5 Well-Known Fantasy Football Players - Drop, Hold, or Sell Low for Week 3

September 26, 2026

Wyatt discusses five well-known fantasy football players who have not performed well heading into Week 3 of the 2026 season. Is it time to drop, sell, or hold?

We're heading into Week 3 of the NFL season, and the honeymoon phase is starting to wear off for fantasy managers, with some fantasy superstars off to a slow start. Patience is a quality we fantasy managers are not often accused of having. We need our fantasy points, and we want them now!

We're going to look at well-known fantasy football players who are currently struggling and not performing as well as we hoped they would back during draft season. Should fantasy managers hold these players, sell while we still can, or drop them off in dumpsville?

Without further ado, what should fantasy managers do with these well-known players heading into Week 3 of the fantasy football season?

Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots

My first year as the self-elected president of the Drake Maye fan club was a great success, finishing as the fantasy QB2 overall and the captain of my dynasty championship team. However, the second year of my term hasn’t gotten off to a hot start.

Maye is averaging 10.9 fantasy points per game and is the QB30 in overall scoring. He’s thrown one touchdown pass while throwing four interceptions. In two games, he is already halfway to his interception total (eight) from a year ago in 17 games.

Part of the slow start can be attributed to tough matchups against some of the best pass defenses the league offers. The Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers both rank inside the top six in the fewest passing yards and passing touchdowns allowed heading into Week 3.

As a result, both teams have allowed, on average, less than 10.5 fantasy points per game to the quarterback position.

Maye will face a Jaguars defense that has allowed the third-most 20-plus-yard completions (eight), the fifth-highest completion percentage (71.7%), and the 11th-most passing yards (493) through two games.

Smoother seas are ahead for the MVP runner-up, and he will eventually be getting his WR1 back over that stretch.

Maye is still a very talented quarterback and still has it in him to finish as a top fantasy quarterback down the stretch. His fantasy production could boom when A.J. Brown finally returns.

Verdict: Hold in all league formats

Quinshon Judkins, RB, Cleveland Browns

It has been a rough start for Quinshon Judkins on the ground this year. He’s yet to rush for 35-plus yards, find the end zone, or score double-digit fantasy points, while averaging 2.25 yards per carry.

As a result, he is RB29 in overall PPR scoring and is averaging 8.4 points per game. If it weren’t for five catches for 27 yards in Week 2, his average scoring would drop to 4.55 points.

The 22-year-old is coming off a severe leg injury that consisted of a dislocated ankle and fractured fibula, and is around eight months removed from his injury. Judkins may have returned to play, but it's obvious he hasn’t returned to his level of performance.

The former National Champion is known for his power and explosiveness when running the ball, and it could take a while for him to get back to that level.

QUINSHON JUDKINS WITH A GROWN MAN TOUCHDOWN 😮‍💨

STIFF ARM 💪 pic.twitter.com/KGqtbCPRZ2

— ESPN (@espn) January 21, 2025

It's worth noting that Tony Pollard is a fair player to look at after his fibula break to make projections for Judkins.

Pollard saw his yards per carry dip from 5.2 to 4.0, his longest carry drop from 57 to 31, and his fantasy points per game slip from 15.5 PPR points to 13.1 PPR points the following year after his leg injury, despite getting 59 more carries the following season.

"I would say it's a night and day difference,” Pollard told Cowboys reporter Michael Gehlken in late December the season after his leg injury. “You think you're good. You think you're all the way back until you're actually out there making plays, full speed, feeling it. Once you get a feel for it and get your feet under you, then you start to realize, 'Oh, so I may have lost a little right there.' But I'm picking it back up."

It took Pollard half a season to start feeling like himself again, and he was even playing in one of the league's best offenses that season.

Unfortunately, Judkins finds himself in a lesser offense than Pollard overall, with similar injuries. The time to trade Judkins is now while he has some perceived value and is still viewed as a reliable fantasy option by most fantasy managers.

If Judkins has a couple more clunker performances, it could tank his value and make him an untradable asset.

Verdict: Sell in 12-team leagues

George Pickens, WR, Dallas Cowboys

I wouldn’t have believed that I would become a George Pickens defender, but here we are heading into Week 3 of 2026. Pickens has scored 15.8 combined fantasy points after a disappointing get-right game against the Commanders' secondary last week.

It also doesn’t help Pickens that CeeDee Lamb has reminded everyone that he is the clear WR1 in Dallas and one of the league's best wideouts. Lamb’s the WR4 in overall scoring and averages 25.3 points per game through two games.

However, it's not time to hit the self-destruct button yet on Pickens in fantasy football. The 25-year-old remains the WR2 on an explosive offense with one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Dak Prescott.

George. Pickens.

📺: #DALvsCAR on FOX
📲: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/RmDxAeCG4M https://t.co/6ACWJTWeNa

— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) October 12, 2025

Additionally, the offense has struggled to run the ball to start the season, with Javonte Williams averaging under 40 rushing yards a game. The team has been reliant on the passing game to move the ball and likely will continue to.

Pickens fantasy value also got a massive boost with the team looking like the favorite to win the NFC East. One fear of drafting Pickens was the inability to land a long-term contract with the team. Some worried that if Dallas was out of the playoff race, Pickens would shut his season down to preserve his health to land a long-term contract next offseason.

The East is wide open with Jayden Daniels and Jaxson Dart suffering significant injuries while the Eagles have struggled to win games.

Pickens should still be viewed as a WR2 with league-winning fantasy upside. If Lamb were to miss any time, Pickens would become the WR1 again, and we’ve seen his fantasy production when that happened last year.

Verdict: Hold in all league formats

Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Arizona Cardinals

It is hard to believe we have reached this point in Marvin Harrison Jr.’s young career. He was viewed as a generation-wide receiver by those in the draft community and felt like a slam dunk pick when the Arizona Cardinals selected him fourth overall in 2024.

Touchdown Marvin Harrison Jr.!

AZvsDAL on ESPN/ABC
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App pic.twitter.com/ynWZv7e2ci

— NFL (@NFL) November 4, 2025

Each offseason, it feels like Harrison has been the poster boy for the next breakout receiver to become a fantasy WR1. However, through two games, he has caught one of his four targets for 33 yards.

Here we are on the Harrison experience, feeling at rock bottom.

In his 28 games with at least a 50% snap share, he averages 11.6 PPR points per game. In 46% of those games, he has scored less than 8 PPR points, while scoring 15-plus PPR points 36% of the time. Additionally, he has missed or left games below a 50% snap share eight times.

Frankly, if his name wasn’t Marvin Harrison Jr., he would have been droppable a long time ago. However, it is his name, and he was one of the best receiving prospects ever to enter the draft.

It’s rare for the whole draft community to be this wrong on a highly touted receiver prospect, as Harrison appears to be the first they’ve even been wrong on. Harrison was viewed in a similar tier as Ja'Marr Chase, Julio Jones, and Calvin Johnson coming out of school, and those three have their gold jacket or will have one when they’re Hall of Fame eligible.

A change of scenery is the only way Harrison has a chance at resurrecting his career at this point.

The 24-year-old has come up in trade speculation after his quiet start to the season, and executives around the league have begun to wonder if he could be on the move before this year's trade deadline, according to ESPN reports.

If Harrison were to be traded to a contender before the deadline, it would instantly boost his fantasy value.

It’s fun to imagine Harrison playing for the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans, or the Baltimore Ravens. All four teams could be looking to boost their receiver rooms in an attempt to make a Super Bowl run.

Verdict: Hold in 12-team leagues

Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Cleveland Browns

Another Cleveland Brown has landed on our list: Harold Fannin Jr. While the Browns are 1-1 to start the year, the two highest-drafted Browns have struggled.

Fannin was drafted as a top-5 tight end in most fantasy drafts, but so far he has given TE21 production. Through two games, he has 14.5 total fantasy points and hasn't finished as a TE1 this year.

In 18 games, Fannin looks to be a “PPR Merchant,” with his fantasy production relying on passing volume. As a rookie, 38.6% of Fannin’s fantasy points were off his catches alone.

HAROLD FOR SIX!!!!

Harold Fannin Jr. crosses the Pond to score his first career NFL touchdown!!!!

📺 NFL Network #FalconsInTheNFL pic.twitter.com/Rlw22ogTBt

— BGSU Football (@BG_Football) October 5, 2025

The Browns used two premium draft picks on receivers in the 2026 NFL Draft. Denzel Boston has been one of the league's best receivers to start the year, and KC Concepcion is one of the league's most explosive pass-catchers.

Fannin has become the No. 3 option in the passing game, which becomes an issue for a volume-reliant tight end. Not to mention, the Browns still roster one of the league's worst quarterback rooms. Shaky quarterbacks can usually support only one fantasy-relevant player but rarely can produce two or three of them.

Similar to Judkins, fantasy managers should trade Fannin before his fantasy value completely bottoms out.

Verdict: Sell in 12-team leagues

More Fantasy Football Analysis