11 Fantasy Football Players to Drop or Hold (Week 3 Waiver Wire)

Let’s take a look at players our analysts consider on the fringe as you weigh your fantasy football waiver wire additions for the week. And also be sure to check out our full fantasy football waiver wire article for the week.

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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Advice: Drop or Hold?

Drop Recommendations

Droppable

• Austin Ekeler (RB – WSH)
• Kaleb Johnson (RB – PIT)
• Colston Loveland (TE – CHI)
• Brenton Strange (TE – JAX)

As noted earlier, Austin Ekeler is done for the season with a torn Achilles. Please pour one out for Ekeler before dropping him.

Kaleb Johnson appeared in the Don’t Drop Yet section of last week’s waiver article, but we have to reconsider after the rookie’s special-teams gaffe cost the Steelers a chance to beat the Seahawks in Week 2. With Pittsburgh trailing 17-14 early in the fourth quarter, Johnson failed to field a Seattle kickoff that came down in the designated landing zone, and he didn’t seem to realize that he had to field the kick. He let it bounce into the end zone, where the Seahawks pounced on it for a touchdown that put them up by two scores. Johnson has played only four offensive snaps over his first two games, and it might take him a while to earn significant playing time after his costly Week 2 mistake. It’s safe to drop him.

Through the Bears’ first two games, veteran tight end Cole Kmet has out-snapped rookie tight end Colston Loveland 121-74. The 10th overall pick in this year’s draft, Loveland has 2-12-0 receiving on three targets. He’s been a non-factor in the Chicago offense early on. Disregard the draft pedigree; this sort of usage isn’t going to amount to worthwhile fantasy value.

Jaguars starting tight end Brenton Strange opened with dream matchups against the Panthers and Bengals, who gave up the most and second-most fantasy points, respectively, to tight ends last season. Strange had a decent day against Carolina, with 4-59-0 on four targets. But he was a non-factor against Cincinnati, with 3-17-0 on five targets and an 11.9% target share. We were hoping for better results in soft matchups. A popular preseason sleeper pick at tight end, Strange can be dropped for now.

Droppable With a Chance of Regret

• Braelon Allen (RB – NYJ)
• Rashod Bateman (WR – BAL)
• Jerome Ford (RB – CLE)
• Jayden Reed (WR – GB)

Braelon Allen ranks No. 2 in the Jets’ three-man backfield, but he’s a distant second behind Breece Hall. The 235-pound Allen has some goal-line touchdown potential, and he punched in an eight-yard touchdown in Week 1. But Allen has carried the ball only eight times for 20 yards over the Jets’ first two games, and he has little pass-catching upside. He’s droppable if you need to clear room to address an urgent need.

Rashod Bateman hasn’t been drawing many targets early in the season, and he’s not getting the deep targets that helped him average 16.8 yards per catch and score nine touchdowns last season. Zay Flowers is the clear No. 1 receiver for Baltimore, and beyond Flowers, it’s an ensemble cast that includes Bateman, DeAndre Hopkins, Devontez Walker and Tylan Wallace. Through two weeks, Bateman has caught four of his eight targets for 25 yards and zero touchdowns. The slow start may be a mirage, but it would take a major surge for us to feel comfortable plugging Bateman into our lineups.

Jerome Ford actually led Browns running backs in snaps (35) on Sunday, but a lot of them came in garbage time in an unsightly 41-17 loss to the Ravens. With Quinshon Judkins finally joining the team in Week 2 and immediately stepping into a starting role, Ford’s days of fantasy utility appear to be over. Judkins will be the lead back in Cleveland, and fellow rookie Dylan Sampson is likely to be the No. 2 RB. Ford can be a useful fantasy asset in the right circumstances, but not as a third wheel in a mediocre offense.

Jayden Reed broke his collarbone on the Packers’ Week 2 win over the Commanders and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks. Put him on IR if you can. If your league doesn’t have IR spots, you might need to drop him.

Don’t Drop Yet

• Mark Andrews (TE – BAL)
• RJ Harvey (RB – DEN)
• TreVeyon Henderson (RB – NE)

For a second straight season, Mark Andrews is off to a frigid start. Through two games, he has 2-7-0 receiving on four targets. Andrews almost had a short touchdown catch on Sunday, but he let Browns safety Grant Delpit punch the ball out of his arms. After his similarly rough start last season, Andrews eventually found his footing and scored a career-high 11 touchdowns. But what’s concerning this year is that Andrews is failing to make an impact even though he’s playing a ton of snaps. Isaiah Likely will eventually return from a foot injury, potentially cutting into Andrews’ playing time.

RJ Harvey had a 29% snap share in Week 1 and a 32% snap share in Week 2. The Broncos’ second-round rookie from UCF broke off a breathtaking 50-yard run in the season opener against the Titans but was mostly bottled up by the Colts in Week 2, finishing with 5-8-0 rushing plus a 16-yard catch. We’re hoping Broncos head coach Sean Payton ramps up Harvey’s usage soon. If you’re thinking of dropping the rookie running back, go search for the video of that 50-yard run.

Speaking of highly touted rookie running backs getting off to sluggish starts, Patriots second-round pick TreVeyon Henderson played 32% of New England’s offensive snaps on Sunday and has played second fiddle to veteran Rhamondre Stevenson through two weeks. It’s not as if Henderson has been completely quiet. He has 8-37-0 rushing and 8-54-0 receiving. But considering that Henderson was being drafted as the RB19 in the late fourth round, according to FantasyPros’ average draft position (ADP), his investors are undoubtedly disappointed. Hang tight, friends. We’re confident Henderson has bigger days ahead.