Week 2 Fantasy Football Droppables

Making moves on the waiver wire this week? You can safely drop these players.

Early in the week, the fantasy football community is focused on the waiver wire. Of course, to pick up one player, you must drop another. This column covers the other side of that transaction. Get acquainted with our Week 2 Droppables.

Ronald Jones, RB, Buccaneers

It isn’t often you’ll be comfortable dropping a rookie running back who was a second-round pick, but there are exceptions to nearly every rule. Jones was a healthy scratch in Week 1 after having arguably the worst summer of any player in the league. Jones seemed a likely bet to the be the starter in Tampa as recently as a month ago, but he is now figuratively miles behind Peyton Barber on the depth chart. If you’re looking to make a move for a running back such as Phillip Lindsay or T.J. Yeldon, you should have no qualms over letting Jones go.

Josh Doctson, WR, Redskins

Chris Thompson led the Redskins in Week 1 with seven targets. Newcomer Paul Richardson got six, including a couple deep down the field. Jordan Reed got five looks from Alex Smith, and looked healthy while doing so. Jamison Crowder was on the receiving end of just four targets, but his role in the offense is unimpeachable. Then there was Doctson, who got just three targets, catching one for 11 yards. Alex Smith looked great in his Washington debut, completing 21 of 30 attempts for 255 yards, 8.5 yards per attempt and two touchdowns, but this offense isn’t going to support more than three or 3.5 fantasy-relevant pass catchers. Doctson appears to be the odd man out.

Ty Montgomery, RB, Packers

If Montgomery is going to carve out a consistent role in Green Bay’s offense, it likely has to come before Aaron Jones returns from his suspension. Well, one of those two games is gone, and Montgomery is no closer to fantasy relevance. In fact, his prospects look bleaker than they did before the team’s 24-23 Week 1 win over the Bears. He got just two carries and three targets, totaling 28 yards from scrimmage. Jamaal Williams got 15 carries and two targets, and Geronimo Allison looked like a legitimate threat in the passing game, emerging alongside Davante Adams and Randall Cobb. Even in an offense led by Aaron Rodgers, there are only so many touches to go around. Montgomery doesn’t seem to be in line for enough of them to stick on the fantasy radar.

Week 2 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire

Cameron Meredith, WR, Saints

Ronald Jones wasn’t the only notable healthy scratch in the Buccaneers-Saints game. Meredith was inactive, too, landing him behind the likes of Austin Carr, Tre’Quan Smith and Tommylee Lewis on the depth chart. Meredith may have more talent than some or all of those three, but if he’s already in this deep a hole, it’s hard to envision him playing his way into fantasy relevance. The Saints have one of the most explosive offenses in the league, but the usage tree isn’t all that wide beyond Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara and, when he returns, Mark Ingram. There’s no reason for Meredith to have a safe spot on your roster after Week 1.

Allen Hurns, WR, Cowboys

The Cowboys won’t be the last team to struggle offensively against the Panthers, especially in Charlotte, but they looked lifeless in Week 1. They scored all of eight points and totaled 232 yards, with the passing game looking particularly ugly. Dak Prescott completed nearly two-thirds of his passes, but threw for just 170 yards and 5.86 YPA. Hurns was one the receiving end of just one of those passes, and it’s hard to determine if that or his three targets was the more discouraging number. Dallas was always going to have a low-volume passing game this year, but there was at least some hope that Hurns would corner a huge share of that volume. With that now looking unlikely, he’s easy to drop.

Notable Omissions

Tyrell Williams, WR, Chargers

Williams caught two passes for eight yards last week while Mike Williams pulled down five for 81, but the former got just one fewer target and scored a touchdown. It’s far too early to say that the younger Williams is the team’s No. 2 receiver, and it’s worth noting that Philip Rivers attempted 51 passes and racked up 424 yards and 8.31 YPA.

Giovani Bernard, RB, Bengals

Yeah, it sure looks like Joe Mixon is going to be a workhorse for the Bengals this year. Still, we know what kind of player Bernard can be if Mixon goes down, and it remains possible that he carves out a role that makes him valuable when the bye-week portion of the schedule hits. It’d be premature to drop him at this point of the season.

Aaron Rodgers’ Magic Caps a Wild First Sunday

Anthony Miller, WR, Bears

Miller didn’t do much in his career debut, catching two of three targets for 14 yards. He was on the field for 55.7% of the Bears’ snaps, though, playing 11 more snaps than Tarik Cohen. There will be better days for Chicago’s offense ahead, and there’s also a legitimate chance that Green Bay rates among the league’s best pass defenses this year after all the investments the team made in the secondary during the offseason.

Nick Chubb, RB, Browns

Chubb got just three carries in the Browns’ Week 1 tie with the Steelers, but Carlos Hyde was mostly unimpressive on 22 totes. The fact that Hyde dominated the workload so thoroughly doesn’t bode well, but the coaching staff may want to see more of the rookie after the veteran picked up just 62 yards on his 22 carries.