Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Watch Week 3: Ford Is The Best In Cleveland

Sep 20, 2023

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

As a refresher, The Drop List consists of players who are rostered in at least 50% of Yahoo leagues and are no longer must-have assets, recommended additions are available in over 50% of Yahoo leagues, the Watch List contains in-depth notes on fringe waiver adds, and Deep Cuts includes player notes on those rostered in 5% or fewer of Yahoo and FFPC leagues.

The Drop List

QB: -
RB: Cam Akers, Antonio Gibson, Ezekiel Elliott, Jerick McKinnon
WR: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Odell Beckham, Romeo Doubs
TE: Tyler Higbee

Cam Akers and the organization had yet another falling-out in Week 2, leading to him being healthy scratched in favor of Kyren Williams (who then handled 95% of Los Angeles' backfield touches). You don't necessarily have to drop Akers from 10-man benches since he could eventually sign elsewhere, but I now view him, for example, behind Kareem Hunt (and stashes of his ilk).

Brian Robinson has out-touched Antonio Gibson 35-5 since the latter fumbled in the second quarter of Week 1. I've moved Gibson into the Contingency Top 10 (scroll down) since he has zero standalone value.

Fully healthy from the stomach bug he fought through in the season opener, Rhamondre Stevenson out-carried Ezekiel Elliott 15-5 and handled 78.2% of New England's backfield touches as an every-down back. Zeke would have to fall forward for two touchdowns to provide any value in a given week.

Even in a game Clyde Edwards-Helaire (illness) was limited for, Jerick McKinnon received one carry and scored just 5.2 PPR points (to Isiah Pacheco's 8.0) exclusively as the team's third-down back. There's no need to continue chasing McKinnon's unsustainable nine receiving touchdowns from last year in his age-31 season.

JuJu Smith-Schuster has now finished sixth (48%, 52%) in routes run on his own team in back-to-back games with the Patriots.

Odell Beckham suffered an ankle injury on Sunday but is expected to play in Week 3. The point is that he's turned seven targets (13.1% share) into 5.8 PPR points per game (WR81) and is now drowned in the pecking order behind both Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews. Beckham is dead weight on your roster solely for nostalgia.

Jayden Reed, even in cramping during the second half of Week 1, has tied for the team lead in targets (5, 18.5%) and recorded a team-high 32% target share through his first two games. With Christian Watson (hamstring) scheduled to return soon, Romeo Doubs inevitably becomes the low man on Green Bay's totem pole. As mentioned last week, I would drop Doubs for Reed outright.

Tyler Higbee earned a team-high 24.7% target share over his last seven games in 2022 because no one else could earn targets. Fast forward to this season with Puka Nacua (39.4%), Tutu Atwell (19.4%), and Kyren Williams (12.3%) all being schemed in the receiving game. Higbee's 8.1% and 13.4% target shares through two weeks are not only disappointing but clearly make him droppable for any tight end listed below.