Dropping players is an admittedly tricky business, especially early in the season. The last thing that any fantasy manager wants to do is panic-drop a player who turns it around later in the season. There’s no worse feeling than facing an opponent down the road who uses a player who used to be on your roster to slap you around.
But fantasy managers also have to be leery about holding on too long. Three weeks isn’t an especially large sample size, but it’s big enough that we know that it isn’t happening for some players in 2024. What we thought in July or August no longer matters even a little. All that matters is what players are doing on the field in September and into October. Never mind that every roster spot used to cling to a dud we don’t want to face facts on is a spot that can’t be used to pick up a player who might actually help you win games.
It doesn’t help that the first three weeks of the 2024 season have just been… weird. The first quarterback this year to throw for 300-plus yards and three scores? Andy “He’s still in the NFL?” Dalton. The biggest wide receiver of Week 3? Jauan “Stop Misspelling My First Name” Jennings.
I mean, really?
When you see a player listed in this column, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they should absolutely be dropped. What it does mean is that in this writer’s opinion, they are expendable. If you can use their spot to upgrade your roster, kick ‘em to the curb. And then yell at me on Twitter when they have a big game two weeks later.
It’s OK. The universe hates me. I’ve known it for some time.
(Rostered percentages courtesy of Yahoo!)
Trevor Lawrence, QB, JAC (65% rostered—droppable in all leagues)
The Jaguars are committed to Lawrence whether they want to be or not after signing the first pick in the 2021 draft to a five-year, $275 million contract in the offseason. But after the Jaguars were drilled 47-10 by the Buffalo Bills in Week 3 to fall to 0-3, head coach Doug Pederson acknowledged to reporters that he’s at a loss as to how to fix his floundering team.
“This is who we are right now and it’s not very good,” he said. “We have to be honest with ourselves and I’ve got to be honest with myself and just keep plugging away. We’ve got the right guys. The right guys are in the room, and the right leaders. I’ve got to figure out a way to get more out of them, and it’s not more from practicing harder, longer. It’s just getting more, whether it’s leadership during games, how they address the team, whatever that looks like. Those are the things I got to figure out.”
Lawrence has now lost eight straight starts dating back to 2023. He has yet to throw for 225 yards or multiple touchdowns in a game this year despite (on paper) a decent array of receiving talent around him. And Lawrence is 26th in fantasy points among quarterbacks, behind Green Bay’s Malik Willis, who has played one fewer game.
Is Lawrence the only reason the Jaguars stink? No. Is he awful right now? Oh yeah.
Gus Edwards, RB, LAC (58% — droppable in all leagues)
There was a time when idiot fantasy analysts like Gary Davenport (God, I hate that guy) thought that Edwards was a potential fantasy value this year as the presumed lead back for the run-heavy Chargers. And despite a red-hot start to the season from batterymate J.K. Dobbins, Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman insisted recently that Edwards remains a big part of the Bolts’ offensive plans.
“We don’t overthink that,” Roman told reporters. “They’re both going to play. Whoever has got the hot hand, as I always tell them, has got the hot hand. So, we’re going to go with the hot hand. They know that, and they get that. It’s really nothing scientific.”
Well, Dobbins finally cooled off in Week 3 — 15 carries for just 44 yards in a 10-point loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. But that didn’t equate to a boost in usage for the plodder — he got all of three carries for nine yards (Hey! He averaged more yards per carry! Keep hope alive!).
Sure, you can convince yourself that Dobbins will inevitably get hurt, opening the door for Edwards to become the back we thought he might be over the summer. Or you can accept that Dobbins is the lead back for the Chargers and move on.
Javonte Williams, RB, DEN (83% — droppable in all leagues)
It’s been quite the rollercoaster ride for Williams in 2024. There was talk early in the summer that he could be cut. Then there were raves about his play. And then the season started and… poo. However, despite struggling mightily over the first two games of the season, head coach Sean Payton said ahead of last week’s trip to Tampa that he remained confident in Williams — to an extent.
“I saw it (Williams running well) in training camp, I look forward to seeing it this season,’’ Payton told reporters. “In the meantime, some of these other guys are doing a good job. Jaleel (McLaughlin) is another one that needs more touches. We talked about (Tyler) Badie earlier. Your patient and at some point — it starts up front obviously — but you want to see those runs.”
The good news is that Williams did better against Tampa than he had so far this season. The bad news is that “better” was 2.4 yards a carry. Meanwhile, Badie turned his team-high nine carries into 70 rushing yards in Denver’s first win of the year. Unless Williams has incriminating photos of Payton, his days as Denver’s lead back are over.
Alec Pierce, WR, IND (47% — droppable in all leagues)
Pierce was one of this year’s early-season waiver gems. While Michael Pittman Jr. managers took up day-drinking, Pierce cleaned up with Josh Downs out — eight catches, 181 yards, two touchdowns and the eighth-most PPR points among receivers over the season’s first two weeks. Per Jay Robins of Stampede Blue, it was a perfect marriage — Pierce’s ability as a deep threat combined with Anthony Richardson’s big arm.
“While I do think his efficiency won’t continue its torrid pace,” he wrote, “Pierce’s deep threat and increasing viability in intermediate depths bodes well for him to make a big impact when targeted. His current target pace for the season is 85, a new career high, but even if he has his target amount in between his prior career numbers of 65 and 78, he could still have a career year with the Colts based on how more efficient his deep targets are.”
But in Week 3, Downs returned, and after seeing 10 targets over the first two weeks, Pierce drew just two looks. Yes, he caught one of those targets for 44 yards, but with Downs back, Pierce is a younger, better Marquez Valdes-Scantling — a vertical threat who will get a couple long throws from a wildly inconsistent quarterback in Richardson.
For the record, I apologize for comparing Pierce to Valdes-Scantling. That was just mean.
Hunter Henry, TE, NE (52% — droppable in all leagues)
Henry is another player who was a trendy waiver pickup not that long ago. The tight end position in fantasy is a mess, and Henry’s eight catches for 109 yards in Week 2 was enough to send fantasy managers scrambling. After that big game, Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett told reporters he hoped that was only the beginning of a beautiful relationship with the veteran tight end.
“Getting him back into the rhythm and flow of the offense, he’s a really good player,” Brissett said. “Obviously (he) had a bunch of good plays today, and it’s a lot of fun having him on my side of the ball. I just look forward to progressing that relationship and chemistry and continuing to make more plays.”
An argument can be made that Henry is the most reliable pass-catching option the Patriots have, but being the best salmon patty on a tray of salmon patties doesn’t mean much if they all taste awful (If you have no idea what a salmon patty is, consider yourself lucky. The 70s were a scary time.) The Pats passing game… um, sucks. Henry came crashing back to earth last week — two catches for nine yards.
Do yourself a favor, dear radar. Purge your fantasy roster of anyone not named Rhamondre Stevenson. And given the egg he laid last week against the Jets, he may be making an appearance here soon enough.
Gary Davenport is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on X at @IDPSharks
(Top photo of Trevor Lawrence: Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
