Should You Add JuJu Smith-Schuster, Zack Moss, Josh Downs, 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 added early in the season 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:

    

The leader in EDI is a depressing one, as managers are letting go of Brandon Aiyuk after his season-ending injury. Chris Godwin isn’t far behind after a brutal injury of his own. We also have the usual suspects of last week’s top streaming defenses taking up three of the top six spots. However, there are also some interesting players who are destined for waivers this week. Let’s break down who is worth snagging and who to let sit in free agency.

WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kansas City Chiefs

I’m very sad to say this, as I was fully on the JuJu hype train just a week ago. But the veteran is not a must-add in leagues where he has been dropped. It looks as though he will miss multiple weeks with a hamstring injury, and the Chiefs just filled the “old possession receiver” role in their offense with DeAndre Hopkins. I’m holding out hope for JuJu in a few particularly deep leagues, but I don’t blame anyone for letting him go in most formats.

RB Zack Moss, Cincinnati Bengals

Moss, on the other hand, is not someone who should be allowed to slip to waivers. Yes, he is losing the lead role in this Bengals backfield to Chase Brown. But he has still never dipped below a 46% snap share or a 36% route participation rate on the season. With the Bengals’ offense thriving, he is someone you could start in a pinch. Add that to his contingent upside if Brown were to miss time, and Moss is still certainly worth rostering.

WR Josh Downs, Indianapolis Colts

In his two games played with Anthony Richardson, Downs has averaged just 2.3 Half-PPR fantasy points. As I’ve mentioned before, Richardson averages half as many catchable pass attempts per game as Joe Flacco. That makes Downs (not to mention the other Colts receivers) completely unstartable with Richardson under center. You don’t have to drop Downs, as he still has talent and is a Richardson improvement/injury away from being a weekly fantasy option … but you don’t have to add him if he’s dropped, either.

WR Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers

With all four of the Packers’ receivers back on the field in Week 7, Watson posted just a 44% route participation rate. His big-play ability means he will have some good games, but he can’t be started with a role like that. You can hold him and hope his role expands (through injury or otherwise), but he is certainly not someone who must be rostered in all formats. 

RB Devin Singletary, New York Giants

On the one hand, I personally grabbed Singletary when he was dropped in my longest-running (and very shallow) home league last week … but then I dropped him myself this morning. In his return from injury in Week 7, Singletary played second fiddle to Tyrone Tracy, with a 22% snap share and six opportunities to the rookie’s nine. Just as importantly, the Giants’ offense is falling apart without All-Pro tackle Andrew Thomas, who is out for the year with a foot injury. I do think Singletary could still push Tracy (who struggled on Sunday) for the lead job or at least a 50/50 split as he gets more healthy. In most leagues, he should still be rostered. But, in a timeshare on a suddenly very bad offense, he’s not a must-roster in particularly shallow formats.  

RB D'Ernest Johnson, Jacksonville Jaguars

Johnson is in a very similar position to Singletary. The Jaguars’ offense is bad, and he is, even with Travis Etienne out, stuck in a timeshare with Tank Bigbsy. With that said, the journeyman is clearly the Jaguars’ preferred receiving back over Bigsby, with a 47% route participation rate over the last two weeks. Given that the Jaguars will likely be playing from behind often, Johnson is a dart-throw flex option in deeper formats and worth holding until Etienne comes back. 

WR Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions

Now here is a player worth spending all of your FAAB and waiver priority on. Yes, Jameson Williams has seen his target totals drop dramatically after a hot first two weeks of the season, and now he is suspended two games for violating the NFL’s PED policy. But this is still a guy who ranks as a top-25 fantasy WR despite having already had his bye. Plus, he’s healthy, a rare thing among WRs this season (maybe that’s the PEDs working). If Jamo has been dropped in your league, grab him immediately. 

RB Sean Tucker, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

With Rachaad White back healthy, Tucker played just 19% of the Buccaneers’ offensive snaps on Monday night, well behind both White and Bucky Irving. He did see five carries and two targets, but he is clearly the third option in this backfield. He is a unique kind of “double handcuff,” as his value would increase if either White or Irving missed time. Unfortunately, this also means his ceiling is much more capped than usual handcuffs, as he is one injury away from still being in a timeshare. He belongs on waivers in most formats. 

RB Trey Sermon, Indianapolis Colts

Sermon is like Tucker, but worse in every way. The Colts’ offense is worse, and Sermon himself is a much worse player. With Jonathan Taylor sidelined over the last few weeks, Sermon has ceded more work to Tyler Goodson each week. With JT potentially coming back this week, it’s safe to send Sermon back to the waiver wire. Even if JT does miss another week or more time in the future, would you really feel happy putting Sermon in your lineup? This is the question that separates handcuffs worth holding from fool's gold. 

WR Bub Means, New Orleans Saints

It’s not surprising that Means is being dropped, as Chris Olave will likely return this week. But with Rashid Shaheed out for the season, the WR2 role in this Saints offense is still wide open. With Derek Carr also likely coming back soon, that role could be worth something. In deeper formats, hold onto Means for one more week to see if he can stake his claim as New Orleans’ second target. 

QB Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers

Fields is droppable in all 1-QB formats. I don’t think it’s out of the question that he regains the Steelers’ starting job at some point this season, but he wasn’t lighting the fantasy world on fire enough to make him worth holding and hoping that happens. 

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