Fantasy Football's Best Stashes: Luther Burden, Tyjae Spears and More Players To Get a Jump On

Welcome to Week 7 Stashes.

“Stashes” are players with long-term upside that we’re looking to get ahead of the competition on. From a stock market perspective, think of it as trying to identify and buy that next hot tech stock (or hot alt coin for the Crypto crowd), that will hopefully run 50-200%, before everyone else does.

On that note, instead of going through this positionally, I’m going to highlight stash candidates from a risk/variance perspective. Higher-profile stashes may be better known and harder to grab, but also have a better chance of turning out.

Lower-profile stashes should be available in all leagues, but will obviously have a bigger bust factor.

As always, you can pair the advice here with the fantasy football rankings, projections, and other cool tools from a Fantasy Life+ subscription ahead of Week 7. And to get FL+ for free for a year (into and beyond next draft season), check out a special offer (thanks to Comet) that runs through the end of October. 

Let’s get stashing.

Week 7 Fantasy Football Stashes

High Upside Stashes

Luther Burden, WR, CHI

• Upside Potential: 8.5/10

Burden popped up with another solid game in Week 6, posting 4 receptions and 51 yards, while playing on just 23% of the overall snaps. That last part is both problematic and encouraging for Burden, who led the team with a 31% TPRR (via the Utilization Report) in Week 6 but also lost a significant playing time to Olamide Zacchauus after DJ Moore went down with injury.

All due respect to Zacchaeus, but I’d bet on the talent winning out in this situation. Burden was an elite after-the-catch specialist who graded out well in Thor Nystrom’s Scouting Model last spring and has tons of potential working alongside Rome Odunze, who is drawing plenty of downfield attention from other teams’ top defenders at the moment. With Moore day-to-day and also potentially a trade deadline target for many teams, the time to stash Burden is now, who remains on the waiver wire in the majority of redraft leagues.

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Jalen Coker, WR, CAR

• Upside Potential: 8.0/10

Coker is another WR who looks like he might be about ready to take off in the coming weeks. The second-year player is set to come off IR and start against the Jets in Week 7, and he’ll be walking directly into a situation where he’s likely to get plenty of targets with teams so intent on shutting down vertical threat Tetairoa McMillan.

Coker’s ability to play inside and outside and make teams pay with his size when they line him up against smaller corners made him a favorite target of Bryce Young last season, who targeted Coker 5.6 times per game in the duo’s last five games together in 2024-25. With the Carolina depth chart so thin, it’s not hard to see Coker coming in and paying immediate dividends, with the potential to ramp up to some big weeks in the second half of the season. This might be the last week you can get him on your bench for free.

Tyjae Spears, RB, TEN

• Upside Potential: 7.5/10

I’m reading the tea leaves a bit on this one, but if I’m the Tennessee Titans and new coach Mike McCoy, what is the downside at this point in giving Spears the ball and running as the lead back the rest of the season? Tennessee isn’t making the playoffs, which makes the higher-priced Tony Pollard a perfect trade candidate, and Spears has already shown great versatility in this offense, going for four or more catches in seven of his last 13 games now over the last season and a half.

While it’s a small sample size, the 5.0 YPC (9 carries, 45 yards) he’s averaged this season also has him as the far more efficient runner compared to Pollard (3.9 YPC on 92 carries). Spears is already moving up the usage ladder, so to speak, after he earned 9 touches last week, and with the trade deadline approaching, he could be in for an even bigger jump. Now is the time to stash the versatile back who may have some weeks where he approaches RB2 or even low RB1 production later in the year.

Deeper Stashes

Kendre Miller, RB, NO

• Upside Potential: 7.0/10

The Miller breakout took a small step backward last week after he only managed 21 yards on eight carries. Still, the potential for him to step into a full-time starting role before the season ends is certainly on the table. Alvin Kamara has said he wants to stay in New Orleans, but given the state of the team’s roster and their 1-5 record, trading the veteran is still the most rational option for them going forward. If nothing else, Kamara has also been on the injury report of late (foot), so the chance for Miller to get a week or two of RB1-type usage down the fantasy playoff stretch is still on the table, should Kamara remain with the team.

Overall, with so much potential volatility ahead with the Saints roster, Miller’s someone you want to jump on sooner rather than later. If a trade is made, the time will already be too late, and there are other ways he could eventually pay off for you, including a Kamara injury

Tyquan Thornton, WR, KC

• Upside Potential: 6.0/10

The Chiefs are getting Rashee Rice back this week, which is going to make an already crowded receiving core even more crowded, and will also likely lead to many fantasy teams pulling the plug on Thornton. Thornton’s short-term prospects remain bleak, but he was a focal point of this offense at one point–especially the deep passing game–when Xavier Worthy and Rice were out. Through Weeks 1-3, Thornton scored two TDs and averaged 57 yards, all while seemingly gaining the trust of Patrick Mahomes, who continued to look his way as late as Week 5, when he went for 91 yards vs the Jaguars.

At this point, Thornton is unstartable, but if Rice and, more specifically, Worthy, go down with injury again, he’s likely going to see a bump in usage and could be a very useful WR3/4 option down the stretch. If you have the room, there are worse upside options than the Chiefs' deep ball specialist to think about stashing right now.

Week 7 Big Brain Stash

Darius Slayton, WR, NYG

• Upside Potential: 7.0/10

Slayton certainly didn’t do himself any favors in his first game after the Malik Nabers' injury, as he had a poor game in the Giants' loss to the Saints, and also got injured himself (which forced him to miss the Giants' win against the Eagles). The 28-year-old is now facing competition from incumbent Jalin Hyatt and practice squad call-up Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who came down with 4 receptions for 55 yards (8 targets) and showed a better connection with Jaxson Dart than Slayton did vs the Saints.

Still, the 28-year-old Slayton is the only proven outside WR the Giants have on the roster, and at some point in the next week or two (assuming he can get healthy), should have a shot to regain his starting role and potentially even earn a shot at more primary targets. The Giants have a weak schedule of pass defenses to end the season, starting with the Patriots in Week 14 and ending with the Raiders in Week 17, so getting him on the bench for the playoff run now isn’t the worst idea in the world, especially if you happen to have deeper benches or are in a position where your team is strong enough to sacrifice a little short-term turbulence while Slayton gets back up to speed.