 11-catch game against BYU, and the San Jose State offense figures to throw at least 35 passes in its attempt to keep up with the Bryant Moniz-led offense of the Warriors.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mario Puig
Mario is a Senior Writer at RotoWire who primarily writes and projects for the NFL and college football sections.
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