Week 10 Fantasy Football Droppables: Time to Let Mike Williams Go

Mike Williams' touchdown dependency makes him a safe drop in all fantasy leagues.

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 10 Droppables.

As always, remember that these are not players you must drop. Specific league parameters, such as starting lineup requirements, roster size, and number of teams, will go a long way toward determining who should be dropped, and who should be kept. Droppables, then, can still be roster-worthy, but no longer deserve a guaranteed spot on a roster in most leagues.

Mike Williams, WR, Chargers

Williams scored his fifth touchdown of the season on Sunday, but it was his only catch in the Chargers’ 25-17 win over the Seahawks. He was also rather fortunate to get the score, as replay appeared to show him stepping out of bounds definitively before the call was upheld by the officials. Williams has had no more than five targets in game this season, and hasn't had more than three since September 23, when there was still a full week left in MLB’s regular season. Williams is getting by on a ridiculous touchdown rate, needing just 18 receptions and 32 targets to get his five scores. That cannot possibly hold up, even in an offense like the Chargers’.

Marquise Goodwin, WR, 49ers

Goodwin is having a season in San Francisco that mirrors the one Williams is having in Los Angeles. Despite just 13 receptions and 27 targets, Goodwin has four touchdowns, and that has masked how ineffective he has been in fantasy leagues. It certainly isn’t his fault, with the 49ers forced to play three different quarterbacks due to injuries to Jimmy Garoppolo and C.J. Beathard, but it is Goodwin’s unfortunate reality. Like Williams, he isn’t getting much opportunity, topping four targets in a game just twice this season. In his last two games, he has two catches on eight targets, though one of those did go for a 55-yard touchdown. Still, there just isn’t a foundation here that makes Goodwin fantasy-relevant.

Randall Cobb, WR, Packers

Cobb is a more aggressive drop than Williams or Goodwin for a few reasons. First, he has 11 targets in two games since returning from a hamstring injury, and has 38 targets in five games this season. Second, he plays with Aaron Rodgers, who always supports at least two fantasy-relevant receivers when he’s healthy. Unfortunately for Cobb, it appears that second receiver—alongside Davante Adams—is Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Cobb got six targets in Green Bay’s 31-17 loss to New England in Week 9, catching five of them for just 24 yards. Valdes-Scantling, meanwhile, got the same number of looks, hauling in three for 101 yards. He’s a more dangerous receiver on a team that’s desperate for playmakers who can get separation out wide. That simply isn’t a strength of Cobb’s, and it makes him expendable in all fantasy formats.

Nelson Agholor, WR, Eagles

We had Agholor as a drop before the Eagles traded for Golden Tate. With the former Lion on board, it’s hard to see Agholor as anything more than the fourth option in the passing game. His volume was already suffering with Zach Ertz and Alshon Jeffery dominating target share, and Tate will likely take over as the team’s primary slot receiver, forcing Agholor out wide where he isn’t nearly as good. There was little to like about him from a fantasy perspective before the team acquired Tate, and there’s nothing to like about him now.

Royce Freeman, RB, Broncos

Freeman missed his second straight game in Week 9 because of an ankle injury, leaving the backfield in the more-than-capable hands of Phillip Lindsay. The Texans held Lindsay in check, limiting him to 60 yards on 17 carries in their 19-17 win, and the undrafted rookie out of Colorado also caught two of three targets for 24 yards. No matter his exact performance in Week 9, though, the writing is on the wall. Lindsay took control of this backfield in September, and has been the better back all season long. Freeman will have a role when he returns, which could be after Denver’s Week 10 bye, but it won’t be one that has him on the fantasy radar in any but the deepest of leagues.