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Fantasy Football Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickup: QB Joe Flacco

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By @Brandon__Raper

Joe Flacco fantasy football waivers week 7

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When you gather around the water cooler this week with your buddies, bragging about the beating you put on your opponent in fantasy football, chances are if you had Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco on your squad, you’ll have the best story to tell. The only problem is, in most fantasy leagues, not only is it likely that you don’t have Flacco, but he’s probably a free agent.

Thanks to his Week 6 performance, Flacco just became one of the hottest waiver wire commodities in fantasy. Things like that will happen when you torch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for five touchdowns in just 16 minutes on your way to a 48-17 rout on the road, but considering his relatively slow start, should you join in the mad dash to claim the Ravens’ franchise signal-caller?

Fantasy football players are notorious for a little something called recency bias. As soon as a player puts up a huge game like the one Flacco just had, everybody wants him, even if it’s not likely to happen again anytime soon. Considering it was just one week ago that the Delaware grad put up a 235-yard, no-touchdown fantasy stinker at the Indianapolis Colts, what are the chances Flacco keeps the scores coming in bunches in the near future?

It turns out those chances are pretty good, actually. The Ravens host the Atlanta Falcons in Week 7, and the Atlanta secondary looks ripe for the picking. Giving up an average of just under 278 passing yards through week 6, the Falcons rank 29th in the NFL in pass defense; a juicy matchup if there ever was one.

To the Falcons’ credit, their defense has only given up six passing touchdowns, but that’s thanks in large part to the fact that opponents have nearly as much success running the ball against them as they do passing. Considering the fact that the Ravens are still working with a running back by committee approach and the fact that Falcons games tend to turn into shootouts, Flacco should have all he needs to post another solid outing this week.

Only the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buccaneers are on bye in Week 7, so unless you’ve been banking on Nick Foles at quarterback, you likely have other starting options. Obviously we wouldn’t recommend overthinking your matchups, but Flacco is definitely a strong consideration over players like Matt Ryan or Colin Kaepernick. If nothing else, keeping him away from your opponents and stashing him for a playoff run – the Ravens get the Jacksonville Jaguars in pivotal Week 15 – is worth it if you have an opening on your roster.

Brandon Raper is the lead golf writer and an NFL contributor for Rant Sports. “Like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @Brandon__Raper, and join him on Google+.

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