Weekly Drops – SportsEthos

NFL FantasyPass: Week 6 Drops

Nathan Hernandez — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 23:34:49 +0000

Week 5 was an electrifying week for fantasy football, with points scored up and down the week’s slate of games. As we enter Week 6 of the 2023 season, performance trends are becoming apparent and bye weeks are here to stay for a while. Now, it’s time to scramble to the waiver wire to bid for this week’s hot talent and plug up holes on fantasy rosters. Inversely, it’s also time to cut players that disappointed in Week 5 to free up space for the next big thing. Sometimes an empty space on a fantasy team for waivers is more valuable than someone rostered in a majority of fantasy leagues. For this piece, I’m going to be referring to players rostered by at least 25 percent of teams in ESPN leagues, and I’ll list them in descending order of those ownership percentages.

Note: I will not be including any of the players I already mentioned in the previous week’s list. I suggest clicking the link below and making sure you don’t have some of those guys still hitching a ride on your roster.

QB Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys (76% ESPN, 88% Yahoo!)

It’s easy to pile on Dak for a bad game against a tough 49ers defense, but he’s simply been a poor fantasy quarterback option through the first five weeks of the season. As it stands, Prescott is the fantasy QB21 on the season, and he’s only had one game with more than two touchdowns and 16 fantasy points. The Cowboys have had one of the more polarizing starts in the NFL this year, and this passing offense just hasn’t been there for most of this season. I think Dak has the potential for big fantasy days, but whenever he’s gotten easier matchups this season, his defense and running game lead the way. He can be dropped in most 1QB leagues.

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Read Next: Week 6 Waiver Wire Adds

NFL FantasyPass: Week 5 Drops

Nathan Hernandez — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 17:12:18 +0000

Week 4 was an electrifying week for fantasy football, with points scored up and down the week’s slate of games. As we enter Week 5 of the 2023 season, performance trends are becoming apparent and bye weeks are here to stay for a while. Now, it’s time to scramble to the waiver wire to bid for this week’s hot talent and plug up holes on fantasy rosters. Inversely, it’s also time to cut players that disappointed in Week 4 to free up space for the next big thing. Sometimes an empty space on a fantasy team for waivers is more valuable than someone rostered in a majority of fantasy leagues. For this piece, I’m going to be referring to players rostered by at least 25 percent of teams in ESPN leagues, and I’ll list them in descending order of those ownership percentages.

Note: I will not be including any of the players I already mentioned in the previous week’s list. I suggest clicking the link below and making sure you don’t have some of those guys still hitching a ride on your roster.

Related Article: Week 4 Drops

QB Joe Burrow – Cincinnati Bengals (98% ESPN, 99% Yahoo!)

It has been an ugly stretch for Joe Burrow and the Bengals through the first four weeks of the season. Despite vanishing from the injury report ahead of Week 4’s matchup with the Titans, it’s very clear that Burrow is far from being able to perform at 100% of his abilities. WR Tee Higgins is dealing with fractured ribs and could be sidelined for some time himself. The Bengals could be another bad loss or two away from shutting down Joe Burrow to allow him to fully heal, and chalking up the season as a gap to return to contention next season. There have been a few surprisingly viable QB options like C.J. Stroud, Russell Wilson, and even Baker Mayfield have all significantly exceeded expectations through the first month of the season. I would take all of those guys over Burrow until he returns to form and full health. If you can afford to keep the 2023 fantasy QB31 on your bench, go for it. However, there is a real scenario where Burrow doesn’t turn in a top-15 fantasy QB performance for a long time. After their Week 7 bye, they have a dreadful schedule vs. the 49ers, Bills, Texans, then Ravens. All of those teams rank 8th or better vs. opposing fantasy QBs, including top-3 matchups with Buffalo and Baltimore.

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Read Next: Week 5 Waiver Wire Adds

NFL FantasyPass: Week 4 Drops

Nathan Hernandez — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 04:21:12 +0000

Week 3 was an electrifying week for fantasy football, with points scored up and down the week’s slate of games. As we enter Week 4 of the 2023 season, performance trends are becoming apparent and bye weeks are looming. Now, it’s time to scramble to the waiver wire to bid for this week’s hot talent and bandage up holes on fantasy rosters. Inversely, it’s also time to cut players that disappointed in Week 3 to free up space for the next big thing. Sometimes an empty space on a fantasy team for waivers is more valuable than someone rostered in a majority of fantasy leagues. For this piece, I’m going to be referring to players rostered by at least 25 percent of teams in ESPN leagues, and I’ll list them in descending order of those ownership percentages.

Note: I will not be including any of the players I already mentioned in the previous week’s list. I suggest clicking the link below and making sure you don’t have some of those guys still hitching a ride on your roster.

Related Article: Week 3 Drops

RB AJ Dillon – Green Bay Packers (81% ESPN, 84% Yahoo!)

AJ Dillon had a great opportunity to produce these last few weeks with lead back Aaron Jones (hamstring) sidelined. The team’s offense has gone exclusively through QB Jordan Love with Jones out, while Dillon saw a slight uptick in opportunities and didn’t make the most of them. Even Third-string RB Patrick Taylor looked decent in his 39% of snaps in Week 3 as he saw an increased workload, likely because the Packers weren’t pleased with what Dillon was offering. Dillon has crawled to 2.7 yards per carry this season, and with Jones trending towards returning to the lineup on Thursday Night Football vs. the Lions, his opportunities will be dialed back once again. Dillon will likely still have a role in this offense on a weekly basis, so if you’re thin at the position and RBs are shored up on the wire, he can be held on to if absolutely necessary.

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Read Next: Week 4 Waiver Wire Adds

NFL FantasyPass: Week 3 Drops

Nathan Hernandez — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 04:07:32 +0000

Week 2 was a doozy. We saw some players go down with gut-wrenching injuries, and some that rose to the occasion and demonstrated their talents on full display. Now it’s time to scramble to the waiver wire to bid for this week’s hot talent and bandage up holes on fantasy rosters. Inversely, it’s also time to cut players that disappointed in Week 2 to free up space for the next big thing. Sometimes an empty space on a fantasy team for waivers is more valuable than someone rostered in a majority of fantasy leagues. For this piece, I’m going to be referring to players rostered by at least 25 percent of teams in ESPN leagues, and I’ll list them in descending order of those ownership percentages.

Note: I will not be including any of the players I already mentioned in the previous week’s list. I suggest clicking the link below and making sure you don’t have some of those guys still hitching a ride on your roster.

Related Article: Week 2 Drops

TE Kyle Pitts – Atlanta Falcons (96.2% ESPN, 98% Yahoo!)

Allow me to lead by saying fantasy managers should absolutely try and sell low on Kyle Pitts before moving on from him, one way or another. The fact remains that Pitts is, at best, the second option in the passing game of one of the most efficient and heavily-utilized rushing offenses in the league. He also has one of the worst passing quarterbacks in the league in Desmond Ridder, so what little targets he sees are also less valuable than most other top fantasy tight ends. On top of that, the Falcons are 2-0 and so their game plan likely won’t be seeing a change in Week 3 or anytime soon. The PPR TE28 through two weeks this season, Pitts is a bust of a fantasy draft pick for 2023. Try and dangle him for whatever can be pried from league mates, but the roster space alone is more value than Pitts is bringing to the table so far this season. Cut him if it’s necessary.

RB Cam Akers – Los Angeles Rams (87% ESPN, 89% Yahoo!)

After a strong finish to his 2022 NFL season, many thought that Cam Akers was rocking and rolling heading into 2023 with a potentially massive workload slated for him. However, after a Week 1 performance where he whimpered his way to 29 scoreless yards on 22 yards (1.4 YPC), it was very underwhelming to say the least. Where Akers took a step back, backup RB Kyren Williams stepped up and looks like a great young runner for the Rams. Now, Akers has likely played his last down as a Ram. If fantasy managers can afford to stash Akers on their bench, I would advise them to continue doing so for a few more weeks or until the dust settles on his future in the NFL. However, if not, try and sell him to a rivaling manager before pushing the button and replacing him with an actively contributing fantasy player.

RB Jamaal Williams – New Orleans Saints (87% ESPN, 87% Yahoo!)

Jamaal Williams (hamstring) came up gimpy early in Monday night’s contest vs. the Panthers and never returned. Hamstring injuries tend to nag and on Tuesday morning head coach Dennis Allen claimed he will “take some time to get back”. Williams is the only Saints RB with descending value at this time, and now his fantasy outlook for the remainder of 2023 gets really murky. RB Alvin Kamara (suspended) is due to return in Week 4, rookie Kendre Miller looks nearly recovered from a hamstring injury of his own, and Tony Jones Jr. scored two touchdowns in Williams’s absence Monday. By the time Williams returns from injury, there may not be much room for him in this offense. Perhaps we can wait a few days to see if he lands on IR, but if fantasy managers are desperate for the roster space or don’t have an IR spot in your league, Williams could be dropped.

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Read Next: Week 3 Waiver Wire Adds

NFL FantasyPass: Week 2 Drops

Nathan Hernandez — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 02:15:02 +0000

After an eventful Week 1, it’s time to scramble to the waiver wire for all the top fantasy football performers of the 2023 NFL season’s debut week. Inversely, it’s also time to cut the disappointments from Week 1 to make space for what’s hot on the block. For this piece, I’m going to be referring to players rostered by at least 25 percent of teams in ESPN leagues, and I’ll list them in descending order of ownership percentages.

Note: I will not be including any of the players I already mentioned in Week 1’s Drops from last week. All but one of them were duds this week, so I suggest clicking the link below and making sure you don’t have some of those guys still hitching a ride on your roster.

Related Article: Week 1 Drops

WR Skyy Moore – Kansas City Chiefs (83.8% rostered)

There were high expectations for Skyy Moore heading into Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season. Many were hopeful he’d emerge as Patrick Mahomes’ top fantasy wideout, especially after a hamstring injury sideline teammate Kadarius Toney during the preseason. However, even with superstar TE Travis Kelce (knee) sidelined for Week 1 vs. the Lions, Moore saw just three empty targets and had one carry for four yards. Even if Moore bounces back, the production from this Chiefs WR room will be too unpredictable to provide consistent fantasy value. The silver lining in Moore’s outing on TNF is that he led all Chiefs WRs with 69% of snaps played. Still, though, here are likely many players on the waiver wire that flashed more upside in Week 1 than Moore did.

RB Antonio Gibson – Washington Commanders (81.8% rostered)

The Washington Commanders leaned heavily on starting RB Brian Robinson Jr., who saw 61 percent of running back snaps for the team in Week 1. Antonio Gibson was only on the field for 35 percent of RB snaps for the team, which led to only four touches for 19 yards. Gibson even saw an equal amount of carries as third-string RB Chris Rodriguez Jr, who saw just 4 percent of snaps. A large part of Gibson’s expectations were his possible usage in the passing game for the Commanders and new offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy. However, Gibson only saw one target, and even worse, Brian Robinson Jr. caught a touchdown in the red zone. Gibson appears to be an afterthought in this middling Commanders offense, and he could be dropped for players with a more pronounced role or higher upside on the waiver wire.

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Read Next: Week 2 Waiver Wire Adds

NFL FantasyPass: Week 1 Drops

Nathan Hernandez — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 05:11:15 +0000

Making the mad dash to the waiver wire when news breaks on certain players is a thrilling, but also nerve-wracking experience for fantasy football players. Sometimes, though, the hardest part is deciding who to cut from your team to make the transaction. Picture this: It’s days until the season starts and Travis Kelce gets an injury scare, and you need to scoop up his backup Noah Gray or the next best tight end on the wire. However, you really like your team, top to bottom, and you’re not sure who to drop. I’m here to tell you what players you can cut from your team to snag you a waiver wire winner.

Oftentimes, fantasy managers clutter the ends of their rosters with players in murky situations or those that simply lack high upside. For this piece, I’m going to be referring to players rostered by at least 25 percent of teams in ESPN leagues, and I’ll list them in descending order of ownership percentages. Here are some of those players that you can dump from your squad to get the next big thing off the wire.

WR JuJu Smith-Schuster – New England Patriots (83.3% rostered)

Maybe I’m jumping the gun a bit on JuJu Smith-Schuster, but I honestly don’t see the appeal for his fantasy case in 2023. Smith-Schuster was the WR29 in Half PPR last year in a fairly similar WR room situation. This year, though, he’ll be catching passes from Mac Jones instead of Patrick freaking Mahomes. Top that situation off with the murmurs that his knee ‘could explode at any point’, per Albert Breer. Smith-Schuster is better served as a landmine for your opponents to trigger on the waiver wire than on your bench, or heaven forbid in your lineups.

Related Article: Week 1 WR Rankings

WR Adam Thielen – Carolina Panthers (69.2% rostered)

Adam Thielen’s upside scenario is that he starts the season as the top receiving option in a predominantly rush-heavy offense led by a rookie QB in Bryce Young. That doesn’t sound too appealing, especially when you consider the younger talent around him that will likely develop and potentially surpass him in the pecking order as the season wears on. I like the upside of rookie WR Jonathon Mingo for the rest of the season rather than Thielen’s downward trajectory, but there’s probably a better stash option on the wire waiting for you.

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Read Next: Week 1 QB Rankings