Week 5 Fantasy Football Drop Candidates: Aaron Rodgers, Carson Steele, Gabe Davis, Mark Andrews and More

Quarterbacks

Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets

We've been telling you for months not to buy into the hype of Old Man Rodgers and the mediocre Jets' offense. All they have done is prove us right week after week. It's time to look past his name and reputation and see Rogders for who he really is today - just another subpar Jets quarterback on a long list of them. 

Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

Everyone had accepted that Herbert was going to be part of a run-heavy offense this season and that he didn't have great weapons to throw to. Not only has it been even worse than expected, but they keep running him out there on a sprained ankle. That has worked out just about as well as you'd expect.

In Week 4, he threw for a season-high 179 yards, which is the first time he's cleared 150 yards all year. With a bye coming up in Week 5, there is no reason to hold out hope that Herbert can turn things around this season. 

Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

Lawrence just isn't very good. You can blame him or you can blame the coaches, but either way, he's not worth rostering on your fantasy team. This was his best fantasy week of the year with just 169 yards and two TDs. It's time to accept that the quarterback touted as the best NFL prospect since Andrew Luck isn't going to pan out like we all projected. That may become a theme of this article later on.  

Running Backs

Carson Steele, Kansas City Chiefs

Steele got the start in Week 4 and fumbled the ball. That was the end of him. The team then turned to Kareem Hunt, who ended up out-carrying Steele 14-2 and out-snapping him 28-11. Samaje Perine also saw five carries and 25 snaps.

To make matters worse, Clyde Edwards-Helaire is eligible to return this week and would likely jump Steele on the depth chart as well. Steele may go from being the starter in Week 4 to off the roster in the coming weeks if Isiah Pacheco is able to come back healthy. 

Cam Akers, Houston Texans

Akers got a shot at the starting job the past two weeks with both Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce sidelined by injury. It sounds like Mixon's return is imminent, which would relegate Akers to a distant backup job.

Even if Mixon were to miss another game, Akers has been generally unproductive with his opportunity. There is no way you can trust him this week, and with Mixon returning soon, he's no longer worth a speculative roster spot. 

Wide Receivers 

Gabe Davis, Jacksonville Jaguars

With all the injuries and bye weeks entering Week 5, there aren't a ton of wideouts we are looking to cut this week. However, we are done with Davis. At best he's the WR3 in Jacksonville, and with Evan Engram returning soon, he'll be the fifth option in the passing attack when you include the tight end and running back.

We already mentioned how Lawrence has been an underachiever, so we don't see any reason to hold Davis. Sure, there's a chance he has a big week or two, but they'll be impossible to predict and few and far between. 

Tight Ends

Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens

We aren't excited to drop Andrews from our rosters, however, it's time for us to have a difficult conversation and discuss what may be our new reality. Through four games, he has a total of six receptions on nine targets for 65 yards and zero TDs. That includes back-to-back zero-point fantasy games over the past two weeks in which he dropped his only target in both.

At some point, we have to accept that he's just not the player he once was and understand that it's time to move on. Is that time this week? We aren't completely sure. Different owners will pull the trigger faster than others, but surely he'll be hitting waiver wires in some leagues this week. We expect that number to increase as time goes on more than expect him to turn it around. 

Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons

This conversation isn't all that much easier than the one we just had about Andrews. It wasn't that long ago that Pitts was one of, if not the best rookie tight end prospects in NFL history finishing up a 1,000-plus yard rookie season. It's been all downhill since then.

We have made an infinite amount of excuses for Pitts because it's hard to accept we could have all been so wrong about him. That may just be the case though. Fantasy owners bought in on Pitts again this year after the team picked up Kirk Cousins. Now that he finally has a quarterback, we should all get the guy we thought we had been drafting the past two years.

In 2024, he has just eight receptions on 15 targets for 105 yards and one TD. He's also coming off a zero-catch week. It may be time to simply move on from Pitts and stop holding on to what could have been.