Dead Weight Report: Week 7 Fantasy Football Drop List

Oct 17, 2023

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

With six teams getting to watch from their respective couches this week and the insane amount of injuries around the NFL, this week’s Dead Weight Report was not easy to write. However, I found some expendable players we can exchange for waiver wire love because we should always be looking to improve our fantasy rosters.

Editor's Note: Check out the Week 7 Waiver Wire Watch

If you’re looking for some players to stash for future use, I have you covered there as well.

Jahan Dotson, WR - Commanders

I have been threatening to add Jahan Dotson to this column for several weeks now and there’s no more avoiding him. The excitement surrounding the sophomore was high heading into 2023 with Eric Bieniemy in town and a young, exciting QB at the helm, but instead of the fantasy WR2/3 we drafted in the eighth round, we are dealing with the WR77 in half-PPR scoring on a per game basis. Dotson hasn’t eclipsed 40 yards yet in a game this season and has just one touchdown in six contests. His targets per game are all over the place ranging from a high of nine in Week 4 to just one last week (which he dropped).

It’s tough to trust the Washington WR at this point and there are higher-performing options boasting stronger chemistry with their QBs out here like Josh Downs, Jameson Williams, or Josh Reynolds.

Tutu Atwell, WR - Rams

The young WR served his purpose well with Cooper Kupp on IR, but now that the Rams’ clear No. 1 WR is back, Tutu Atwell’s fantasy value has taken a massive hit. His target average has fallen from 8.8 balls per game in Weeks 1-4 down to just three over the last two contests and with that, the WR’s output has been a brutal 5.7 half-PPR points per game in Weeks 5-6.

Like Dotson above, we may get a decent game here and there, but it’s difficult to trust Atwell as a starter moving forward.

Emari Demercado, RB - Cardinals

Goodbye, Emari Demercado. We hardly knew you but we’ll always have the Week 6 waiver wire. The Cardinals employed a three-headed backfield approach with James Conner on the shelf, and Demercado was third in line behind Keaontay Ingram and Damien Williams. The usage may not be the same for the next three weeks while Conner gets healthy, but without lead-back duties and Arizona likely playing from behind in most matchups, the UDFA is likely not someone to inject into lineups.

Samaje Perine, RB - Broncos

With Javonte Williams back from a hip injury (10 touches) and Jaleel McLaughlin now more involved (9 touches), Samaje Perine was the odd man out with just two targets and no carries against Kansas City in Week 6. To make things worse, Perine suffered some sort of leg injury, which could also put a damper on his already dim fantasy outlook. The Broncos offense as a whole is not looking like a unit to invest in moving forward, and Perine is falling to the bottom of whatever remaining list of relevant players they have.

Hunter Henry, TE - Patriots

Tight end is the most disproportionate of all the positions for fantasy purposes and it’s a weekly struggle for stability unless your team boasts one of the elite, however, we still need to maximize points. Hunter Henry was a wonderful surprise at the start of this season as the TE2 through the first two contests, averaging 14.2 half-PPR points on a per-game basis. Since then, though, he’s fallen all the way down to TE42 over the last four matchups with an average of just two catches for 19 yards from Weeks 3-6.

The Patriots' offense is not in a position to consistently support fantasy pieces right now and until they can turn a corner, Henry is better off on the waiver wire or someone else’s team. Look for Logan Thomas, Dalton Kincaid, or Luke Musgrave as possible replacements all under 60% rostered in Yahoo leagues.