Fantasy football waiver: 5 quarterbacks to target for Week 7

Another year, another Ben Roethlisberger injury for fantasy football owners to worry about. Big Ben suffered a meniscus injury in Sunday's loss to the Miami Dolphins and had surgery, which could keep him out anywhere from two to six weeks.

The good news is the Steelers have a bye in Week 8, so Roethlisberger has a decent shot to miss only one game. The bad news is that they play the New England Patriots this week and Landry Jones is a significant downgrade in every facet, from real life to fantasy football. He's not a recommended waiver wire add this week, but we have five quarterbacks worth a shot for Roethlisberger owners (or Cam Newton owners who have to cover for his bye this week). All players are owned in 50 percent of less of Yahoo! standard leagues.

Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens (29 percent)

Flacco couldn't find the end zone against the New York Giants, but he still stuffed the stat sheet with 307 passing yards on 26-of-48 passing, with no interceptions or fumbles. The Ravens offense still doesn't look that inspired even with a renewed commitment to the running game, but they get a friendly matchup with the New York Jets' dismal defense next week. Flacco will be on the QB1 map for that game.

Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs (28 percent)

Smith also didn't throw a touchdown pass, with Spencer Ware and Jamaal Charles finishing drives from the red zone. He came close, however, with a gadget touchdown throw to defensive tackle Dontari Poe, which was later ruled a lateral rather than a forward pass. Regardless, Smith had another competent, low-ceiling kind of fantasy day. He has one of best fantasy matchups of Week 7 with the New Orleans Saints, so owners can fire him up as a solid streaming option.

Brian Hoyer, Chicago Bears (20 percent)

Hoyer attempted 49 passes with the Jacksonville Jaguars shutting down the running game, and although he wasn't quite as good as previous weeks, he still got to 300 yards for the fourth straight game. Next on the schedule is a Thursday night meeting with a Green Bay Packers team that got manhandled by the Dallas Cowboys. Hoyer is a harder sell this week due to the short rest, but he'll be in QB2 play.

Sam Bradford, Minnesota Vikings (15 percent)

The Vikings are coming off their bye and now go on the road to face the Philadelphia Eagles, whose defense is suddenly looking shaky after getting chewed up by Kirk Cousins. Bradford is still on the lower end of the QB2 totem pole, but he's worth using if injuries or byes have you in a pinch. His fantasy outlook will improve if Stefon Diggs returns from a groin injury.

Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers (9 percent)

Kaepernick wasn't good on Sunday, but he was better than Blaine Gabbert and that should be enough to keep the job another week. He showed that he's still a good runner and is feeding targets to Torrey Smith, who finally regained fantasy relevance after Gabbert ignored him all season. At this point, Kaepernick is more of a speculative stash in deeper leagues, but two-QB league owners can use him against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week.