Should You Add Jameson Williams, Jordan Mason, Caleb Williams, Other Dropped Fantasy Football Players?

The best pickup of a fantasy football season often 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:

    

We don’t have any players with a huge EDI this week, but there are some very interesting names. Let’s break down which of these guys are worth checking your waiver wire for as we head into Week 9.

WR Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions

Here’s the thing about Jameson Williams. I’m very down on his outlook for the rest of the season. He was already regressing back into a boom-or-bust low-target role before his two-game PED suspension. Now, he’s dealing with a new off-the-field issue that could lead to another suspension. 

With that said, Williams is absolutely not someone who should be dropped. The third-year receiver is at worst a valid boom-or-bust flex play. If he returns to his early-season usage (either naturally or through injury), he is a legit WR1 candidate. Although what seems to be a pattern of off-the-field issues is concerning, it’s unlikely this most recent incident will affect his availability in 2024. If Jameson is available in your league, go get him.   

RB Jordan Mason, San Francsico 49ers

I honestly don’t hate the thinking of managers dropping Jordan Mason. After a red-hot start to the season as the 49ers’ RB1 with Christian McCaffrey sidelined, he has been below 10 Half-PPR points in each of the last four games. Many of his struggles have been injury-related, but Mason has made a habit of exiting games early and is still currently dealing with a shoulder injury. CMC is also reportedly set to return when the 49ers’ come off their bye in Week 10. If that happens, Mason will return to an RB2 role. 

With all that said, I don’t think Mason can be dropped just yet. It’s hard to trust the 49ers’ messaging when it comes to McCaffrey, who was supposed to play all the way back in Week 1 before being placed on IR with no notice. Even if CMC does return in Week 10, Mason will still be a very valuable handcuff in Kyle Shanahan’s offense (assuming he himself is healthy). That means he’s worth holding until we actually see McCaffrey back on the field in an RB1 role, at the absolute least.

WR Christian Kirk, Jacksonville Jaguars

Kirk suffered a season-ending collarbone injury on Sunday. Unfortunately, Kirk’s EDI should be 100% (or actually 78%, as he was already on waivers in 22% of leagues).

QB Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

I’m conflicted on this. On the one hand, giving up an elite prospect who has been showing real signs of improvement after just one down game feels premature. On the other hand, Caleb really only has two good games so far this season, and they were against the Panthers and the Jaguars, two of the three best fantasy matchups for quarterbacks. 

Williams is probably worth holding a bit longer, especially heading into another good matchup with the Cardinals. But the Bears’ schedule takes a sharp turn for the worse after that, and the first overall pick simply hasn’t shown the ability to produce in anything other than very soft matchups. He’s not a must-add, especially if you’re already set at QB for this week. 

WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kansas City Chiefs

As I said in last week’s article, dropping JuJu is a fine move at this point. He doesn’t appear to be making any progress in returning from his hamstring issue, and the Chiefs’ addition of DeAndre Hopkins makes it very hard to see his path to a fantasy-relevant role in this offense.  

WR Rashod Bateman, Baltimore Ravens

Bateman is likely being cut from many fantasy rosters due to the Ravens’ addition of Diontae Johnson (check out my full breakdown of the fantasy impacts of that trade here). Although we’ve gotten some reports that Bateman will remain the Ravens’ WR2, I think it’s more likely that Johnson, who has a history of elite target-earning ability, surpasses him on the pecking order sooner rather than later. Bateman was already a risky play due to low volume; he probably belongs on waivers with Johnson in town.  

WR Jalen McMillan, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

McMillan, not to mention the other Tampa Bay receivers, was disappointing in the first week without Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. He finished with just 7.2 Half-PPR points, catching four passes for 35 yards and adding a 17-yard rush. With that said, I don’t recommend giving up on the third-round rookie just yet. He still led the Buccaneers WR room in both route participation (82%) and target share (14%) in Week 8. If he was sent back to waivers in your league, I recommend adding him. 

RB Rico Dowdle, Dallas Cowboys

Dowdle missed the Cowboys’ Sunday Night Football game with an illness, likely leaving a zero in the lineup of many an inattentive manager. However, even with the Cowboys activating the zombie version of Dalvin Cook in time for Halloween, Rico should still be Dallas’ lead RB when healthy. That makes him a must-roster in all formats, so check if your league is one of those where he was dropped.

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