{"id":251856,"date":"2025-10-21T11:20:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T15:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=251856"},"modified":"2025-10-21T21:46:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T01:46:55","slug":"oronde-gadsden-chargers-tight-end-and-other-waiver-pickups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/10\/21\/oronde-gadsden-chargers-tight-end-and-other-waiver-pickups\/","title":{"rendered":"Oronde Gadsden, Chargers Tight End, and Other Waiver Pickups"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re halfway through the NFL season, and fantasy football teams are hurting. George Kittle<\/a> had a goose egg in his first week back, Nico Collins can’t get on the same page as C.J. Stroud, and Oronde Gadsden<\/a> outscored every other tight end in half PPR. These waiver wire pickups can get you back on the right track ahead of Week 8.<\/p>\n

Oronde Gadsden, Chargers Tight End, and Other Waiver Pickups<\/h2>\n

Pickup and Play Options<\/h3>\n

Oronde Gadsden, Chargers Tight End<\/h4>\n

Gadsden just had the most receiving yards by a rookie tight end since 2000. His snap percentage has climbed, his targets are climbing, and he’s a vital part of this offense. He might be a top two option on the Chargers offense, and he’s the top pickup for any tight-end-hungry teams (which is a lot of them).<\/p>\n

Gadsden is rostered in 12% of leagues on Sleeper<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kyle Monangai, Bears Running Back<\/h4>\n

The Baltimore Ravens<\/a> can’t stop a sneeze on the ground right now, and Monangai showed what he can do with an increased workload. His running style is no-nonsense and straightforward, which will continue to earn him touches on an ascending offense.<\/p>\n

Monangai is rostered in 11% of leagues on Sleeper.<\/em><\/p>\n

Darnell Mooney, Falcons Wide Receiver<\/h4>\n

There’s a chance Mooney is already on someone’s roster. But it’s unlikely they started him, and they’re frustrated with his early-season injuries. If he’s available on waivers, he’s the WR2 for the Falcons and gets a fantastic matchup against the Dolphins even with quarterback questions.<\/p>\n

Mooney is rostered in 37% of leagues on Sleeper.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pat Freiermuth, Steelers Tight End<\/h4>\n

Arthur Smith has never burned fantasy football managers before, right? More importantly, the Green Bay Packers are a plus matchup for tight ends, and one of Freiermuth or Smith is going to have some value this week. After an explosion in Week 7, the answer should be Freiermuth, but Smith might just make it Darnell Washington for the memes.<\/p>\n

Freiermuth is rostered in 10% of leagues on Sleeper.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Stash or Deep Plays<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Aug 22, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Brashard Smith (30) dives forward against Chicago Bears safety Jaquan Brisker (9) during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Devin Neal, Saints Running Back<\/h4>\n

Kendre Miller went down with a torn ACL on Sunday. Neal was an exciting prospect<\/a> who fell due to some limited athletic tools. With an aging Alvin Kamara and no one in the way, Neal has an easy path to touches and fantasy football viability. He’s the top stash among waiver pickups this week.<\/p>\n

Neal is rostered in 4% of leagues on Sleeper.<\/em><\/p>\n

Brashard Smith, Chiefs Running Back<\/h4>\n

Brashard Smith just keeps getting touches when he’s on the field. He has a 7.5% target share<\/a>, with his usage increasing every week. As the season goes on, there’s a chance Smith’s role continues to grow and he becomes a PPR target among waiver pickups.<\/p>\n

Smith is rostered in 9% of leagues on Sleeper.<\/em><\/p>\n

Isaiah Likely, Ravens Tight End<\/h4>\n

After waiting for him to return from injury, Likely played a ton of snaps in Week 6 and was forgotten about ahead of the Week 7 bye. Impatient teams sent him to the waiver wire, but Mark Andrews<\/a> hasn’t done much to solidify his usage in the receiving game. Lamar Jackson could return soon, and it’s a fairly soft schedule for the Ravens from here on out.<\/p>\n

Likely is rostered in 14% of leagues on Sleeper.<\/em><\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Orande Gadsden highlights the waiver pickups this week after an explosion last week. Here are the best options for fantasy football.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4345,"featured_media":251853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[33430,7642,32907,32951,3160],"class_list":["post-251856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","tag-2025-fantasy-football","tag-chargers-featured","tag-kyle-monangai","tag-oronde-gadsden","tag-waiver-wire"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4345"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251856"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251860,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251856\/revisions\/251860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}