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Thankfully, Week 3 was a much more forgiving week for injury news than Week 2. That doesn’t mean you stay put with your existing roster though – unless you’re sitting pretty at 3-0 and you don’t have any of the players appearing on this list. If that's the case, I suppose you can stay with your existing roster as is.
For everyone else, here are this week’s players you can safely drop, and those that you may not necessarily be starting, but that are still worth holding onto (for the time being).
For a comprehensive list of all the players you should consider adding instead, check out our waiver wire columns at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and tight end, kicker, and now IDP!
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Droppable Players
Matt Breida (RB, MIA)
Let’s start this week’s column off by addressing the elephant in the room. A couple of weeks back I recommended holding onto Matt Breida, on the principle of talent. It’s entirely possible he is no longer the same player he once was, but that would be odd considering the Miami Dolphins used a fifth-round draft pick to trade for him…and that it was literally this offseason that it happened.
Regardless, the fact of the matter is that it does not look like the Dolphins are going away from feeding Myles Gaskin the ball. Here are Gaskin’s snap counts through the first three games: 39, 49, 46. For comparison, Breida’s: 14, 16, 11. Myles Gaskin played 75% of offensive snaps in Week 3, and Breida played 18. Add to that Jordan Howard vulturing all the rushing touchdowns and there's no reason to roster Breida.
Dion Lewis (RB, NYG)
If you rushed to pick up Dion Lewis after news broke that Saquon Barkley would be out for the remainder of the season, you likely weren’t alone (sheepishly raises hand). I was optimistic Lewis would hold value due to his ability to catch passes out of the backfield, but this week I was reminded of just how bad the New York Giants are.
If Barkley and his tree-trunk legs couldn’t get anything going prior to him going down, there is very little reason to believe any Giants back is worth rostering. Not much else analysis is needed for this one.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling (WR, GB)
Marquez Valdes-Scantling occasionally teases what he can do on the football field, but it’s far and few between. On prime time during Sunday Night Football, he had the chance to ball out in the absence of All-Pro wideout Davante Adams, but instead, Allen Lazard did the balling. Supposedly, Adams was a game-time call for Week 3, so if in fact that was true, it means he has a good chance of coming back in Week 4, rendering Valdes-Scantling droppable.
Benny Snell (RB, PIT)
As of this writing, Benny Snell is still currently rostered in 31% of Yahoo leagues, so he just makes the cut to be featured on this list. After a (surprising) opening-week performance where he rushed for 113 yards on 19 carries, many thought this meant bad news for James Conner. Instead, the lines for Snell’s next two weeks look like this: three carries for five yards, seven carries for 11 yards.
The fact that he continues to lose touches to the number three and four backs on the roster along with the possible emergence of rookie Anthony McFarland Jr. tells the story. Add in his overall PFF grade of 46.3 and a fumble in Week 2 that may have cost him trust from the coaching staff and that is all you need to know.
Hold For Now
A.J. Green (WR, CIN)
It feels weird talking about AJ Green as a drop candidate, but here we are. After a lost year due to injuries, Green is back and appears healthy, but he certainly doesn’t look like the same player we are accustomed to seeing. During his absence, we saw Tyler Boyd emerge as a playmaker for the Bengals, and it still looks like he is the receiver to own in Cincinnati. Last week, Tee Higgins came up with a big game in his third NFL contest, which may further hurt Green's market share. Although this may be the case, and Green's numbers are down the board, the reason to hold hope that he will turn the page is his number of targets through the first three games.
Green has seen 28 targets, good for fifth in the league. And though he only produced 36 yards on Sunday, he did catch five balls, and he played the most snaps he has thus far – 76% of the snaps. It’s hard to say whether the injuries have slowed him down, his age is catching up to him, that he is still rounding into form after being out all of last year, or that he and Joe Burrow are still getting acclimated playing with each other – after all, there was no preseason, and Burrow is a rookie. There’s a chance Green turns things around. Don’t give up on him just yet.
Preston Williams (WR, MIA)
The lack of production from Preston Williams through the first three games is certainly alarming. After last year’s play as a rookie, there was excitement going into year two. So far, it hasn’t materialized. There is hope, however. While his snap percentage took a dip from weeks two to three (81% to 57%), he still leads the team in total number of snap counts played.
Also, when you look at the upcoming Dolphins’ schedule, potential shootouts are on the horizon – possibly as early as this week when they face the Seattle Seahawks. I don’t expect Williams to be a consistent fantasy contributor, but he can be nice depth to have in the case of a starter going down.
Evan Engram (TE, NYG)
It’s hard trusting anyone in the abysmal New York Giants offense, but if there is one player you can *somewhat* feel good about turning the corner, it’s Evan Engram. Yes, he has soundly disappointed during the first three games, but targets are up for the taking with Saquon Barkley and Sterling Shepard out with injuries.
At the moment, Darius Slayton has seen the most targets, but it is only two more than what Engram has seen (20), and Engram is eight targets ahead of the next guy, Golden Tate. In terms of snap percentage, not counting Daniel Jones, Engram leads the team at 91% of snaps played. Speaking of Jones, for any chance that Engram does become the fantasy Rockstar we know he can be, he is going to need to play much better. And for that to happen, the offensive line will have to do a much better job protecting Jones.
A few things have to happen for Engram to be someone you can regularly depend on, but he is the type of player that can make you regret dropping him if you overreact too soon. Until further notice, don’t start him but keep hanging on.
Malcolm Brown (RB, LAR)
If you read the first installment of this year’s Cut List, you might recall that despite Darrell Henderson being a young, exciting player, I recommended cutting him based on early usage. You might also recall that I suggested Malcolm Brown being the starter may not be a permanent thing. Well, all that was said when it was a three-man rotation – funny how quickly analysis can change.
Since Cam Akers' injury, that opened the door for young and exciting Darrell Henderson to take the reins. And it appears that he has. While Henderson’s snap and touch counts have risen, Brown’s have gone down (21-7 touch count). Things aren’t looking good right now for Brown, but it’s too soon to throw in the towel. He is another injury away from fantasy relevancy once more, and week one showed what he is capable of producing. Give it a few more weeks to see how things shake out.
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