Let’s take a look at players our analysts consider on the fringe as you weigh your fantasy football waiver wire additions for the week. And here’s all of our Week 3 fantasy football waiver wire advice.
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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Advice: Drop or Hold?
DROP RECOMMENDATIONS
Droppable:
Bryce Young is droppable in nearly any 1QB league. There was hope that new Panthers head coach Dave Canales could “fix” Young after working wonders with Baker Mayfield in Tampa last season, but Young might be too daunting a fixer-upper even for Canales. The No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft, Young struggled for most of his rookie season and has been flat-out awful so far in 2024, completing 55.4% of his passes, averaging 4.4 yards per attempt, and throwing zero TD passes and three interceptions. Young doesn’t offer significant rushing value either. Just walk away.
Speaking of struggling quarterbacks, Denver rookie Bo Nix has zero TD passes and four interceptions over his first two games, and he’s averaging 5.0 yards per pass attempt. The hope was that Nix could be a poor man’s Drew Brees for Broncos head coach Sean Payton. That hope has gone up in a puff of smoke.
Marquise Brown‘s first season with the Chiefs may be over before it starts. Brown sustained a shoulder injury in the preseason and landed on IR. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported last week that Brown is not expected to play in 2024.
We told you last week not to drop rookie Colts WR Adonai Mitchell, but you can go ahead and dump him now. Mitchell played only 59% of the Colts’ offensive snaps Sunday in a loss to the Packers. His snap share will likely fall further when WR Josh Downs returns from an ankle injury, which could happen this week. Mitchell is an intriguing size-speed prospect, but it seems unlikely he’ll provide fantasy managers much help in his rookie season.
Allen Lazard was a Week 1 mirage. After catching six passes for 89 yards and two touchdowns in the Jets’ opener against the 49ers, he crashed to earth in Week 2 with two receptions for 11 yards. Lazard’s role will continue to shrink as Mike Williams‘ snaps increase. Williams tore his ACL in 2023 and was limited to just nine snaps in Week 1. He played 37 snaps in Week 2. Hey, you wanted a little FAAB money. Don’t beat yourself up over it.
Droppable with a chance of regret:
Tua Tagovailoa has a worrisome concussion history, and he sustained another last week, going into the “fencing” position after taking a hit at the end of a run late in a loss to the Bills. Tagovailoa is expected to meet with neurologists this week. It seems likely he’ll miss extended time. Although there’s a chance Tua will return this season, it’s probably best for his investors to make other plans at the QB position.
DeAndre Hopkins has had seven 1,000-yard seasons, so it might be hard for some fantasy managers to part with him. But Hopkins is 32 now, Calvin Ridley appears to have taken over as the Titans’ No. 1 receiver, and there’s just not a lot of meat on the bone with the Tennessee passing game.
We knew the Chargers would be run-heavy, but the expectation was that Josh Palmer would still have fantasy value because he’d be either the Chargers’ lead receiver or a co-lead along with Ladd McConkey. What few of us saw coming was the resurgence of Quentin Johnston, who looks like a new man after a hugely disappointing rookie season. With Johnston starting to establish himself as a major factor in the Chargers passing game, there’s just not enough target volume to keep Palmer fantasy-relevant.
A vertical receiver like Courtland Sutton is a bad match for a horizontal passer like Bo Nix. Well, any receiver is a bad match for Bo Nix right now, as the Denver passing game is mired in quicksand. Maybe Nix will get his sea legs at some point, or maybe the Broncos will trade Sutton. But those possibilities aren’t worth waiting for.
Don’t drop yet:
Christian Watson has 3-13-1 receiving on five targets, and he was completely blanked in Week 2, failing to draw a single target. That wasn’t a shock considering that the Packers were playing without injured QB Jordan Love and trying to hide backup Malik Willis as much as possible. Willis threw only 14 passes in the Packers’ 16-10 win over the Colts on Sunday. Love could be back before the end of the month, and Watson (who had three end zone targets in Week 1) will again have a chance to use his 6-foot-4 frame and his sub-4.4 speed to make big plays.
The best-case scenario for Diontae Johnson this season was that he’d quickly become Bryce Young‘s top target — a role that had legitimate value last season. Through the first 11 weeks of the 2023 season, Adam Thielen had 76-726-4 for the Panthers and was WR10 in PPR scoring. The optimistic view was that Johnson would assume that role from Thielen this year. But Young has somehow been even worse this year than he was last year, and he and Johnson have demonstrated zero chemistry. Johnson has 5-34-0 through two games. Give it another week or two, but the early returns have been undeniably discouraging.
Christian Kirk may have to settle for playing a lesser role in the Jacksonville offense this season with Brian Thomas Jr. looking like a star in the making. Kirk has seven targets so far for 2-29-0. He’s not startable at the moment, but Kirk is still worthy of a roster spot in most leagues.
Zamir White investors are undoubtedly disappointed with how the first two weeks have gone for the Raiders’ top running back. Over his first two games, White has 22-68-0 rushing and 5-16-0 receiving. Alexander Mattison played 11 more snaps than White in Week 1 and had a 1-yard TD run in Week 2 — not exactly what White stakeholders wanted to see. But White’s workload is still substantial enough to give him value. You might not want him in your starting lineup right now, but you could feel grateful to have him on your bench when the bye weeks roll around.
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