We are now more than halfway through the fantasy football season unless you’re a godless heathen playing in a week eighteen league. If that’s the case, it’s the official stance of Football Absurdity that you should Grow Up and Get Help. But, for the rest of us, we are more than halfway through. This is when the reality of the situation of a lot of teams starts to solidify, and we start to see folks check out on their leagues. Never fear, however, as we will be here all season long (unlike Dennis Allen and Mike McCarthy, probably!) to help you with your waiver wire decisions.
Below is a list of players on rosters in at least 50% of Yahoo! leagues, who maybe shouldn’t be that rostered. This isn’t a comprehensive list of players to drop, as every team, and every league, is different. This is just the short list of guys that I would put on the chopping block first to add this week’s hot waiver wire players to my roster.
Quarterbacks
Dak Prescott, Dallas (89% rostered)
Dak left week 9 with a hamstring injury, the sort of thing that will nag him for the rest of the season, and his 12.32 fantasy points in week 9 marked the fifth-straight game under 17 fantasy points for Dak and the seventh time in eight games that he failed to top 17 fantasy points. He’s currently injured and is nearly two months removed from his last game inside the top ten at quarterback on the week. You can move on from Dak, as he gets the Eagles and Texans, two difficult matchups, next.
Caleb Williams, Chicago (73% rostered)
It’s been a long road from his back-to-back 20+ point efforts back in weeks four and five. They had their bye in week seven, and weeks eight and nine saw Caleb finish with 9.94 and 9.18 fantasy points, respectively. All of his passing touchdowns came in a four-game span from weeks 3-6, and 8 of his 9 passing TDs came against teams in the top ten in fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks. The Bears have zero good matchups on the horizon, with Arizona representing the last team inside the top ten in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks.
Wide Receivers
Chris Olave, New Orleans (98% rostered)
Olave suffered his fifth registered concussion, and his second in the last month, in Sunday’s loss to the Panthers. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill is reporting that we likely will not see him again this season. Even if we do, this team is a mess and is likely to blow it up.
Jaylen Waddle, Miami (93% rostered)
Even Tua’s return hasn’t fixed Waddle’s woes. Granted, his line looked a lot better before he had to run backward 16 yards in a desperate bid to save the game, but one catch, 14 yards, and a touchdown on two targets would have still marked his seventh-straight game with single-digit fantasy points.
Keenan Allen, Chicago (73% rostered)
Keenan Allen has one good game this season(5/5/41/2), and that came in England. In America, Allen hasn’t topped 39 yards in a game and has zero touchdowns. He was brought in to be a stabilizing force for the Bears’ passing game, but the running game and defense are carrying the day, instead.
Wan’Dale Robinson, N.Y. Giants (55% rostered)
Robinson was always a volume play, and Darius Slayton’s caused that volume to dry up. Robinson has 9 targets in his last two games, after getting four-straight games with 9+ targets. The Panthers are on the horizon, so if you are in a bind, you can hold on for one more week.
Stefon Diggs, Houston Texans (50% rostered)
He’s still out for the year, folks.
Running Backs
Travis Etienne Jr., Jacksonville (91% rostered)
Etienne hasn’t been good this year, likely because he has been playing banged up all season long. But, this week was particularly egregious: he had just six opportunities and finished with 30 yards. This is also the start of an ETN gauntlet: the Eagles, Vikings, Lions, Bye, Texans, Titans, and Jets. All those teams rank in the bottom ten in fantasy points allowed to running backs (except the Titans… they’re fourteenth). There are no good matchups on the horizon, and Tank Bigsby is flat-out playing better than ETN right now.
Alexander Mattison, Las Vegas (65% rostered)
Mattison was always a touchdown-or-bust play, but the Raiders are circling the drain, and Zamir White returned to vulture goal-line carries. He has 23 carries for 51 yards in his last two games combined, you can move on.
Devin Singletary, N.Y. Giants (65% rostered)
Devin Singletary is now the #2 running back in New York, as he has 14 carries and 4 targets over the last three games, compared to Tyrone Tracy’s 42 carries and 7 targets. He’s now a handcuff-only back.
Tight Ends
Sam LaPorta, Detroit (97% rostered)
With no Jameson Williams, we hoped that Sam LaPorta would salvage some value from his 2024 campaign. Unfortunately, he finished with 9 targets, 8 catches, and 76 yards (and a score) in Williams’ absence. If you’re in an exceptionally shallow league, there’s no need to hang onto LaPorta, who has just two games inside the top eight this season.
Cole Kmet, Chicago (67% rostered)
He failed to notch a single target in week nine’s loss to Arizona, and he has just one game with over 9 PPR points in his last five games. On the season, Kmet has a TE1 game, and a TE2 game (in weeks 6 and 3, respectively). The remainder of his games have been 17th or worse at the position, finishing as TE21 or worse three times in the last four games. As Caleb Williams and the passing game recedes, so does Cole Ket.
Dalton Schultz, Houston (64% rostered)
Schultz has six targets in two-straight games without Stefon Diggs, but the imminent Nico Collins return will relegate him to third-fiddle in a passing offense that is much less prolific than predicted.
Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh (58% rostered)
In two games with Russell Wilson, Fire Mouth has 5 targets, 4 receptions, and 70 yards. They just don’t use him, as they push the ball downfield much more than Justin Fields did.
