Waivers of the future will focus on making decisions that improve our odds of our dynasty championship. The back of your dynasty roster should be flexible, with preferences made for players you can use in your lineup during the season.

Quarterbacks

Among the quarterbacks, there are two types of waiver options: those moving up this week and veteran backups.

Moving Up

• P.J. Walker, CLE

Deshaun Watson missed weeks 4 and 6 around the team's week 5 bye with a shoulder injury. He was knocked out of this week's game. The exact nature of his absence is not known. He entered the concussion protocol before clearing the protocol but was held out by head coach Kevin Stefanski. Stefanski said after the game it was out of an abundance of caution, but there is concern the hit that knocked Watson out reaggravated his injured throwing shoulder. P.J. Walker warrants a stash this week, in the event the Watson injury drags on.

Veteran Backups

As a general rule, you should have a limited amount of backup quarterbacks on your monitor list. With roster spots tight, optimized dynasty rosters under 25 spots in Superflex or quarterback premium. If you are in 25 to 35-man rosters and have a roster spot, these quarterbacks are the premium backups:

• Mike White, MIA
• Tyler Huntley, BAL
• Cooper Rush, DAL
• Jacoby Brissett, WAS
• Taylor Heinicke, ATL
• Teddy Bridgewater, DET

Running Backs

One of the keys to dynasty fantasy football is continuously optimizing your backup running back situation. The last five to ten roster spots on your roster should be very fluid, with little allegiance if the player does not offer the capacity to help your lineup. A constant churn on the back end of your roster is critical.

Moving Up this Week

• Pierre Strong Jr, CLE

Jerome Ford suffered a high ankle sprain that is thought to cost him at least a week or two to recover from. The big news advice will be on Kareem Hunt, but Kareem Hunt actually saw a downtick in snapshare, routes, and rushing attempts this week despite Ford's injury. Instead, the beneficiary is Pierre Strong. Strong has a running and receiving profile that could play in a short sample size.

• Royce Freeman/Darrell Henderson Jr., LAR

Royce Freeman and Darrell Henderson shared the workload in week 7, with starter Kyren Williams on injured reserve. Henderson was the starter, and handled 58% of the snap share, 60% of the rush attempts, and 38% of the route participation, with Freeman handling the remainder. Sean McVay's offense has a history of getting strong production from players on the fringe of the NFL shortly before they got an opportunity in the offense (C.J. Anderson, for example), so taking a shot on Henderson and/or Freeman if they are still available is warranted. A bid in the 25% range for Henderson and somewhere in the single digits for Freeman is justified based on their usage.

Other Backups

Other backups or free agents with high availability include:

• Leonard Fournette, FA (65% available)
• Trayveon Williams (83% available)
• Darrynton Evans (93% available)
• Ke'Shawn Vaughn (88% available)

Wide Receivers

The odds wide receivers from the waiver wire will become big difference-makers on your dynasty roster are very small. For every Tyreek Hill, there are 100 Travis Fulghams. Your strategies on the wide receiver position should be to find immediate lineup help or a flip candidate.

• Jauan Jennings, SF

Jauan Jennings took over the WR2 role in the offense with Deebo Samuel out of the lineup in week 7. Jennings ran a route on 79% of the team's dropbacks and tied for a team-high 7 targets en route to 5 catches for 54 yards. Jennings should be a spot-start candidate in the coming weeks if Deebo Samuel misses time.

Tight Ends

Tight end in changing circumstances who warrant waiver consideration include:

• Donald Parham Jr, LAC

Gerald Everett is dealing with a hip injury that could potentially cost him week 8. This will leave Parham an opportunity to step into a potential spot-starter role for a week or two. There are limited byes this week, so you may not need a tight end off waivers, and with the situation of a committee when Everett plays, Parham will have little longer-term lineup viability.

• Tucker Kraft, GB

Luke Musgrave suffered a sprained ankle, which we expect could keep him out multiple weeks. This could leave an opportunity for fellow rookie Tucker Kraft to take a step forward. The good news for Kraft is that he has seen increasing route participation since week 2, and ran a route on 33% of the team's dropbacks in week 7. The bad news is that Kraft only has 2 targets on his 34 routes this season, good for a very poor 6% target per route run percentage. Kraft could use this opportunity to establish himself. He warrants a stash in deeper leagues where he is available, but you should stay away in 20-man or shorter rosters.

• Connor Heyward, PIT

Pat Freiermuth has been placed on injured reserve and will be out for three weeks. This will allow Darnell Washington to step forward into the starting role. In week 5, Freiermuth missed the week, and Washington saw a jump to a season-high in route participation with 43%. However, in week 7, with Freiermuth out of the lineup, Connor Heyward took over the receiving role in the offense, running routes on 96% of the team's dropbacks. He only had three targets and 2 receptions for 23 yards but could see a bigger production opportunity with near-universal route participation in the coming weeks.