9 Fantasy Football Players to Drop or Hold (Week 2 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 check out all of our fantasy football waiver wire advice for Week 2.

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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Advice: Drop or Hold?

Droppable

• Mike Gesicki (TE – CIN)
• Tre’ Harris (WR – LAC)
• Chris Rodriguez Jr.

Mike Gesicki played only 16 snaps in the Bengals’ season opener — 10 fewer than newcomer Noah Fant. With a 30.8% snap share in Week 1, Gesicki isn’t worth holding.

Chargers second-round rookie wideout Tre’ Harris is an attractive asset in dynasty leagues, but his minimal usage in Week 1 suggests that his redraft value is nil. Harris played just five of the Chargers’ 65 offensive snaps in Week 1, according to PFF, and had one catch for 11 yards. Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen and Quentin Johnston are the Chargers’ top three receivers, and Harris is basically just Johnston’s backup.

Commanders head coach Dan Quinn recently said that Chris Rodriguez Jr. would be used in short-yardage situations, which seemed to suggest that Rodriguez would be part of a three-man running back committee along with Austin Ekeler and rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt. But Rodriguez was a healthy inactive for Washington in Week 1, and veteran back Jeremy McNichols played 13 snaps behind Ekeler and Croskey-Merritt. Time to bail on Rodriguez.

Droppable With a Chance of Regret

• Tank Bigsby (RB – JAX)
• Jaydon Blue (RB – DAL)
• Chris Godwin (WR – TB)

Going into Week 1, it wasn’t clear how the Jaguars would divide snaps and touches in their backfield. It turned out that Travis Etienne led the way, carrying 16 times for 143 yards Sunday against the Panthers. Etienne played 40 snaps, per PFF. Bigsby played 14 snaps and had 5-12-0 rushing with zero targets. Tank Bigsby outperformed Etienne last season, but that seemed to have no bearing on the competition for snaps and touches in the 2025 Jacksonville backfield. Perhaps the pendulum could swing back toward Bigsby. But Bigsby is a complete zero as a pass-catcher; he has only eight receptions in 33 career games. If he isn’t getting a substantial share of the rushing attempts, he has no real fantasy value.

Fleet-footed rookie Jaydon Blue was thought to be a factor in the Dallas backfield, but he was a healthy inactive on Opening Night, while Javonte Williams dominated the running back snaps and touches for the Cowboys, backed up by Miles Sanders. Unless your league has deep rosters and you have the luxury of patience, there’s not much reason to hold Blue.

Chris Godwin dislocated his ankle last October and hasn’t played since. He’s still recovering and is reportedly expected to return sometime in the first half of the season. But rookie first-rounder Emeka Egbuka was terrific in his NFL debut, catching four passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns. It’s hard to imagine Godwin coming back, immediately displacing Egbuka and playing a hefty snap share. In other words, it’s hard to tell when we’ll see Chris Godwin look like Chris Godwin again, and it might not be worth holding the veteran receiver long enough to find out.

Don’t Drop Yet

• Josh Downs (WR – IND)
• Kaleb Johnson (RB – PIT)
• Cooper Kupp (WR – SEA)

Josh Downs only played in 3-WR sets in the Colts’ opener and finished with 2-12-0 on three targets. The arrival of stud tight end Tyler Warren, the Colts’ first-round draft pick, could take a big bite out of Downs’ target load. It’s worth waiting to see if Downs is more active in Week 2, but if he’s quiet again, it might be time to dump him.

The Steelers spent a third-round pick on rookie back Kaleb Johnson from Iowa, but Johnson is currently No. 3 RB on the depth chart behind Jaylen Warren and ex-Eagle Kenneth Gainwell. Johnson played two snaps in the Steelers’ season opener versus the Jets and had one carry for -2 yards. Johnson was a fairly early pick in a lot of fantasy drafts, so some patience is warranted, but this doesn’t look good for Johnson stakeholders.

Cooper Kupp‘s late-season swoon in 2024 has a lot of people in the fantasy community suspicious that the 32-year-old receiver has turned to dust. Kupp’s 2025 debut with the Seahawks did little to dispel that notion. He had 2-15-0 on three targets despite leading Seattle receivers with 46 snaps, per PFF. Give it one more week, then shake out the dust.