Week five was a wild and woolly affair, and let’s just say that I am watching Myles Garrett hug Josh Allen at the end of Monday Night Football as I start this article. So, let’s just get down to business: here are players on rosters in over 50% of leagues who really deserve to get a rest on the waiver wire to make room for the new hotness.
Oh, and I want to apologize for my absence last week; I was busy “getting my brain cooked by COVID-19,” or SARS-CoV-2, as the kids call it.
QUARTERBACKS
Bo Nix, Denver (80% rostered)
Nix has just one game with 15.12 fantasy points this season, and it came on the back of his only rushing touchdown. He’s thrown over 250 yards once, has just one multi-touchdown game, and has the cheesed-off Seattle Seahawks team on a short week. In ten-team leagues, you can move on from Bo Nix. The Cardinals are after that if you want to hang on for one more week, but you are stronger than I am.
Justin Herbert, L.A. Chargers (63% rostered)
A game rarely ends with me wanting to drop both signal callers, but we are at that point with Justin Herbert (arguably, we’ve passed it). Herbert makes Bo Nix’s numbers look downright Josh Allenian: zero games over 14.3 fantasy points this season, zero games over 226 passing yards, and zero multiple-touchdown games. Oh, and he has seven interceptions with KC, the bye, and the Rams on the docket.
RUNNING BACKS
David Montgomery, Houston (96% rostered)
The former Lion and Bear has been dreadful this season for the Texans, and he suffered a groin injury that leaves him “week-to-week” and unlikely to play on Sunday, per DeMeco Ryans. Use this as an opportunity to move on from him and his 15 carries for 35 yards over the last two games.
Rico Dowdle, Pittsburgh (70% rostered)
Another week without Dowdle in Pittsbugh, and another week for Jaylen Warren to create a massive gap between himself and Dowdle. In the three games without Dowdle, Warren has 490 total yards and two scores, further cementing Dowdle as a change-of-pace guy and handcuff.
Josh Jacobs, Green Bay (71% rostered)
Weekly reminder that Josh Jacobs isn’t going to play this season.
Kenny Gainwell, Tampa Bay (51% rostered)
The marginalization of Kenny Gainwell continues. While Bucky Irving went off on Thursday Night Football, Gainwell finished with single-digit touches for the fifth straight game. The plus side: his 28 yards on Thursday topped his season-high by one yard.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Josh Downs, Indianapolis (89% rostered)
There’s just no there, there. Downs was supposed to be the big beneficiary of Michael Pittman leaving, and he was supposed to be the big beneficiary of Alec Pierce reaggravating his foot injury. But at this point, we have to realize that Josh Downs just doesn’t have it. He has six or fewer targets in three of five games this season, and has just two top-40 finishes (one top-24). He’s a PPR bye-week fill-in, which doesn’t really have a spot in ten-team leagues.
Marvin Harrison Jr., Houston (79% rostered)
Since 2000, 38 wide receivers have been traded mid-season; only four of them have averaged at least 50 yards per game for their next team. MHJ is on the express train to Bustville. Rather than cut him, trade him to someone who believes in him, but you’re reaching for a falling knife.
Chris Godwin Jr., Tampa Bay (68% rostered)
At this point in his career, Godwin is Keenan Allen with better PR. He has four or fewer targets in four of five games this season, and peaked at 9.1 PPR points two weeks ago. He has no real role on this team other than to move the chains a few times per game. You don’t need that on your roster.
Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville (65% rostered)
Rookie year BTJ isn’t coming back, with Josh Cameron looking like a more reliable and dynamic wide receiver than Thomas. He has three or fewer targets in all but one game this season, and has not crossed 40 yards receiving in a game this year.
Quentin Johnston, L.A. Chargers (51% rostered)
The Chargers are a complete mess, and QJ has done nothing to prove that he is above the fray, as his next game inside the top-60 at wide receiver will be his first. He is also dealing with a chest injury that isn’t going to make him more likely to catch difficult-to-snag balls thrown his way.
TIGHT ENDS
Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo (96% rostered)
The Buffalo Bills have 63 points over the last two weeks, and Dalton Kincaid has four targets, two catches, and 14 yards as they returned him to a normal allotment of snaps. It turns out crushing the weirdly bad Houston Texans and the regular bad Detroit Lions secondaries to start the season will make people think you are the next coming of Rob Gronkowski. He’s out there, just not doing anything: he ran a route on 23 of 28 Josh Allen dropbacks in week five; he just doesn’t exist, for all intents and purposes.
Jake Ferguson, Dallas (71% rostered)
He doesn’t really do anything, as everything in the passing game gets soaked up by CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, and everything around the goal line ends up going Javonte Williams’ way. In a way, he is a victim of his own offense. Ferguson has three or fewer catches for 23 or fewer yards in four of five games this season, with his two-touchdown outburst now four weeks in the rearview mirror.
Dalton Schultz, Houston (57% rostered)
The 22 targets in the first two weeks of the season sure were fun. Since then, he has nine targets, eight catches, and 69 yards across three games. The Texans also went out and got someone named “Marvin Harrison Jr.” so I doubt the meager target volume will continue unabated.
