It was a wild and wooly week 13, which felt like one long and slow IV drip of football. We are now on to week 14, and the last week of the fantasy football season. We are also into the last bye week, a six-team byenado, which will decimate your roster. If you need to make some space for players, here are three players at each position rostered in at least 50% of Yahoo! leagues to slice and dice off of your roster.
Quarterbacks
Geno Smith, Seattle (62% rostered)
Once again, Geno Smith makes this list. It makes me feel a horrible truth: teams with Geno Smith on them have already given up. But, if you’re still alive with Geno on your roster, feel free to rectify that situation. Smith once again led the Seahawks to a victory, and once again did it without producing a big fantasy day. He finished with his second-straight game under 13 fantasy points and hasn’t crossed 16 fantasy points in four of his last five games. He has the suddenly-sturdy Cardinals defense in week fourteen, and the NFC North three-step of Green Bay, Minnesota, and Chicago, who all rank in the bottom ten in fantasy points allowed to QBs on the year.
Kirk Cousins, Atlanta (59% rostered)
If you drop Cousins, try to get him after he bottoms out next week. He has two primo matchups to round out the fantasy football season. But, Cousins has been a mess for a while now. He had the worst game of his career this week (four interceptions, 245 passing yards, and zero touchdowns) and has Minnesota next week. Despite the revenge game narrative, I doubt Cousins has it in him to take advantage of his former team’s defense.
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville (51% rostered)
Lawrence was looking iffy in his return from his shoulder injury before Azeez Al-Shaair levied one of the dirtiest hits this season on a slide. It’s possible that the Jags put him on IR and call it a season for him, as they need to hit a reset on the franchise with a new head coach.
Wide Receivers
Tank Dell, Houston (91% rostered)
This is for the thinnest of leagues, as the Texans are on bye this week, and things don’t get much better from there. After the bye, Dell gets the Dolphins, who are a tough matchup, and a slobber knocker against the Chiefs. His only good matchup left comes in week seventeen, against the Baltimore Ravens. Dell’s seen his targets drop in each of the last three games, from 7 down to 4. This coincides with the Texans’ #1 receiver—Nico Collins—returning from injury.
Jaylen Waddle, Miami (89% rostered)
Waddle had a reprieve last week, as he seemingly turned a corner. Unfortunately, that corner was a U-turn, as he and Miami returned to their ways. Waddle finished week 13 with 4 catches for 53 yards on 4 targets. This marked the tenth time in the last eleven weeks that Waddle failed to top 60 receiving yards. He has finished inside the top 36 at receiver just once since week one and inside the top 45 just four times.
Diontae Johnson, Baltimore (50% rostered)
Please. I’m begging you. He played no snaps on Sunday.
Running Backs
The Injured Guys
Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco (99% rostered)
J.K. Dobbins, L.A. Chargers (80% rostered)
Austin Ekeler, Washington (71% rostered)
Jordan Mason, San Francisco (52% rostered)
McCaffrey and Mason have played their last snaps of 2024. Dobbins and Ekeler went to IR Saturday, meaning they will miss at least weeks 13 through 16. If you feel okay playing a guy in your fantasy finals coming off of IR, then more power to you.
Rachaad White, Tampa Bay (88% rostered)
White finished with a respectable 8.8 PPR points at the end of the day. Unfortunately, 38 of his 78 yards came on one carry in overtime. On the other side of the split, Bucky Irving finished with 25 carries and 3 targets for 185 total yards. White’s now the 1b in this backfield.
Kareem Hunt, Kansas City (78% rostered)
Hunt and Pacheco split the backfield touches on Friday. They had 7 carries a piece, with Hunt getting two futile targets to Pacheco’s one target. Hunt played 27 snaps to Pacheco’s 26 and ran 20 routes to Pacheco’s 10. This was Pacheco’s first game back, so things are only going to get worse for Hunt.
Gus Edwards, L.A. Chargers (62% rostered)
Edwards filled in for J.K. Dobbins in week thirteen, and promptly did very little, to nothing, with it. He finished with a paltry six carries for 32 yards, kicking in one catch for a yard. The Chargers seem hellbent on splitting touches in this backfield
Tight Ends
Kyle Pitts, Atlanta (87% rostered)
Pitts had two targets, with zero catches on Sunday. He was out there for just 41% of snaps, and it seems as though the Falcons are once again moving away from the high draft pick. This makes three times in the last four games that he failed to top 2.1 PPR points. The next three games include matchups with Minnesota & the Giants, who both rank in the bottom ten in fantasy points allowed to opposing tight ends.
Taysom Hill, New Orleans (72% rostered)
The Fantasy Gods giveth and the Fantasy Gods taketh away. After making us wait through the Saints’ bye to see how Hill followed up his bonkers week eleven game (that defies all explanation). Unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury that saw him down on the field for several minutes, and then get carted away. We have seen the last of Taysom Hill for the season.
Cole Kmet, Chicago (53% rostered)
Kmet should be the easiest drop for you, as he is a quintessential part of The Tight End Blob, and as such, he is as fungible a fantasy football player as they come. He had ten targets in week twelve but has less than 5 targets in six of the last eight games. It’s not worth hanging onto him with the 49ers, Vikings, and Lions (four of the bottom-eight teams in terms of fantasy points allowed to tight ends) on the docket.
