RADIO
Frankie Soler looks at highly-drafted fantasy football players that need to be benched if your team has enough depth, with the fantasy playoffs on the line.
Most leagues will be wrapping up their regular season in Week 13. For others, the playoffs have already begun. Whatever the case may be, this is very much in win-or-go-home territory.
There's no room for error in making lineup decisions. That's why you need to bail on underperforming "studs" if you haven't already. No reason to force yourself into playing someone just because you drafted them early. ADP started becoming meaningless weeks ago. It's ok to let go.
For example, Jordan Howard will be the first name I mention. Don't bench someone of that caliber for the likes of Corey Clement for the sake of benching Howard. You'd be hoping for a touchdown either way, so in that scenario, you're better off playing the more established player. Now on to the names.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
- Running back (RB) rankings
- Wide receiver (WR) rankings
- Quarterback (QB) rankings
- Tight end (TE) rankings
- Defense (D/ST) rankings
- Kicker (K) rankings
- FLEX rankings
- Dynasty rankings
Consider Benching Them This Week
One important thing to keep in mind is that you know your team better than anyone else. I'm about to rattle off some highly drafted names you shouldn't be starting, but don't bench anyone outright. Sometimes you just flat out need to play someone because you don't have better options.
Jordan Howard
As I mentioned, Howard is a fairly established running back. He was drafted as early as the second round. But if you're looking at his overall numbers for 2018, he is no longer a must-start. He hasn't scored double-digit fantasy points since Week 9. He has four outings with less than five points in standard scoring. Tarik Cohen is outplaying him by a significant margin. In fact, Cohen's numbers have practically made him a must-start flex. That's especially true in PPR where Cohen is second on the Bears in targets at 63, and second in receptions with 47. He's currently RB13 in that format.
You can safely bench Jordan Howard for the likes of Marlon Mack or Chris Carson, and I'd even go down as far as either Lions running back. Theo Riddick pads his stats with receptions, and LeGarrette Blount is getting enough work to score touchdowns more consistently (swap Kerryon Johnson in for Blount upon his return).
As someone who has zero shares of Allen Robinson this year, it hadn't dawned on me just how disappointing he's been until recently. Sitting way down at WR47 in PPR, Robinson has been wrecking owners this year. Robinson was a fourth/fifth round pick in drafts, and he's performing like a wasted late round flier. It's not entirely his fault as the Bears do spread the ball around quite a bit.
Despite being third on the team in targets, his actual target share is only 17%. You want that number to at least be in the low 20s to bump up fantasy production. Throw in the fact that it is much easier to replace a wide receiver as opposed to a running back and you're looking at an even broader scope of players worth starting over Robinson. Teammate and target leader Taylor Gabriel is a better option. I would go as far down as Christian Kirk, Mike Wallace, and Mohamed Sanu as well.
If you simply look at Wentz's overall ADP, you wouldn't think he's been a huge bust. But within the context of the quarterback position, he's been extremely disappointing. Wentz's ADP puts him at about the seventh quarterback off the board. Now, we have to remember that he did miss the first two games of the season as part of his ACL rehab, but his numbers have been subpar all year. He's averaged 17.2 fantasy points amongst the games he's played. Andrew Luck, who was drafted as QB9, is averaging a full four points more at 21.9.
It's not all tied to Wentz either. The quarterback position is insanely deep. It's a position you could stream the entire year. I can't imagine you'd be hard pressed to find a better option even this late into the season. Give me Lamar Jackson against the Falcons this week. Or Jameis Winston for as long as he's Tampa Bay's starter. Can't start Dak Prescott since he's played already, but I'd use him against the Eagles in Week 14. A healthy Mitchell Trubisky would make the list. A red-hot Baker Mayfield is enticing. Point is, there are plenty of other quarterbacks who have excelled way more than Wentz this year.
I sincerely hope you already bailed on LeSean McCoy, but I'm putting his name here just in case you haven't. Honestly, I can't blame the player here. The Buffalo Bills are way too bad of a team to point the finger at any particular player. Both LeSean McCoy and Kelvin Benjamin have been ruined for fantasy purposes.
Scroll back up to the names I would sub in for Jordan Howard. It's the same list as far as I'm concerned. The only one I would remove is Blount because at least McCoy isn't in a timeshare. Both Howard and Blount are, so as bad as the Bills are, at least McCoy is less likely to have a touchdown opportunity taken away from him.
