After all the major, devastating, and fantasy-season-ending injuries in Week 7, it’s hard to imagine that anyone can afford to drop even the fringiest of fringe skill players from their benches. Ironic, too. Last week, it felt like there were so many—too many—fringe fantasy assets who were primed to break out in their current situations. Waiver wire snags who represented potential fantasy football breakouts.
Many of those remain. For all our glut of fringe players, we’ve certainly balanced it out by watching marquee fantasy names fall in glorious battle.
Down went Brandon Aiyuk, Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, DK Metcalf, Zay Flowers(ish?), and so many more. Most of those names you’ll either drop off your roster altogether or use in an IR slot.
My great hope for any of you reading this is that you made it through the week with your favorite players undamaged. In the event that happened, the names below represent the collective with whom I’m willing to part ways, even despite the gobsmacking litany of injured players headed into Week 8.
Drop ’em
Jameson Williams, WR, Detroit Lions (82.9% rostered)
Listen, I don’t like writing this just as much as you probably hate reading it. But there’s a history of players getting caught with PEDs returning to underwhelming, un-enhanced performances.
Will Fuller V, for example, was never the same after he got caught with PEDs and had to endure the football field without them. Josh Gordon might not be the best example of substance issues with regards to the performance-enhancing variety, but they were a constant disruption to any consistent production he may have been able to log on the field.
You do something like this and get caught for it, it’s conduct detrimental to the team in the locker room. Coachspeak from Dan Campbell in the days ahead might be hedgy and couched re. Jamo’s absence, but this is a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations who just lost one of their most dynamic offensive threats. The optics are awful, and it all stinks, especially for a player who was legitimately one of the more dynamic and unexpected big-play skill weapons to emerge this season.
Fuller V is a decent comp for Jamo, without even squinting. Bit of an injury-prone, boom/bust speedster who can take the top off the defense, and not as the team’s primary alpha receiver. That role may look a little different in 2024 than it did in 2020 (year Fuller was suspended), what with Jamo’s snaps out of the Detroit backfield being so important to a Ben Johnson game plan.
Fuller’s story ended as follows: when he returned from his suspension, he was traded to the Dolphins, where he injured his finger, played two total games, and was last considered as a potential roster asset at the NFL level in 2022.
It’s a little hot-takey, but, yeah, honestly—has Jameson Williams given you the impression he can play an entire fantasy football season as a WR2/FLEX asset under any context just yet? And when you add in this fold? This wrinkle of context of Jamo’s now-second punishment from the NFL for off-field conduct (in three years in the league!)—what then?
To be honest, had this not happened, I was considering putting LaPorta in this spot. No more. I think it’ll be his, not Tim Patrick’s, value that skyrockets after this.
Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos (76.3% rostered)
Empty air yards once more. It stinks. Courtland Sutton is always a darling with regards to advanced opportunity metrics. But, at this point, who knows if it’s just because the Broncos have just been trying as hard (and overthrowing, overthrowing, overthrowing) as fantasy managers have to make Sutton a thing.
It’s entirely possible that Sean Payton’s (current, at least) willingness to let Bo Nix run wild to keep ahead of the sticks is going to open up more lanes in the passing game. Sutton might, as he’s done in the past, regress with some fairly nuclear games as the Broncos play meaningless games in the winter months.
Nix’s legs, too, seemed to have opened up the interior run game a bit as well for Javonte Williams and the rest of the revolving backfield. We’ll see whether or not that creates space in the play action to get Sutton involved.
But, really, he’s just another WR3 with upside. And there’s a line of those that stretches around the corner of the block already.
Zamir White, RB, Las Vegas Raiders (49.2% rostered)
It’s Alexander Mattison’s backfield, now. Not much more analysis than that. White hasn’t seized any of his opportunities. He’s been inefficient, inconsistent, and not altogether impressive when he’s at his best.
Mattison, on the other hand, looks a bit resurgent. The Raiders were excited about White. They were excited, too, about a bunch of other players they’ve underutilized, mismanaged, or otherwise ruined. Don’t waste your time, here.
Jerome Ford, RB, Cleveland Browns (55.8% rostered)
Nick Chubb is back. Pierre Strong looks more dynamic catching the ball than Ford does. D’Onta Foreman can do a decent enough Nick Chubb impression that Ford’s current health woes might actually lose him playing time.
Either way, you don’t really want any part of this offense except for Chubb, besides maybe David Njoku, who I think is going to pop off with a bit more of a traditional quarterback.
Calvin Ridley, WR, Tennessee Titans (76.6% rostered)
See: Courtland Sutton. Empty air yards. Sometimes opportunities are just opportunities, not necessarily good opportunities. So it goes for Ridley in Tennessee, where things are only going to get more turbulent with the change in quarterback to Mason Rudolph.
I’m not sure getting Levis back would even be an upgrade for Ridley. Pollard and Spears are the only Titans I care to own in non-unfathomably-deep leagues.
Ty Chandler, RB, Minnesota Vikings (31.6% rostered)
Aaron Jones dispelled any and all concerns that his hamstring injury might affect his Week 7 production. Before that, though, the Vikings acquired Cam Akers to bulwark their backfield against further injury. Chandler hasn’t done much with his opportunities, and he figures to get fewer going forward. I’d rather have Akers.
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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.
