Five players to consider dropping to make room for Week 7 fantasy football waiver wire pickups
By Jennifer Eakins, 4for4
Special to Yahoo Sports
With bye weeks still a regular thing for the next six weeks and the threat of COVID wreaking havoc on the NFL schedule even more than we’ve seen thus far, the importance of keeping on top of the structure of your roster cannot be stressed enough.
While Andy Behrens has your Week 7 priority pickups, it can be tough to know when to let underperforming players go in order to make intriguing adds. I’m here to help you rip off that proverbial band-aid.
In this weekly article, I comb through the underwhelming performances to see who’s droppable in favor of some waiver wire magic. There are many variables in determining a player’s rest-of-season fantasy value, including their own production, offense and health, to name a few. All will be taken into consideration when determining each week’s drops.
T.Y. Hilton, WR – Colts (rostered in 81% of leagues)
I understand dropping T.Y. Hilton may come with emotional distress or even a hearty shower cry, but the process leads us here. He has yet to post a double-digit day in half-PPR points. In fact, he is averaging a measly 5.7 points per contest this season. Hilton’s output puts him at the fantasy WR70, among a list of wideouts you would have already dropped.
Even when the Colts got down early in Week 6 against Cincy, Hilton saw just five targets, catching only one for 11 yards. He did have a touchdown called back due to a penalty, but that would have been his first time crossing the pylons in 2020. Hilton just doesn’t seem to have a productive connection with Philip Rivers, nor the explosiveness we saw in his younger days. If you have a deep bench, are winning and want to keep him around then go for it, but if you need checkmarks in the win column now, you may have to say goodbye to Hilton.
Malcolm Brown, RB – Rams (rostered in 27% of leagues)
We’ve all been playing multiple rounds of “guess the RB” in L.A. this season. Maybe it’s time to end the game. Malcolm Brown has been in single digits in carries in his past four contests, and that number probably won’t get any larger with Cam Akers back in the mix.
I do understand wanting to hang onto Brown for his insurance appeal, but the 27-year-old back has no stand-alone fantasy value right now. It will take an injury to Darrell Henderson to create fantasy relevance. Even then, he may be on the lesser side of a committee with Akers. Justin Jackson and La'Mical Perine come to mind as worthy replacements here.
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N'Keal Harry, WR – Patriots (rostered in 27% of leagues)
Coming into this season, N'Keal Harry was being drafted as a WR4/WR5 with the hopes Cam Newton would elevate his production during Harry’s sophomore season. So far, the 22-year-old receiver's output and usage have been underwhelming, with just one game eclipsing six targets. Harry sits as the fantasy WR83 in half-PPR points per contest and is seeing less overall usage than Damiere Byrd in their past two matchups.
Harry is currently still rostered by 27% of Yahoo fantasy managers, who might want to consider sending him packing for a wideout in a better spot for volume, like Travis Fulgham, Mike Williams or Tim Patrick.
Nyheim Hines, RB – Colts (rostered in 42% of leagues)
Hines is the guy who tends to linger around rosters for too long, as managers keep waiting for his PPR prowess to bail them out. Well, we’re in Week 7 — the halfway point in the fantasy regular season for most — and it’s not looking so hot for Hines in 2020. On the ground, he’s posted just three carries for a total of eight yards in the past two weeks, with Jonathan Taylor handling triple the number of touches as the third-year Colt.
In deep PPR leagues, Hines still has fantasy value for his receiving floor, but in standard or even half-PPR leagues with 12 teams or fewer, it might be time to let Hines go.
Anthony Miller, WR – Bears (rostered in 30% of leagues)
Miller was on this list earlier this season, but 30% of Yahoo fantasy managers are still rostering the Chicago wideout, so you guys may need another nudge. He’s been held to under 30 yards in all but two contests this season and is being both out-snapped and out-targeted by fiery rookie Darnell Mooney.
Do your roster a solid and ditch Miller for a receiver who’s getting more reps like Tee Higgins or Travis Fulgham.
*One Week Away
Both favorites among the fantasy football community, Marvin Jones and Laviska Shenault were very close to being on this list this week. I left them off for fear of my house being egged or threats made to my family, but they are both teetering on the edge of the droppable cliff. Jones and Shenault each get one more game to prove their fantasy relevance in 2020.
This story was originally published on 4for4.com
Follow Jennifer on Twitter @themondaymommy
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A proud alumna of the UGA Grady College of Journalism, Jennifer Eakins has been working in the sports industry for well over a decade. She has had stints with CNN Sports, the Atlanta Hawks and the Colorado Rockies. Her first fantasy football draft took place in 1996 where she selected Ricky Watters with the first overall pick, and she has been a fantasy degenerate ever since.
