Dead Weight Report: Week 6 Droppables

Dropping any kind of weight is never an easy feat, but it’s always worth it in the end. Assessing who to let go from your fantasy teams after five contests is getting a bit easier as we have more of an idea of usage and output, but it’s still a leap of faith.

Here is this week’s list of players who are potentially droppable in favor of guys who are in better spots to perform and add more to your roster moving forward. If you need some players to stash for future use, I have you covered there as well.

Brandon Aiyuk, WR – 49ers

I’d be lying if I said Brandon Aiyuk was not on the long list for this column for the last few weeks, but he’s finally hit the big time or low time, or whatever. He’s produced one week of double-digit half-PPR points (12.5) thanks to scoring a touchdown, while the rest of his output is 4.2 half-PPR points or below.

Deciphering or understanding Kyle Shanahan’s usage is white-board-level stuff, but even when he calls Aiyuk’s number, there’s not much happening. If there was an increase in targets from week to week I could see holding on a bit longer, but the 23-year-old’s volume is all over the place, seeing two, six, three and four targets, respectively, in the last four weeks. Wideouts like Kadarius Toney, Hunter Renfrow and Jamison Crowder are in better spots to assist the 74% of Yahoo managers still holding out hope for Aiyuk in 2021.

Cole Beasley, WR – Bills

This drop may not be for everyone and I get it, but if you want off the roller coaster that is Cole Beasley’s 2021 fantasy season now is a great time. His usage is inconsistent, to say the least, as the 32-year-old has two games with 13 targets each, with four or fewer balls thrown his way in the other three contests. Beasley has been behind Stefon Diggs, Emmanuel Sanders and Dawson Knox in the Buffalo pecking order for two straight weeks now in big wins. Buffalo's schedule doesn’t toughen up anytime soon, not boding well for Beasley’s potential in the coming weeks.

There are currently 65% of Yahoo fantasy managers dealing with the weekly Beasley headache, so if you’ve had enough, send him to the waiver wire and pick up a WR with less competition on his own squad. However, if you’re winning games and willing to ride it out, it’s also understandable considering rostering pieces of high scoring-offenses can be advantageous over the long haul.

Kenyan Drake, RB – Raiders

I really wanted to make the 4,758th Seinfeld joke on the topic but I know some of you younger folks won’t get it, so let’s just say that the Raiders' coaching staff does not appear to like Kenyan Drake this season. Even with Peyton Barber out with turf toe in Weeks 4 and 5, Drake saw three total touches, which he turned into 13 yards.

Whether it was the missed block in Week 3 or something else entirely, Drake is not a legit part of this offense and can be replaced with someone who is, like Michael Carter or A.J. Dillon.

Robert Tonyan, TE – Packers

I know this concept is discussed ad nauseam, but the TE landscape is not a pretty one so dropping a starter is a difficult choice to wrestle with every week. However, looking at Robert Tonyan’s place in the Green Bay offense and his subsequent output, it could behoove the 68% of Yahoo managers that still have him rostered to either stream the TE position weekly, or grab another one and ride with them moving forward.

Tonyan is averaging a meager 3.4 targets per game, which sits 27th among TEs and he's the TE37 in half-PPR points per contest with just 3.7, which is below guys that aren’t even the TE1 on their own offenses like Jack Doyle and MyCole Pruitt. Some emerging players to replace him with or to consider streaming are Hunter Henry, David Njoku and possibly Dan Arnold.

Jalen Reagor, WR – Eagles

The NFL sophomore has seen five or more targets in all but one contest but hasn’t done much with them. As the current WR83 in half-PPR points per contest (5.9), Jalen Reagor’s breakout season looks like it will have to wait for at least one more year. He’s been outplayed by both DeVonta Smith and Quez Watkins and isn’t worth hanging onto anymore unless you’re in a very deep league.

Do your roster a solid and let Reagor go in favor of a wideout who’s taking better advantage of their volume like Hunter Renfrow or Marquez Callaway, or snag Michael Gallup ahead of his impending return.