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, it’s possible his drop in production may have other factors to it! This article will focus on % of offensive snaps the player was in on, total targets for WRs and total touches for RBs.
Let’s do this!
Christian Kirk – 69% Ownership
Kirk is feeling a direct impact from the addition of DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins is the target hog in Arizona with 25 total targets in the first two weeks, the most in the league. Kirk finds himself tied with Chase Edmonds for third on the team in targets, but only three receptions. QB Kyler Murray is having an early MVP run but Kirk doesn’t seem to be benefitting from it.
Verdict: I’d hold for just one more week. If I don’t see anything from Kirk against a bad Detroit defense he’s off the team.
Justin Jefferson – 46.4% Ownership
Meh. This Vikings offense is very inefficient this season so far and QB Kirk Cousins is having a rough start (he had -1.48 fantasy points week 2). I had high hopes for Justin Jefferson’s rookie season in hopes that he took over the Diggs role in this offense but there doesn’t seem to be a productive role at all outside of Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook.
Verdict: I’m dropping Jefferson. The drop in snaps and a weak passing offense doesn’t give me hope for him yet.
Jordan Howard – 64.6% Ownership
This isn’t much of a drop in production if there wasn’t production to begin with, right? Jordan Howard was on the field for 15% of snaps week 1 and down to 11% week 2, with a drop from eight to five touches between the weeks. It seems Miami is committed to Myles Gaskin as their primary back in a backfield that is destined to be at the bottom of the league in production.
Verdict: Drop Howard, and maybe even Breida if you’re on the fence. Howard seems to be the goal line RB for a team that could potentially not be on the goal line often. His two TDs this season make up 91% of his total fantasy points.
Curtis Samuel – 46.7% Ownership
Robby Anderson is having a great season and in turn, has diminished Samuel’s role. Samuel saw eight targets week 1 but only two in the second week, pair that with a small drop in snap% and things get a little shaky for his potential. I’m not too worried yet but I wouldn’t be counting on Samuel as a starting WR on my team just yet.
Verdict: Hold if you can, but don’t be afraid to drop. This Panthers team could look completely different with CMC out with an ankle injury.
