Guillotine League Week 4 Waiver Wire Options & FAAB Breakdown

We dealt with injury repercussions and a few goose eggs that crushed some guillotine teams in Week 3. Hopefully, you survived another week with that chance to rebuild and revamp if necessary.

As usual thus far in 2024, this weekly column will go through the top players from the teams that got axed each week in guillotine leagues, focusing on the waiver wire and FAAB strategies.

Before I get into Week 4, here’s some pertinent information on guillotine leagues.

How it works:

• Set up and draft your team just like traditional fantasy football
• Each week the lowest-scoring team gets eliminated
• All of the players from the eliminated team become free agents
• A weekly FAAB bidding war starts among the remaining teams
• Survive the chop and be crowned champion

Because it's a survivor-style format, you can start leagues any week of the season for as long as you want!

Get in now!

The guys chopped the most in Week 3 weren’t as monster and elite as the first two weeks but there are some good players to be had. Tight end is a collective struggle this season but please resist the urge to overspend on guys at that position who may or may not show up.

It is still early, so let your league mates back up the truck while you grab some bargain players this week.

Bye weeks are looming so if you want to get ahead of the game by a week, the following teams are off in Week 5: Lions, Chargers, Eagles, and Titans.

Here are the top 10 players chopped across all positions and the percentage of leagues where they were axed.

Quarterbacks

There were eight QBs among the top 50 players chopped in Week 3.

Four of the top seven QBs are among the most chopped players and will likely be overbid on by a few folks in your league. Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, and C.J. Stroud are worth about 6-8% of your FAAB but will likely go for much more.

Anthony Richardson was chopped at the highest rate (16.1%) but he’s an add-at-your-own-risk candidate. The Colts QB is dead-last in the NFL in completion rate at 49.3% and is only rushing for 39 yards per game which doesn't make up for his lack of passing efficiency. If you want to roll the dice that Richardson improves, throw 3% of your FAAB at him.

Baker Mayfield and Derek Carr were chopped in 9.0% and 8.5% of leagues, respectively, and are worth a 1-2% bid if you’re in need.

Standard Waiver QBs

• Andy Dalton (92.1% available) 1-2%

Running Backs

Within the Top 50 most chopped players, 17 of them were RBs in Week 3.

Last week was a mess for Rhamondre Stevenson as his o-line was banged up and he was the victim of a negative game script pretty early in the contest. This week he faces the 49ers which may not be bounceback material but he’s worthy of a 2.5% bid with the RB position so injury-riddled.

Jaylen Warren’s usage has been baffling but then again we’re dealing with Arthur Smith. The RB is averaging just 6.3 touches per game to 20.7 for Najee Harris plus he’s dealing with a knee injury. Harris is also nursing a hurt shoulder but is expected to go in Week 4. Warren may come on later this season but for now, he’s a pass or a very low single-digit bid.

Another guy I’d proceed with caution with is Zamir White who was on 12.4% of axed teams last week. He’s been fairly inefficient despite being in the lead-back role averaging just 3.2 yards per attempt in 2024. If you’re desperate for RB help grab him for a few dollars but otherwise look elsewhere.

Tony Pollard is a decent target this week as he faces a Miami defensive unit that sits 26th in RB schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed (aFPA) in 2024. He’s coming off a rough outing where he was game-scripted out early against the Packers so he may be had on the cheap side. The Titans do have a bye in Week 5 so you don’t want to pay too much, but a conservative bid of around 2% could get you an RB2 with RB1 potential.

Standard Waiver RBs

• Emanuel Wilson (71.4% available) less than 1%
• Roschon Johnson (77.5% available) less than 1%
• Miles Sanders (48.3% available) less than 1%

Wide Receivers

Only 18 WRs were among the 50 most chopped players after the Week 3 games finished, which is down from 26 last week.

A big fat zero got Rashid Shaheed chopped in 16.6% of guillotine leagues in Week 3. Making the doughnuts as the deep threat guy, there may be games where this happens but the encouraging part is he’s tied with Chris Olave for the most targets in the offense and is clearly a larger part of their plan than in prior years. Shaheed warrants a 3-4% bid.

Jameson Williams was the second-highest WR axed, likely since he went back to more of what we’ve seen from him when active the last few seasons. With Sam LaPorta dealing with an ankle injury, Williams could see an uptick in volume against Seattle this week, but he does have a Week 5 bye so bake that info into your bid. Around 2% of what you have left seems appropriate.

Both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle were among the 20 most chopped players after a disastrous QB play in Week 3. Miami is down to Tim Boyle and possibly Tyler Huntley under center which sadly drops both players down to the flex area. The Dolphins also have a bye in Week 6 which needs to be taken into consideration here. Tua Tagovailoa is eligible to return in Week 8 but that is still up in the air so bid on both of these guys with some caution. They are worth rostering but please don’t overpay. Hill should be about 6-7% but someone may pay more, and Waddle should cost around 4% of your remaining FAAB.

CeeDee Lamb was the WR chopped at the fourth-highest rate which was unexpected considering he was in double digits in terms of fantasy points. If he’s there for you, go for it as Lamb should remain an asset in this format throughout the remainder of the season. Dropping 20% feels appropriate although someone may spend closer to 50%.

Standard Waiver WRs

• Josh Downs (40.4% available) less than 1%
• Xavier Legette (46.3% available) less than 1%
• Ja'Lynn Polk (51.8% available) less than 1%
• Jahan Dotson (58.9% available) less than 1%
• Noah Brown (94.5% available) less than 1%

Tight Ends

There were seven TEs among the 50 most chopped players last week. Four were on this list in Week 2 and with how gross the position is, it’s no surprise that number jumped up by three players.

There's little to no shock that Mark Andrews was the top chop in the TE department after posting zero fantasy points last week. He’s only seen eight total targets through three games and is the TE28 in PPR scoring in 2024. Andrews is a risky start at this point but so are the majority of players at the TE position. Throw a few bucks at him if you’re feeling it.

George Kittle was second axed among TEs, chopped in 10.5% of leagues. He’ll be back from a hamstring issue and is worth the add as a member of a highly productive offense. Put 3-4% of your FAAB in but you may be outbid by someone who’s overpaying.

Standard Waiver TEs

• Zach Ertz (22.4% available) - less than 1%
• Tyler Conklin (50.7% available) less than 1%
• Tucker Kraft (76.6% available) - less than 1%

For even more guillotine information from the man who invented the format Paul Charchian, check out the podcast Chop: The Guillotine League Podcast.