Fantasy Football Week 7 Winners & Losers: Big Return For Jordan Mason

It’s crazy how quickly the fantasy landscape can change.

Players we were high on back in Week 1 are suddenly on waiver wires following Week 7. And right around this time of the season, rookies we’ve been holding out hope for start to emerge. Let’s highlight which players stood out over the weekend.

Week 7 Fantasy Football Winners

Jordan Mason | RB | Minnesota Vikings

Jordan Mason (thumb) returned from a stint on injured reserve on Sunday, reforming a two-man Minnesota backfield alongside Aaron Jones. In his first game since Week 1, Mason logged 64% of the snaps and handled 15 touches. To open the game, the Vikings leaned more on Mason, who played 22 snaps to Jones’ 14 through the first three quarters. Jones aggravated his MCL sprain in the fourth quarter and did not return, resulting in Mason logging over 75% of the running back snaps the rest of the way.

Given he is healthy and in a role that presented standalone potential, Mason’s value was already on the rise. But with Jones set to undergo an MRI, Mason could be operating as the Vikings’ lead back as soon as Week 8. In five games with Jones sidelined since the start of last season, Mason is averaging 14.8 carries, 16 touches and 14 PPR fantasy points per game while logging an average of 67.2% of the offensive snaps. A path to 16-18 touches per game for the foreseeable future is suddenly there for Mason. But even if Jones is healthy, Mason has his Week 1 usage to fall back on. In the season opener, Mason handled 48% of the snaps, 54% and 15 carries.

Jonah Coleman | RB | Denver Broncos

All offseason long, HC Sean Payton spoke very highly of his rookie running back. So it wasn’t too surprising to see Payton, who is now calling plays, involved Jonah Coleman quite a bit in his first game back from a high-ankle sprain.

It was Coleman, not J.K. Dobbins or RJ Harvey, who led the Denver backfield in snap share (50%), carries (9) and touches (11). And after the game, Payton said they needed to get him more touches going forward. Considering he had 11 touches in his first game back from injury, that’s pretty exciting.

We know Payton’s backfields can be a headache for fantasy at times. But Coleman provides a lot more explosiveness than Dobbins at this point, something this run game is craving. Dobbins converted the goal-line carry into a touchdown, while Harvey is going to handle plenty of pass-down work. But Coleman is the long-term upside play who might have already paved a path to FLEX consideration, especially with teams on bye. There’s a good chance he’s been dropped in your league, making him one of the top waiver wire adds of the week where he’s available.

Omar Cooper | WR | New York Jets

Speaking of waiver wire adds, let’s stick with the rookies, shall we?

This week’s most popular waiver add, Omar Cooper, kept the good times rolling on Sunday, hauling in all 5 of his targets for 115 yards and a touchdown. Cooper connected with Geno Smith on gains of 60 and 52 yards, and now ranks sixth among wideouts in 20-plus yard plays over the last two weeks (3). His touchdown catch showcased the creative ways you can deploy a player with Cooper’s skill set, as the Jets lined him up in the backfield, giving him a free release to the flat for a walk-in score. Even with Adonai Mitchell back in the lineup, Cooper still ranked second among Jets receivers in snaps (38) and routes (23), while his 5 targets paced the position.

While I don’t suddenly believe Cooper has overtaken Garrett Wilson as the WR1 in New York, he doesn’t need massive target volume to produce in fantasy. He has a fun combination of splash plays down the field and YAC ability to help him make the most out of his targets.

Week 7 Fantasy Football Losers

Nico Collins | WR | Houston Texans

All offseason long there was really only one argument against Nico Collins as a truly elite fantasy wide receiver: volume. Despite being immensely talented, Collins has hovered around a 24% target share since 2023.

Good, but not great.

Heading into Week 7 of the 2026 campaign, Collins had a 23% target share, which will only fall after seeing just 17.8% of Houston’s targets on Sunday. C.J. Stroud continues to spread the ball around quite a bit, as Collins has been below a 20% target share in each of his last two games. During that stretch, Collins has caught just 5 passes for 80 scoreless yards. Between the return of Tank Dell, addition of Marvin Harrison Jr. and emergence of Jaylin Noel, Collins, who already fails to see schemed targets in this passing game, finds himself in a somewhat crowded receiver room. Overall, Stroud is playing well and Houston’s defense appears to have taken a sizable step back, forcing the Texans into more pass-heavy game scripts. That will benefit Collins. But it’s fair to downgrade him as more of a high-end WR2 going forward, with obvious WR1 upside on a weekly basis.

Juwan Johnson | TE | New Orleans Saints

It might be over for Juwan Johnson.

After a strong first four weeks of the year where he averaged 6.8 targets, 5.3 catches and 15.6 PPR PPG, Johnson has completely fallen off as of late. Over the last three weeks, Johnson has combined for 5 catches for 23 yards and zero touchdowns on 10 total targets. The lack of usage is obviously troubling, but especially when it’s paired with a declining role.

The Saints continue to deploy three tight ends: Johnson, Noah Fant and Oscar Delp. Since Week 5, Johnson has run less than 60% of the routes, well below his 73% route rate from Weeks 1-4. New Orleans now heads on its bye in Week 8, and when they return in Week 9 first-round rookie wideout Jordyn Tyson could be ready to return. Johnson would probably be the player to see his alread- declining targets cut into the most by Tyson, making him a player you likely don’t need to hold onto through the bye week.