Since a lot of league trade deadlines have passed, the Tuesday Trader
feature is closed until next August.
This was the first season I’ve done it (and the first season for Free
Agent Friday and Sleeper Saturday), so hopefully it helped keep content a little
less scattershot than in years past.
So FF4W stalwart Joe Gross suggested I pull together some thoughts on
guys to drop as we get close to the fantasy playoffs. I interpreted from his post that he means
less obvious guys. Like who cares about
someone advising to drop Rashard Higgins?
I won’t mention RB handcuffs, because although most won’t have any
fantasy impact the rest of the way, most are worth at least considering
rostering if you have room. The rest are
fair game.
At QB, Blake Bortles is (believe it or not) the 12th highest
scoring fantasy QB in standard-scoring leagues.
But with games against Denver, Minnesota, Houston, and Tennessee on the
horizon, surely there are better options in many leagues. Lesser scorers like Eli Manning, Cam Newton,
and even Jared Goff could outperform Bortles.
I wouldn’t want to rely on him, period.
At RB, Bortles’ teammate, Chris Ivory (as well as T.J. Yeldon) will
find it tough to pull in RB3 numbers the rest of the way. I’m also not high on Isaiah Crowell going forward,
as his YPC is terrible and Cleveland will continue playing from behind most
minutes in every game. Tough to drop a
guy with his overall production. But again,
I wouldn’t want to start him. In Baltimore,
Terrance West is steadily losing snaps to Kenneth Dixon; West is on the verge
of being a desperation fantasy starter—not someone you can bank on for even 5+
points. James Starks will crash back to
earth—if not because of backfield competition, than because of the relatively
tough run defenses Green Bay will face down the stretch. Oh, and Ryan Mathews was a TD-dependent RB2
before getting hurt. I think it’s clear that
even when he returns, he won’t even be on the RB3 map.
Among wideouts, barring DeVante Parker getting sidelined, Jarvis Landry
goes from top 20 WR to droppable. I’m
not trusting Mohamed Sanu with Tevin Coleman back and Taylor Gabriel eating up
targets, yards, and touchdowns. Those
saving Alshon Jeffery for post-suspension need to consider Chicago’s ugly QB
situation, the return of Marquess Wilson, and a healthy Cameron Meredith and
Eddie Royal. Jeffery will be lucky to
post 7+ points in any of his final three games; I’d rather roster an RB
handcuff.
At TE, I’m not banking on the 11th highest scorer, Jason
Witten, to maintain TE1 numbers. This
offense runs through four guys: Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott, Dez Bryant, and
Cole Beasley. Witten has one 8+ point
day this season; don’t settle for five points when you can find a higher-upside
option on waivers. Meanwhile, to those
rostering Julius Thomas in 43% of ESPN leagues: it’s over. Move on.
The same goes for Dennis Pitta (owned in 47% of ESPN leagues) and Jack
Doyle (26%).
Finally, I forgot about the Bears in yesterday’s post-Sunday rundown
(hat tip to four-year FF4W member Mario Castro). An injury prematurely ended Marquess Wilson’s breakout
2015 season. Sunday, in only his second
game of 2016, he reminded us of his abilities.
If Jeffery walks this offseason, a healthy Wilson could be starting
opposite Kevin White next fall. A
half-decent QB should make both fantasy commodities.