It’s about that time of the year! We’re starting to reassess our draft-day investments with the rose-tint on our lenses all but faded. Unfortunately, dudes about whom we were perhaps overexcited now have a sample size of three regulation games of production. That’s enough to start making, as Raiders HC Antonio Pierce put it, “business decisions.” Waiver wire decisions.
Going forward, I’ll be publishing a list of droppable players here weekly on Tuesdays. If you’re curious as to who I might recommend picking up to fill the slots, check out
- my colleague and fellow DKN analyst Zach Thompson‘s Week 4 Waiver Wire column, or
- my Best Players to Stash before Week 3 column, many of whom had intriguing performances on Sunday (also featuring many welcome and fantastic insights from ZT).
I’ll be accompanying this weekly article with a weekly thread on my handle @dansby_edits with more stats and info on these droppable players.
Sharpen that axe, folks.
No-questions-asked droppable
In no particular order.
Gus Edwards, RB, Los Angeles Chargers (69.3% rostered)
We were really only rostering Edwards as half-a-handcuff and a potential touchdown-vulturing flex play, depending on how Harbaugh deployed him.
Edwards had three carries against the Steelers. The Chargers were never down by more than two scores, and, at one point, led in that game. Herbert got hurt and didn’t come back. And, still—three carries.
He’ll have better games, but are going to feel comfortable starting him in any of the coming weeks? Probably not. Swing the blade.
Blake Corum, RB, Los Angeles Rams (33.6% rostered)
I’m not going to use this platform to click my heels at all the folks who thought my Kyren Williams hype in the offseason was prematurely shut down when McVay revealed the ways he’d be involving his running backs in special teams packages.
If anything, in Corum’s case, we thought that might increase his value. Williams’s involvement in any sort of special teams would superficially suggest fewer touches in the backfield. Were we really so gullible as to believe that Sean McVay would mess with what worked? When have he and Matt Stafford ever gone away from their bread-and-butter? When someone gets fed in this Rams offense, they eat good, so to speak.
He remains an elite handcuff, so I’d get why you might not want to drop him. But you might be rostering Corum and sitting at 1-2, or 0-3 through three fantasy games so far.
If you need to make a decision, drop Corum for someone with better current upside.
Caleb Williams, QB, Chicago Bears (54.8% rostered [and dropping rapidly])
As sad as we are to see Captain Caleb make this list, we should just be glad that Rome Odunze isn’t on it. Don’t you dare drop him. He’s a league-winner.
Williams is the 27th-ranked QB in total fantasy points through three weeks. He’s a rookie, and he’s having more trouble adjusting to NFL defenses than Jayden Daniels in Washington. We’ve seen this happen too many times with the Bears.
Not whatsoever ruling out that Caleb could come online mid-season. But something feels just not altogether right. Empty that roster slot.
Gabe Davis, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars (43.0% rostered)
Buffalo’s defense is good. But you, like me, felt like it just had to be last night, didn’t you? Some sign that Gabe Davis would still be a vertical, contested-catch threat.
I actually thought the ball he caught out of bounds near the pylon from Lawrence exhibited Davis’s athleticism—body control, ball-tracking, secured the contested catch. But this may be just as much about Lawrence as anything else.
Big-time questions in Jacksonville, this week. All about their quarterback. How will he respond? Potentially by involving Davis more, sure. But I’m not banking on this, right now. In the articles linked in the intro, there are about twelve other wideouts I’d rather roster over Davis.
Justin Tucker, K, Baltimore Ravens (97.3% rostered)
Anyone else a fan of the featured image I used here? Tucker looking on as Brandon Aubrey (the New Justin Tucker) blasts one from, probably, 74 yards. A reluctant passing of the torch.
I know not leagues use kickers anymore, but I had to include JT here. I owned Tucker last year, when the signs of age started to show. He looks all kinds of bamboozled out there right now, and the Ravens are going to keep going for it on fourth-and-short in enemy territory.
We once thought of Tucker, almost, like a flex play. A weekly score of above ten points was almost a foregone conclusion. No more. There are plenty of unowned kickers out there who are drilling forty-and-fifty yarders at a much more frequent and efficient clip than Tucker.
I’m not that nutbar, yet, but I’m starting to wonder…
Alternative title: Guys, depending on just how nutbar you’re feeling this morning, on whom you might buy low!
You get what I mean by the above category. Fringe guys. Players who’ve stunk through three weeks, who’ve just been occupying a bench slot and throwing up 8.7 PPR points every week, or something. But you hold onto them for their name value and draft price. Because, if you dropped them, it’d be chaos.
Maybe that’s a good strategy? You’d sure get to see your league-mates throw down some wacky FAAB percentages for these names.
I digress. Again—in no particular order.
Jaylen Waddle, WR, Miami Dolphins (96.0% rostered)
How jump-the-gun is this? How outlandish am I? Things are not great in Miami. Quarterbacks are dropping like flies. Injuries remain a problem for the offense. The organization is reeling from another all-too-primetime display of their franchise quarterback unwittingly risking, potentially, his own long-term quality of life by scrambling for a first down.
As with Caleb Williams—something’s not right, here. Waddle’s only good game was in Week 1 against the Jaguars. The entire nation is now aware just how bad the Jaguars defense is. In the two games after that, amidst the unfortunate quarterback carousel, he’s only amassed 67 yards.
If the thought has crossed your mind, I get it. I wouldn’t begrudge you whatsoever if you wanted to make a bold move and drop Waddle for, say, a Khalil Shakir, should he still be available.
Michael Pittman Jr., WR, Indianapolis Colts (96.9% rostered)
As with Waddle above, this likely has more to do with Pittman’s quarterback situation than it whatsoever does his talent.
The Colts seem to really enjoy the poles of their offense, right now: smash-mouth plays at the line of scrimmage with their big-bodied skill players, and vertically stretching the offense such that Anthony Richardson is a human meteor shower.
Pittman’s role has always been a move-the-sticks, possession, short-to-medium YAC asset. Maybe you believe this Colts offense is going to seek a bit more balance, but I’m just not sure how effective that will be with such a raw talent in Anthony Richardson. And we know Richardson’s primary talents are the above two poles.
Xavier Worthy, WR, Kansas City Chiefs (91.7% rostered)
It’s starting to feel a bit Laviska Shenault-y, for me. We love how Andy Reid is manufacturing touches for Worthy in the ground game, and we’ve seen the rookie’s big-play ability in some primetime games so far. But are all of Worthy’s best touches scheme-and-play-call-dependent?
I’d encourage you to recall that at least one of Worthy’s long receiving touchdowns so far came on a busted coverage. Admittedly, that’s where he excels. It’s not to his detriment as an NFL player. But it might be to his detriment as a fantasy wideout.
Rashee Rice is absorbing Mahomes’ targets in a way that suggests a unique, osmotic connection between them both. He’s the Chiefs’ leading receiving threat, now.
And I’m just not sure where that leaves Worthy in terms of high-value touches.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $3.25M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st].
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is thegreatdansby9) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
