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John 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 these players in redraft and dynasty leagues?
Sometimes, it's best to bite the bullet and cut bait with underperforming players in fantasy football. Being tempted to put them in your starting lineup, even for upcoming matchups that may look easy on paper, can put you in a hole and make it difficult to win your fantasy games in your leagues.
The worst possible player to have on your roster is someone you feel like you need to start, and they consistently let you down.
So, which players should you sell low or drop, and which should you hang onto for better days in fantasy football in 2026? Let's dive in.
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Hold: Kyle Pitts Sr., TE, Atlanta Falcons
It wouldn't make much sense to sell Pitts right now -- his value has taken a major hit as the Falcons offense has floundered.
His starting quarterback, Michael Penix Jr. (knee), is set to return on Thursday night as the starter, meaning the former Florida tight end has a chance of having a solid game. He was one of the better tight ends in fantasy football last season, and his 51.1-point outing in Week 15 was the best of the season of any player at his position by far.
— Performances (@NotPerformances) December 12, 2025
It was against possibly the second-worst defense at stopping tight ends in the NFL, but it was still notable. The quarterback play of Cooper Rush and Jack Strand has just been unacceptable, though. Penix should right the ship to some degree. Penix should provide mid-end TE1 upside once this offense begins to click.
Hold: Drake London, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Now is simply not the time to trade London away. He's one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, even if the stat sheet isn't showing it right now. Even the best of NFL wideouts can be completely nerfed by poor quarterback play. As described in the section about Pitts, the Falcons have had arguably the worst QB play in the NFL so far.
Penix is returning as the starter, and the connection between him and London flourished last season. London had multiple games with 30 or more PPR fantasy points, which just doesn't happen often. He was a sure-fire top-5 wideout in fantasy football before he got injured.
3 Minutes of @DrakeLondon_ jump balls#DirtyBirds https://t.co/eTBsfsQKRz pic.twitter.com/yBzjquRwWD
— 𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙈𝙪𝙨𝙚 (@ATLFalconsMuse) January 23, 2026
Penix finally added a crucial element to London's game: the ability to "Moss" defenders, or simply leap over them to make spectacular catches in tight coverage. A big-bodied pass-catcher like London with requisite athleticism can see his fantasy ceiling explode when he finally starts getting this type of usage.
Your best bet is to ignore the first two weeks and keep London in your starting lineup. Depending on the league, you might even be able to swing a good deal when trying to buy him.
Sell Low: Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield's career has been one of the more inconsistent of the "franchise" quarterbacks in the NFL right now. An upstart 2023 campaign was followed by one of Mayfield's best seasons in the NFL in 2024, when he threw for 4,500 yards, a whopping 41 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions, and added three scores on the ground.
It's now obvious that current Jacksonville Jaguars head coach and former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen deserves much of the credit for that monster season. He's helped turn around the career of Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, while Mayfield hasn't been nearly the same since.
Bottom of the QBR rankings through two weeks:
27th: Baker Mayfield (45.4)
28th: Malik Willis (43.4)
29th: Bo Nix (40.7)
30th: Aaron Rodgers (31.7)
31st: Justin Herbert (29.3)
32nd: Cooper Rush (5.2) pic.twitter.com/789b7jejSn— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) September 22, 2026
A more sinister reason No. 6's play isn't the same as it was may be his willingness to play through serious injuries. He picked up an ailment in his throwing shoulder last season, and the offense suffered greatly. Four straight games under 200 passing yards near the end of the season indicate some kind of problem.
He's averaging under 200 passing yards per game through two contests, and the once-potent offense has fallen completely flat. He's also only thrown for one touchdown. The elite arm strength he used to have appears to have faded markedly.
Baker vs Browns ALL 22. Missing open reads and making it way too hard on himself. Lots of overthrows.
Just bad QB Play, can't imagine paying someone 165 Million Dollars and then have to watch this 😂 pic.twitter.com/42eDnfTH3S
— Brutal (@BrutalAsBucs) September 22, 2026
Even some of the strongest-armed QBs in NFL history have lost their juice thanks to injuries. Former Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton is an example. Mayfield has had an offseason to recover, but NFL players often suffer and then play through lifelong injuries that never fully heal. Then the wheels fall off the wagon.
Managers relying on Baker as their QB1 should consider pivoting to streaming options that have far more upside in redraft leagues. He is seeing his value continue to drop in dynasty formats, making him a worthy "sell-low"
Sell Low: Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
The 2024 NFL Offensive Player of the Year campaign Barkley went on wouldn't have been possible without the help of one of the best offensive line performances in NFL history. The Eagles offensive line that year was absolutely dominant, and it showed all over film.
Since then, it's regressed markedly. Last season, it was easy to blame the offensive struggles on offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. He's gone now, and the run game hasn't gone much of anywhere in his absence. The only thing that's working on the ground for Philly is the rushing effort of quarterback Jalen Hurts.
After being afforded a very low yards before contact last last season, Saquon Barkley had a 2nd percentile yards before contact per attempt in Week 1. This week would rank 2,729 of 2,785 qualifying games, per @SumerSports pic.twitter.com/UILivxltGM
— Shawn Syed (@SyedSchemes) September 14, 2026
A shadow of its former self is an understatement when describing the Eagles' run-blocking this season. Barkley has some of the worst yards-before-contact metrics in NFL history so far, as you can see from the above post.
This isn't a problem that's likely to fix itself soon. Instead, it may take multiple years for the Eagles to draft and sign enough offensive linemen to get back to being one of the better run-blocking units in the NFL. The age cliff comes hard for running backs, too. Barkley is almost 30, and RBs don't tend to produce much a few years beyond that.
Cutting bait with him now in dynasty fantasy football leagues makes sense. There may be fantasy managers expecting him to get closer to his 2024 production at least once more before his retirement.
For redraft leagues, he is a viable hold, but his ceiling is much lower than anticipated. Managers should consider selling after a productive week.
Sell Low: Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
The WR1 in Jacksonville is unequivocally Parker Washington. Shout-out to all the fantasy analysts that pointed out that the Liam Coen offense runs through the slot receiver. Washington is that guy, and Coen, the head coach and offensive guru for the Jaguars, is letting everyone know it.
Thomas, unfortunately, has been relegated to running a high rate of deep "clearout" routes, which pull defensive backs deep down the field to help open up the short and intermediate areas more for Washington. It's worked well so far.
3 Minutes of @DrakeLondon_ jump balls#DirtyBirds https://t.co/eTBsfsQKRz pic.twitter.com/yBzjquRwWD
— 𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙈𝙪𝙨𝙚 (@ATLFalconsMuse) January 23, 2026
Thomas is still involved in the offense, but this is like 2024, when we saw Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin Jr. play like the best wideout in the NFL thanks to the Liam Coen slot role. Thomas still has the potential for a few big games down the stretch, but it may be better to sell him to someone who believes in him more than Coen does.
His weekly production could be very inconsistent, which makes him tough to trust in redraft leagues, and his situation makes him a volatile asset in dynasty leagues.
Deeper Selections
This section spotlights players rostered on benches in deeper dynasty leagues
Drop: Jahan Dotson, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Dotson has never ranked higher than the WR50 in PPR fantasy football leagues in his career. Yet, he sticks around on dynasty rosters because he is still 26 years old, and many fantasy managers imagine him taking on a bigger role if or when the guys ahead of him on the depth chart get injured.
The only role that would make him fantasy startable may be one that no NFL team would be willing to give a player of his talent level. Forcing targets to him doesn't make much sense. He's a good camp body and fourth- or fifth-string wideout, but has logged double-digit PPR fantasy point outings just twice in the past two seasons.
I actually laughed out loud dude pic.twitter.com/6Koxqc7HAk
— Not Bijan (@InBijanWeTrust) September 20, 2026
It's plays like the one above that give us hope that he'll eventually become a thing. But he had one touchdown in 2024 and 2025 combined, so if that play had gone for a long score, it would have been something we may not see for the rest of the season.
There are, of course, dynasty leagues with very deep benches that have space for players like Dotson. However, expecting him to ever be worth starting for multiple games in a row is just unreasonable.
Drop: Sean Tucker, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tucker is just 24 years old, but he's little more than a roster clogger at this point in his career. The Buccaneers brought in running back Kenny Gainwell to take over his RB2 spot. Without injuries to two of the players ahead of him on the depth chart, Tucker is unlikely to produce anything meaningful moving forward.
He had a few bright moments with the Bucs, but they were aberrations compared to his production in other games. Two contests with over 34 PPR fantasy points are surrounded by a sea of goose eggs or scores in the single digits. Interestingly, aside from those two outings, he has zero double-digit PPR points.
Sean Tucker 36-yard catch-and-run for his 1st career TD!
📺: #TBvsNO on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/89uZ2hE01c— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024
His monster game against the New Orleans Saints in 2024 came against a struggling Saints defense, with the other coming against the Buffalo Bills last season.
Tucker seems likely to be cut and bounce around NFL teams in a year or two before those teams collectively lose interest and move on to incoming talent from rookie draft classes.
