Do you drop them or do you hold on to them? Should you fear their drop in usage? I’ll help you answer those! Every week I’ll be highlighting some players who are either losing opportunity on offense or underperforming based on their ownership percentage.
This can be used as a helpful way to decide on some players you can drop to waivers for the hot new items on the market. Maybe you’re on the fence about a bench player and seeing his name on this list will help you make that final decision!
I will only mention players with over 35% ownership in ESPN leagues because you can’t drop who you don’t have. I’ll also give my verdict on whether he’s a drop or a hold depending on if his drop in production may have other factors to it! All players are analyzed by their offensive snap% and their targets/touches week-to-week.
Let’s do this!
Rob Gronkowski – 70.1% Ownership
Please drop Rob Gronkowski. Please, you will be doing yourself a favor. If he didn’t have six receptions last week he’d be on the wire already. Through four weeks Gronk has had three games of >4 fantasy points, including an incredible goose egg. This season, Gronk is the TE35, which means there are 34 better options at the position. 34!! If he wasn’t Rob Gronkowski he wouldn’t be owned. He’s not a receiving TE in this offense.
Verdict: Please drop Rob Gronkowski.
Golden Tate – 51.6% Ownership
This Giants offense is… bad. Golden Tate is currently third in targets on a team that has played more games than they’ve scored touchdowns. Yes, the Giants have faced some rough defenses in LA, CHI, SF, and PIT but that doesn’t excuse this awful lack of production on the whole offense. Tate has been targeted a max of 7 times this season but hasn’t cracked 50 yards or a score. In other words, he’s not a fun fantasy player to own this season.
Verdict: I have no problems dropping Tate. This offense may pick it up after a rough first few games but I don’t think Tate is the guy to own in New York.
Curtis Samuel – 44.8% Ownership
Curtis Samuel is just not being used this season. His snap% dropped to 49% this week and saw only four targets. Samuel was on my drop list a few weeks ago but still seems to be owned in roughly 45% of leagues. We were curious about what Samuel’s production would be with McCaffrey out and it still seems to be fourth in the target order behind Robby Anderson, DJ Moore, and Mike Davis.
Verdict: Full drop. If we’re disappointed in DJ Moore’s lack of productivity there’s no way we’re happy about Samuel’s.
Jeff Wilson – 47.8% Ownership
Jeff Wilson’s productivity was fully dependent on the injuries of Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman. This past week against Philadelphia, however, it was the Jerrick McKinnon show. It was apparent in San Francisco’s win over the Giants in Week 3 that McKinnon was the next back to carry the full load, but garbage time gave Jeff Wilson time to shine. With a lack of garbage time in Week 4, Wilson was nonexistent with just an 8% snap share and four total touches.
Verdict: Mostert is expected to be back soon and even if he doesn’t return, McKinnon is the back of choice in this offense. I’m not hanging on to Wilson.
