Read The Athletic’s latest fantasy football drops advice.
Right now, there are three kinds of managers in fantasy football. There are the ones who have Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane rostered. The ones about to throw all the FAAB ever at the rookie back in the hopes of acquiring him.
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And the ones who are still nauseous that they dropped him a couple of weeks ago.
It’s not like it was some off-the-wall move. In Week 1, Achane was inactive. In Week 2, he garnered all of two touches for nine yards.
And then in Week 3, he touched the ball 22 times, amassed 223 total yards and scored four touchdowns… because, fantasy football.
It’s the nature of dropping players. There’s always a chance. A chance that a player will get hurt. That a role will change. That a combination of the two will thrust the dude you just kicked to the curb into fantasy prominence.
It can be maddening. Infuriating, even. But it’s part of the game.
Of course, that will never happen with the players in this column. If a guy makes it here, then there is absolutely zero chance he will ever be anything other than dead weight dragging your roster into a cesspool of loss and sorrow.
After all, if any of these players became “regret drops,” it would make me look bad.
And we can’t have that.
Rostered percentages courtesy of Yahoo.
Derek Carr, QB, New Orleans Saints (34 percent) (Droppable in 1-QB leagues)
Carr led the Saints to wins in their first two games and had New Orleans up 17-0 before being knocked from Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers with what has been diagnosed as a sprained AC joint in his shoulder. The 32-year-old has been labeled “week-to-week,” but head coach Dennis Allen told reporters he hasn’t ruled out Carr playing Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“All I can tell you is that he was much better today than he was yesterday,” Allen said. “We’re going to continue to evaluate him, and when he’s healthy enough that he can go out and perform and do the things that he needs to do to give our team a chance to win, then he’ll be back in there. “I don’t think it’s a further risk of injury. It’s ‘can you function and do your job?'”
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Frankly, even if Carr was 100 percent healthy, he’d have a good shot at appearing in this column this week. Three games into the season, Carr is averaging 212 passing yards a game. He has two touchdown passes. And after his first two full games he was 28th in fantasy points among quarterbacks. When you’re being outscored by Desmond freaking Ridder, it’s time to go.
Related: Jake Ciely’s Week 4 waiver wire column
Antonio Gibson, RB, Washington Commanders (59 percent) (Droppable in 12-team leagues)
The Bills destroyed the Commanders in just about every way an NFL team can be destroyed, beating them 37-3 in a game that may not have been as close as the score. While speaking to reporters after the on-field vivisection, Gibson said that all he and his teammates can try to do is learn from the many, many things that went wrong Sunday.
“Come to work,” Gibson said. “Nothing’s going to change in our minds. We’re gonna come to work. It’s a long season. That was one game. We still need to correct (it), but that was one game. It’s a long season and we can still make what we want to happen come true so just got to go to work.”
Gibson did his part to contribute to the blowout, losing a fumble on one of his five touches. That’s the second fumble Gibson has lost this season, and the fourth-year pro now has 14 touches for 96 yards — for the season. Unless Brian Robinson gets hurt, Gibson’s not going to be a factor in Washington, and even if Robinson does get hurt, Gibson’s penchant for putting it on the ground makes him hard to trust. See ya, A.G.
Samaje Perine, RB, Denver Broncos (61 percent) (Droppable in 12-team leagues)
There was a time when quite a few fantasy analysts believed that Perine would at least open the season as Denver’s lead back, as Javonte Williams rehabbed his torn ACL. Per Mike Singer of the Denver Post, Perine said before the season that he and Williams had already become thick as thieves—and that he was ready for whatever role the Broncos had in store for him.
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“It’s already been like we’ve been together for years now, just kind of gelled right away,” Perine said. “Wasn’t any getting used to one another. And I think the biggest thing is we are both not big personalities. We are both pretty easy to get along with, so I feel like that helped a lot. But yeah, we embraced each other. We look after each other and it’s like we’re already a brotherhood really.”
So far, that role has mainly involved watching Williams play in Broncos losses. Three games into the season, Perine has racked up a whopping 21 touches for 126 yards from scrimmage, including 5 touches for 24 total yards on 31% of the snaps in Week 3 (granted, that was in a ridiculous blowout loss…but what if there are more of those?). Yes, his role would increase if Williams were to get hurt again, but how long are you willing to save a roster spot for a “maybe” in a rushing attack that’s only averaging 95 yards per game?
Rashod Bateman, WR, Baltimore Ravens (47 percent) (Droppable in 12-team leagues)
After the Ravens added Odell Beckham in free agency and drafted Zay Flowers in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft, it was fair to question both Bateman’s place in the wide receiver pecking order and his future in Baltimore. But the third-year pro made it clear via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley that he still believes he can be a No. 1 wide receiver in the NFL.
“My teammates still believe in me,” said Bateman. “They know my capabilities, they know what I can do. I’ve done it before. I do it in practice. It just sucks that the injuries have been in the way for me to prove it to you all and everybody else. Hopefully, the third time is the charm in Charm City.”
Well, guess what? Bateman’s injured again — he left last week’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts with a hamstring pull. The reality is that even when healthy Bateman wasn’t much of a factor in the NFL’s 24th-ranked passing game. He’s fourth on the team in targets and has amassed a whopping 59 receiving yards three weeks in. Not-quite-20-yards-a-game doesn’t exactly inspire a flood of fantasy enthusiasm — or a desire to wait out his injury.
Hayden Hurst, TE, Carolina Panthers (25 percent) (Droppable in 12-team leagues)
His career to date hasn’t reflected it, but Hurst was once a first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens — in fact, he was taken well ahead of Mark Andrews back in 2018. Since then Hurst has played for four teams in six seasons, but he told The Athletic’s Joe Person over the summer that he thought Carolina was the place where he was finally going to be able to show what he can do.
“I love it. This is the opportunity that I’ve always asked for,” Hurst said. “I prepared this offseason like the ball’s gonna come my way a lot. So I’m in the best shape of my life. Obviously, I’m gonna have the opportunity here. They invested some money in me. Now it’s time to go earn it.”
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For a fleeting moment, it appeared that Hurst might actually be headed for bigger and better things in 2023 — in Bryce Young’s first NFL start, Hurst caught 5 of 7 targets for 41 yards and a touchdown. But in the two games since, Hurst has been targeted just six times, and with Andy Dalton under center last week Hurst had just three grabs for 11 yards. At least we’ll always have Week 1.
Have a question about another potential player drop. Hit Gary up on Twitter at @IDPSharks.
(Top photo: Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
