Week 17 Fantasy Football QB and TE Droppables: Should you drop Tua Tagovailoa, Trevor Lawrence, Sam Howell, and Dalton Kincaid?

The fantasy playoffs are finally here! And that makes waiver moves even more important than ever as we get into a potential one-and-done situation. But in order to make adds, you need to drop someone. And that isn’t a decision you should take lightly. We’ve all made drops we’ve come to regret.

With our decisions this week, you need to be thinking "will I actually start this guy in the fantasy playoffs?". If the answer is no, then you probably don't need to keep him on your roster.

As we do every week, let’s take a look at some of the most widely dropped quarterbacks and tight ends for Week 17 and decide if they’re actually drop-worthy. 

As always, check out the fantasy assistant for personalized waiver wire recommendations and team analysis. Make moves based on projections, strengths and weaknesses, waiver alerts, and lots more.

Week 17 Fantasy Football Droppables

Tua Tagovailoa

While Tua was a fantasy god earlier in the season, he's since fallen off in a big way. He hasn't hit 20 fantasy points since Week 9, he hasn't thrown more than two touchdowns since Week 8, and he has only thrown two total touchdowns in his last three games. And even worse, his highest score over those last three games was 15 this past weekend. That's just not what you want to see in the fantasy playoffs. He'll now face a really good Ravens defense this weekend, and that's a matchup you can't feel good about if you're still alive. It was a fun start to the season, but Tua is just using up a valuable roster spot at this point. 

Verdict: Drop

Sam Howell, Washington Commanders

Howell was a top-10 (and top-5) fantasy quarterback for a while, but he's been absolutely awful as of late and looks like he may have lost his starting job this past weekend. Jacoby Brissette has come on in relief of Howell for two straight games, and Howell just followed up a 102-passing yard Week 15 stinker with a -1.76 point Week 16 stinker. Almost impressively bad. Even if Ron Rivera somehow makes the wrong decision and goes back to Howell against the 49ers, you can't even think about going with him at this point. 

Verdict: Drop

Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars

Lawrence has seemingly overcome 15 injuries over the past three or four weeks, but I think the wheels may have finally fallen off with his lastest injury (to his shoulder). Even if the currently questionable Lawrence is able to suit up against the Panthers, that's a sneaky bad matchup, and he's looked off over his last couple of games anyway (potentially due to his concussion from Week 15). I don't love the idea of just dropping Lawrence, but he's just way too risky to take a risk on at this point in the fantasy season. 

Verdict: Drop

Dalton Kincaid, TE, Buffalo Bills

Kincaid is another one who I hate to just drop, but he's too tempting to play at this point -- and he's not helping anyone's fantasy roster at this point. The rookie is going to be a really good fantasy asset during his career (probably as soon as next year), but he's not cutting it right now. He's only seen four total targets over his last two games and has just one catch during that span. While Kincaid is really temping to keep in your lineup (and play) based on his output from earlier in the season, he's entirely too risky to use right now. Cut him to help resist the temptation. 

Verdict: Drop

Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Otton has been useful at points this season (including in DFS), but he's not useful right now. He's seen just three total targets over his last two games and has just one touchdown since Week 10. While the tight end position is barren and volatile, Otton isn't well-positioned to pop against the Saints this week. He was able to find the end zone against them in Week 3, but they also held him to just three catches for 14 yards on three targets. If he puts up that type of production against them this week without the touchdown, you're out of luck. And his recent usage points to him being a lot less likely to see valuable red zone targets right now. 

Verdict: Drop

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