Read The Athletic’s latest fantasy football drops advice.
As the 2023 fantasy football campaign nears the halfway point, fantasy managers have problems. On top of issues. On top of dilemmas.
It’s not bad enough that we already had a pile of injured stars, including the likes of Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson. No, we had to add to the pile. San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey. Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams. Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery. Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields. All went down in Week 6 with injuries that could cost them time.
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On top of that, in their infinite wisdom, the NFL scheduled six teams to be off in Week 7. The Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, New York Jets and Tennessee Titans are all off. No Joe Mixon. Or CeeDee Lamb. Or Garrett Wilson. Or Derrick Henry.
Are we having fun yet?
But wait! There’s more! As if that’s not enough grief for frazzled fantasy managers banging Fireball shots while they try to decide which waiver schmuck to start on their 2-4 team, we also have to deal with guys who have had a full month and a half to give us a reason to keep rostering them.
For some of them, it’s moving day. Ya can’t start ‘em, and ya can’t afford to clog up a roster spot with the Byepocalypse approaching. Some folks have got to go.
So let’s start handing out pink slips.
Rostered percentages courtesy of Yahoo.
Emari Demercado, RB, Arizona Cardinals (59 Percent – Droppable in 12-team leagues)
When James Conner went down against the Cincinnati Bengals two weeks ago, it was Demercado who stepped in as Arizona’s lead back, tallying 57 total yards and a touchdown on 11 touches. The youngster was a hot commodity on the waiver wire this past week, and Cardinals tackle Paris Johnson Jr. told the rookie that his teammates had the same confidence in him so many fantasy managers did.
“I told him, ‘You’re not here to be JC. You’re here to be Emari,'” Johnson told reporters. “‘That’s why they brought you in. You do you.’ We fully believe in the backs we have until JC gets back.”
As it turns out, Demercado doing Demercado against the Seattle Seahawks Rams in Week 6 wound up meaning a lot of the former TCU standout standing on the sideline watching the game. While Keaontay Ingram and veteran Damien Williams (who I could have sworn was working in a Home Depot three weeks ago) combined for 95 total yards on 21 touches, Demercado touched the ball three times and gained 17 yards.
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The high waiver claim or FAAB you spent on Demercado was wasted. Apparently. Demercado is Portuguese for disappointment.
Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Philadelphia Eagles (41 Percent – Droppable in 12-team leagues)
Throughout the summer, one of the most confusing backfields in all of the NFL was in Philadelphia, where Kenneth Gainwell, Rashaad Penny and D’Andre Swift were all vying for touches. And to be fair, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni didn’t make things easy on fantasy managers when asked how the backfield would shake out.
“You’re just looking for different things that they can do,” Sirianni said, via Zach Berman. “You always adapt to what your players do well, but also, there are some things that you want to be able to run. You want to be like, ‘All right, who can do this job well and who can do this job well and who can do this job well?’ Sometimes it’s the same person throughout, and sometimes it’s by committee.
There was a time when it looked like Gainwell might actually be in this — he led Philly’s backfield in carries in Week 1 (14) and nearly split the rushing work with Swift in Week 3 (Swift 16, Gainwell 14) after missing Week 2 with injury. But Swift has distanced himself from Gainwell in the three weeks since (59 to 17 touch advantage for Swift), and now Gainwell is on the side of a milk carton. Unless you’re holding him as insurance against a D’Andre Swift injury, Gainwell should be gone-well.
Come for the fantasy advice. Stay for the plays on words.
Tyler Boyd, WR, Cincinnati Bengals (48 percent – Droppable in shallow 12-team leagues)
Believe it or not, there was a time when Tyler Boyd was a 1,000-yard wideout and a valuable fantasy asset. But both he and the Bengals have struggled to get going this season, with the team ranking at the bottom of the AFC in total offense and Boyd averaging a career-low 6.8 yards per catch. The veteran wideout told reporters recently that doubters can have at it—but both player and team are going to be fine.
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“For me, I don’t care about the outsiders or the social media,” Boyd said on Wednesday. “I think it’s funny because 10 more weeks from now they’re gonna be all trying to be on our bandwagon and trying to be a part of what we overcame and going to start saying, ‘Yeah, I told you so. I knew you was gonna do this.’ but at the end of the day, we gotta do it, you know, regardless if they bandwagon or not… Everybody gonna say what they say. And, I mean, we’re not playing good football. We got to pick it up.”
The Bengals are winning, but Ja’Marr Chase is the only Cincy wideout putting up big fantasy numbers. Yes, Boyd has been targeted at least seven times in five of six games. And he’s coming off his best game of the season, catching seven passes last week and finding the end zone. But those seven catches went for 38 yards, he has more than 40 receiving yards in one game this season and he ranks just inside the Top 50 wideouts in PPR points for the season. In some leagues there are younger players available with more upside, and with Boyd headed into the bye, it’s time to take a look at them.
Jahan Dotson, WR, Washington Commanders (62 percent — Droppable in 12-team leagues)
After Dotson caught seven touchdown passes as a rookie, he was a trendy breakout pick in many fantasy circles. He wasn’t just going to be fantasy-relevant — he was going to be a star. Listen to what Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report had to say about Dotson in the long-ago days of July.
“Dotson showed some flashes as a rookie, but his WR52 finish in PPR points last season hasn’t exactly created a stampede to draft him in fantasy leagues,” he wrote. “Still, there’s a reason why the Commanders drafted the former Penn State standout 16th overall in 2022. If Sam Howell is close to the quarterback the Commanders hope he is, Dotson could be in for a major leap forward in his second season. In fact, there’s a non-zero chance that Dotson finishes with more PPR points than Terry McLaurin.”
What a dumbass. I ever meet that Davenport guy I’m gonna slap his stupid face on general principle.
Through six games this year, Dotson has tallied a whopping 17 catches for 140 yards and a score — numbers that land him 69th in PPR points among wideouts. Last week, he goose-egged on all of one target — a long pass he dropped. Not only should you drop Dotson, you should drop him, wait until he clears waivers, pick him up and then drop him again.
Not that I’m bitter or anything.
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Zach Ertz, TE, Arizona Cardinals (55 percent — Droppable in 12-team leagues)
There was a time not that long ago when it looked like Ertz would be a serviceable, albeit unspectacular fantasy tight end—over the first month of the season Ertz ranked 10th in PPR points at the position. As Darren Urban wrote for the team’s website earlier in the season, the 32-year-old said that he was enjoying the versatility of his role in the new offense.
“I like how I can be the ‘X’ receiver, I can be the in-line tight end, I can be the move guy,” Ertz said. “It’s the fun part of being a tight end. You kind of have to be able to do it all, and they are asking me to do it all right now.”
The problem with Ertz is that no matter where he lined up, the results have been the same — short passes. For the season, Ertz is averaging just seven yards a reception, and there have been two games this season where Ertz has averaged less than four yards a grab. If that’s not enough, in recent weeks youngster Trey McBride has eaten more into Ertz’s snaps and he has just two catches in each of the past two games. Ertz has dropped from TE10 to TE15, and over the last four weeks Ertz is TE17. Ertz isn’t a low-ceiling play. He’s a no-ceiling play.
(Top photo: Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
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