We now have three weeks of information in the books, enough to create a pattern. This allows us to start solidifying our opinions on players and is long enough to have already given some players new life (I’m looking at you, Diontae Johnson). This isn’t a comprehensive “must-cut” list. This is a “hey these guys are probably your targets to pick up the hot new guy” list. Every team and every team’s needs are different. To make this list, a player must be on rosters in at least 50% of Yahoo! leagues.
Quarterbacks
Jared Goff, Detroit (86% rostered)
Through three weeks, Goff is yet to finish above 15.6 fantasy points, with his season-high coming in week three against the Cardinals. The bad part? The Rams, Buccaneers, and Cardinals all rank inside the top five in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks. He likely came alongside Jayden Daniels or the like. If you made that two-step, you can move on from Goff. He gets a strong Seattle defense and his bye in the next two weeks.
Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay (77% rostered)
Mayfield took advantage of a woeful Washington defense en route to 289 passing yards and four touchdowns. He then managed just 348 yards and 2 passing touchdowns over the last two games. Things are getting wobbly for Mayfield, and he gets the Eagles this week. The Eagles just let Derek Carr’s good times hit a brick wall, and they likely do the same for Mayfield in week four.
Justin Herbert, L.A. Chargers (55% rostered)
Herbert has a high ankle sprain and left week three’s press conference in a walking boot. The run-heavy Harbaugh Chargers have also failed Herbert’s fantasy managers: he’s finished QB24 or worse in all three weeks… he’s not even a good 2QB league play, and is likely to miss the next two weeks (he probably doesn’t go against the Chiefs with his Bye coming in week five).
Kirk Cousins, Atlanta (54% rostered)
Through three games, Cousins has just one game with multiple touchdowns, and one game over 230 passing yards. He’s fallen victim to the same curse of the dying passing game that is running rampant over the rest of the league. He didn’t fly onto your roster solo, so let him run free if your second quarterback turned into a weekly starter.
Wide Receivers
Jaylen Waddle, Miami (97% rostered)
Things are bad in Miami. Skylar Thompson proved that he isn’t an NFL-level player on Thursday Night Football, and he’s given way to Tim Boyle due to injury. Waddle had just four catches for 26 yards this past week, and I doubt things get much better before Tua gets back. If you’re in a ten-team or deeper league, then you can ignore this. But, eight teamers need to move on from Waddle.
Michael Pittman, Indianapolis (94% rostered)
Eight teamers also need to move on from Michael Pittman. Anthony Richardson straight-up doesn’t throw the ball, getting over 20 pass attempts only once in his three games this season. He’s also topped 215 yards exactly zero times and has completed fewer than 50% of his passes. Pittman has 20 targets so far on the season, but only 11 receptions for 88 yards, across three games. This has nothing to do with Pittman, but rather, a broken Indianapolis passing game.
Ladd McConkey, L.A. Chargers (64% rostered)
With no Justin Herbert, it isn’t likely that the Chargers pass more. That doesn’t bode well for McConkey, who is a dump-off specialist in Los Angeles. He scored a nice touchdown in week one, but he has 5 catches for 70 yards since then. With Taylor Heinicke and a Bye Week in his near future, things aren’t looking too bright for McConkey.
Demarcus Robinson, L.A. Rams (50% rostered)
We all pictured the Rams filtering targets downward without Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. Instead, they just run the ball a ton. Robinson has 15 targets, 7 receptions, and 124 yards on the season, and his fantasy points decreased every game so far this year.
Running Backs
This is a long one. Don’t do anything drastic, as fortunes can change in a hurry for running backs. However, things aren’t looking great for this group of guys.
Rachaad White, Tampa Bay (97% rostered)
Rachaad White can hang around in PPR leagues, but if you play in a standard league, then it’s time to cut bait on White. He is about to take a backseat to Bucky Irving, who is second in yards per carry on the season (and White ranks outside the top 35 in that statistic). White’s only role will soon be a third-down specialist and pass catcher, which makes him a PPR-only proposition very soon.
Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City (95% rostered)
If you’re in a roster crunch, I’m sure that you can trade Pacheco to someone willing to wait, but we are looking at an additional five weeks, at least, before we can put Pacheco back into our lineups. If you’re 1-2 or 0-3, you need to make a move. You can’t wait around for another 5 games of the fantasy regular season to go flitting on by while you wait for Pacheco. This doesn’t apply to ten-team or deeper leagues, and it especially doesn’t apply to leagues with IR slots. But, Pacheco might not be the best fit for your roster if you are in a bind.
D’Andre Swift, Chicago (90% rostered)
Shane Waldron’s Bears offense is completely dysfunctional. If they had an obvious replacement on the roster for Swift, they likely would have already moved over to him. That being said, he’s ceding snaps to Roschon Johnson and Khalil Herbert, and isn’t doing anything with what the Bears give him: his 2.7 yards per touch rank 51st among running backs this season. It’s just not working out.
Zamir White, Las Vegas (83% rostered)
Speaking of not working out, the Raiders are moving on from Zamir White in a hurry. He played on 22% of snaps on Sunday, and special teamer Ameer Abdullah played on 34% of snaps. He’s not even making up for a lack of opportunities by being particularly efficient, either. He has a 25% success rate on his 3.2 yards per rush attempt. Just move on from the roster clog, or hope that the switchover to Aidan O’Connell brings White to life.
Javonte Williams, Denver (83% rostered)
Javonte Williams has always been a part-time back, and the Denver situation is devolving into an extremely messy backfield situation. He played on a season-low 51% of snaps and had 9-of-20 running back opportunities on the week. He isn’t someone you can trust, but in a deeper league, I would likely bench him.
Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh (74% rostered)
Warren is an RB5 or an RB6 on your fantasy football roster, as Arthur Smith just can’t stop himself from giving touches to Cordarrelle Patterson. You can’t blame him, however, as Warren has 82 yards on 19 touches so far this season. He was already recovering from a preseason hamstring injury, and Mike Tomlin pulled him from week three for fear of aggravating his hamstring injury.
Gus Edwards, L.A. Chargers (58% rostered)
Gus Edwards is not nearly as good of a running back as J.K. Dobbins, getting 94 yards on 32 carries so far this season. Compare that to Dobbins, who has 310 yards on 42 carries so far this year. If Dobbins gets hurt, you can throw yourself back into the Gus Edwards Sweepstakes. You don’t need to go out of your way to keep him on your rosters.
Tight Ends
Isaiah Likely, Baltimore (81% rostered)
We’ll always have week one. The Ravens have decided to spread the ball around, and that doesn’t put Likely in their plans (that week one performance is looking more likely to be about the Chiefs’ defensive scheming more than anything else). Since his week one blowup, Likely has 4 targets, 3 catches, and 30 yards. That isn’t going to cut it, even in the low-bar-to-cross tight end landscape.
Dalton Schultz, Houston (72% rostered)
The biggest fear for those who drafted Schultz is coming to pass: he is the fourth-fiddle (or even fifth-fiddle) on offense. Schultz has only 11 targets in three games this season and has a “pretty good in PPR” week for his season-long stat-line: 7 catches, 48 yards, and zero touchdowns.
