This is the point in the season where fantasy managers have to resist the urge to go drop-happy. To start lopping off heads like the Queen of Hearts — especially if your season has started with back-to-back losses.
Panic drops can absolutely come back to bite you in the butt. After his one catch for four yards against Buffalo, someone in a league I’m in actually (and I am totally not making this up) dropped Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Now imagine how that manager felt watching Harrison go thermonuclear on the Los Angeles Rams to the tune of 130 yards and two scores in the first half.
There’s always risk involved in dropping players who aren’t hurt. In the Week 1 edition of this very column, the idiot who wrote it said that New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr was droppable. That one I don’t feel bad about — no one on Earth thought the Saints would score 91 points in their first two games this year. Not Carr. Not New Orleans offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. Not Derek Carr’s Mee-maw…
But at some point, you also need to know when to say when. When a disappointing player isn’t going to turn it around. When the options available on the waiver wire are better than what’s on the roster. When it’s time to make a move. Then you just have to hope you’re right. Well, I don’t — I’m always right.
Except for the whole Carr thing. Bygones?
Rostered percentages courtesy of Yahoo!
Week 3 Drops
Matthew Stafford, QB, LAR (70% rostered—droppable in all leagues)
The Rams got the snot knocked out of them last week, falling 41-10 to the Cardinals in Arizona. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Rams have been absolutely decimated by injuries on offense. But while Cooper Kupp joined Puka Nacua on the shelf on Sunday, Stafford told reporters that he has confidence that the other receivers on the roster will step up in their absence.
“Those guys did a nice job today when they got their opportunities in the game to step in and make some plays,” Stafford said after the game. “I thought Demarcus Robinson made some nice plays, I thought Tutu made some good plays, J-Whitt (Jordan Whittington) made some plays, TJ (Tyler Johnson), so continue to grow with those guys, try to help them out as much as I possibly can, give them good passes to catch and let those guys do their thing. I’ve got a ton of trust in them. They’ve done a great job all through OTAs, training camp, all that kind of stuff. And have some pass-game history with some of those guys.”
What’s Stafford going to say? “We’re screwed”? Well, I’ll say it, the Rams are scee-rooed. It’s not just that Kupp and Nacua will both likely be out at least the next month. If/when Jonah Jackson joins them on injured reserve, that will be three starters on the offensive line out as well. Stafford has no protection and no one to throw to. Other than that though, everything’s cool.
Ezekiel Elliott, RB, DAL (74% — droppable in all leagues)
It has been a while since Elliott was the back who led the NFL in rushing two of his first three seasons in the NFL. As a matter of fact, it’s been a while since Elliott gained 1,000 yards in a season. But while talking to reporters, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott told reporters that he thinks Elliott’s experience can compensate for the step he’s lost.
“Does he have the burst he once had, does he have the quickness he once had? Not necessarily,” Prescott said. “But do I believe that he’s better at riding the wave and pushing his gaps and then making his cut back setting guys up. I feel like he’s better, and when you’re able to do that, it’s all the same. So, it evens it up.”
No, it really doesn’t.
For the season, Elliott has 16 carries for 56 yards, an average of 3.5 yards a pop. He salvaged an OK stat line in Week 1 with a touchdown, but he was not only invisible against the Saints last week but was out-snapped and out-touched by Rico Dowdle. Elliott’s days of fantasy relevance are over, and have been for some time. And, frankly, all fantasy managers are going to get out of investing in the Cowboys backfield is a headache.
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Keon Coleman, WR, BUF (60% — droppable in shallow leagues)
Rookie wide receivers like the aforementioned Marvin Harrison and Malik Nabers of the Giants had huge games in Week 2 but, so far, we’ve heard little from Coleman in Buffalo. However, while making a podcast appearance, Bills quarterback Josh Allen said that he expects Coleman’s size and body control to pay big dividends down the road.
“I think he’s the best body control that I’ve seen in terms of running to the right, jumping off his right and getting left, and then running left side, jumping off his left, and getting right,” Allen said. “I think that’s his basketball background. But again, he’s 6-foot-4, I think he plays faster than what his 40 [yard dash] time said. I know everybody knocks him for that, but he’s a gamer, too, and he loves the game of football.”
The problem is we have no idea when those dividends will come. After catching four passes for 51 yards in Week 1, Coleman had one target and no catches in Buffalo’s blowout win over the Dolphins last week. This isn’t to say that Coleman isn’t talented or that he doesn’t have a bright future. But right now, he’s at best the third option on an offense that isn’t playing grip-and-rip football. There’s no way he can be trusted as a starter, and with injuries piling up at the position, many fantasy managers don’t have the luxury of playing “wait and hope” right now.
DeAndre Hopkins, WR, TEN (67% — droppable in shallow leagues)
Like Ezekiel Elliott, Hopkins is a former fantasy star on the downslope of his career. And like Elliott, Hopkins has done very little in his first two games in 2024. But as the 32-year-old told longtime Titans beat writer Paul Kuharsky, he has something of a reason for his slow start — the knee injury he suffered in camp was actually an MCL tear.
“I had the MCL tear maybe four and a half, five weeks ago so the thing about those is it takes a whole year for them to heal,” Hopkins said. “Obviously, it’s pain at that point. Right now, the way I feel, hopefully I can get out there Sunday and perform.”
Yes, Hopkins caught 75 passes, topped 1,000 yards and scored seven touchdowns for the Titans in 2023, finishing as fantasy’s WR22 in PPR points. But in 2024, he’s an aging wide receiver with a bad knee who has been supplanted by Calvin Ridley as Tennessee’s No. 1 receiver. Add in that the Titans’ barely passable passing attack currently ranks 27th in the NFL at a meager 137 yards per game, and folks hanging onto Hopkins are doing so more for nostalgia’s sake than because he might actually help them win games.
Cole Kmet, TE, CHI (45% — droppable in all leagues)
Much was made of the talent the Bears added at wide receiver this offseason, but with Keenan Allen sidelined by a heel injury, Kmet tied for second on the team in targets in Sunday night’s choppy offensive performance against the Houston Texans — a performance that Kmet acknowledged to reporters was something of a wake-up call for the team.
“It’s frustrating,” Kmet said. “I feel like I’ve had this talk for a few years now. We understood that this would be a process, but we have a lot to work on. The reality of the NFL is kind of hitting us a little bit offensively. We have to regroup here, look at the mistakes we made this past game and make those corrections and move on forward.”
Let’s see, how to put this diplomatically. The Chicago passing game is poo — the Bears are averaging less than 100 passing yards per game. In 2024! Kmet’s four catches for 27 yards against the Texans gives the 25-year-old six catches for 31 yards for the season. The fantasy landscape at tight end gets depressing quickly once you get outside the top 7-8 players, but fantasy managers can do better than hoping for five PPR points from a player stuck in the third circle of passing-game hell.
Gary Davenport is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on X at @IDPSharks
(Top photo of Ezekiel Elliott: Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
