Should You Add Xavier Legette, Antonio Gibson, Tre Tucker, Other Dropped Fantasy Football Players?

Oftentimes, the best pickup of a fantasy football season isn’t a player who went undrafted. Instead, it’s someone who was originally selected (or scooped off the waiver wire early) but later dropped by an impatient manager after a bad week or two. It’s important to keep an eye on players being dropped in your leagues, but sometimes valuable players can slip through the cracks.

Luckily, the Fantasy Assistant is here to help. The Fantasy Assistant uses Predictive Analytics to calculate Expected Drop Interest (EDI) for every player each week. EDI is an estimation of the percentage of leagues in which a player will be or has been dropped each week. If you sync your fantasy league, you will be able to see which of those players have become available in your particular league. Here are this week’s leaders in EDI:

    

This week’s top dropped players are actually very exciting. We’ve got multiple players who fit the ideal mold as high-upside options who managers are giving up on after a disappointing week. Of course, there are also a few players who are still best left to waivers. Let’s break them down one at a time. 

RB Trey Sermon, Indianapolis Colts

Sermon performed well in Week 5, finishing with 15.3 half-PPR points as the Colts’ clear lead RB with Jonathan Taylor sidelined. The former 49ers managed just 38 yards on 10 carries but scored a goal-line TD and also caught all six of his targets. 

He’s likely being dropped simply because managers expect Taylor to return this week, but I wouldn’t be that certain. Taylor has yet to return to practice while dealing with a high-ankle sprain, so his status is still very much in the air. If JT is out again, Sermon is a viable flex play despite a tough matchup with the Titans — that’s enough to make him worth stashing at least for the next few days. This is a classic “drop your kicker to wait and see” scenario.

RB Antonio Gibson, New England Patriots

Week 5 was probably disappointing for many Antonio Gibson managers. The former Commander was announced as the Patriots’ “starter” prior to the game, but it became clear very quickly that that was more of a symbolic punishment for Rhamondre Stevenson’s fumbling issues than a true strategic change. Gibson finished with seven touches to Stevenson’s 16, still clearly the team’s RB2.

With that said, Gibson did match Rhamondre in snaps for the first time all season. He has also been the more efficient rusher so far in 2024. In shallow leagues, Gibson isn’t a must-roster. But in deeper leagues, I would scoop him up — his combination of handcuff upside and a slight chance to take the lead job outright make him a valuable asset. 

WR Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay Packers

With every fantasy analyst in the world hyping him up, it was almost inevitable that Dontayvion Wicks busted in Week 5. His two-catch, 20-yard outing has unsurprisingly resulted in a fair amount of managers sending him straight back to the wavier wire.

However, Wicks still saw six targets in Week 5, tied for the most of any Packer. If he hadn’t dropped two of them or if Jordan Love had led him better on a deep shot where he was open, his final stat line could have looked much better. Wicks obviously needs to work on his hands, as he leads all receivers in drop rate. But getting open and earning targets is the most important part of the battle for fantasy football; as long as he keeps doing that, he’s worth holding at least another week.

WR Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers

Legette had a rough Week 5 on multiple fronts, seeing just one target before exiting late in the first half with a shoulder injury. However, that injury is reportedly minor, and he has a good shot to play in Week 6. That doesn’t fix the fact that he was hardly involved in the half of football he did play, but I’m not ready to give up on Legette just yet. He’s still a dynamic first-round receiver playing a large role in his team’s offense. In deep or even average-sized leagues, his upside makes him worth holding. 

RB Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Despite having been the much more efficient back to start the season, Irving has not supplanted Rachaad White as the Buccaneers’ RB1. However, this is another case where patience is key. Irving is a rookie, and White is an entrenched veteran. But Irving is also playing objectively better, at least on the ground — if that continues, his role will keep expanding. He’s someone who should be rostered in almost all leagues, even if his takeover is happening slower than fantasy managers would like.

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WR Jauan Jennings, San Francisco 49ers

Here, my streak of recommending you add dropped players comes to a close. With Deebo Samuel and George Kittle back healthy, Jennings has fallen way down the pecking order in this 49ers’ offense. Over the past two weeks, his route participation rate is just 63.4%, while his target share is 16.1%. In that role, he can be a valuable piece for the 49ers, but not for fantasy managers. He can safely be left on waivers in most formats.  

WR Tre Tucker, Las Vegas Raiders

This is another case of managers being impatient with a player in a promising situation. Tucker was a popular waiver add last week, as he is set to serve as the Raiders’ WR2 with Davante Adams on his way out of town. The explosive sophomore took advantage of Adams’ absence in Week 4 with 41 receiving yards on six targets, plus a rushing TD. 

If you wanted to add Tucker last week, one bad week against a tough Broncos defense shouldn’t be enough to change that. He’s still more of a deep league play with the Raiders flailing offensively, but he’s by no means a must-drop. 

Other Players With Positive EDI To Check For On Waivers

• RB Braelon Allen, New York Jets: He may not have standalone value, but Allen is arguably the most valuable handcuff in the league.

• RB Justice Hill, Baltimore Ravens: Hill is a valid flex or desperation RB2 in deep PPR leagues.

• RB Jerome Ford, Cleveland Browns: His usage is maddening and Nick Chubb is coming back, but Ford is still the Browns’ RB1 for now.

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