Week 3 Fantasy Football Drop Candidates: Caleb Williams, Javonte Williams, Demario Douglas and More
These players can be dropped and sent to your waiver wire.
Quarterbacks
Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers
With Justin Fields winning another game for Pittsburgh, it looks like he may be holding on to the starting job for a while. This means Wilson will be relegated to backup duty for the foreseeable future. Wilson was already a low-end QB2 at best in Superflex leagues and probably more of a QB3. He's simply not worth holding onto in hopes that he'll eventually get the starting job back. All you'll be waiting for is a subpar fantasy option with no guarantee that he can even hold onto the job if it's given back to him.
Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
Williams has looked a lot like a rookie quarterback so far. The bigger issue may be the Bears' offensive line, which has looked horrible through two weeks. He was pressured on all but three dropbacks on Sunday and we aren't sure if things are going to get much better anytime soon. Two of his top three receivers being banged up to go along with poor game plans hasn't helped either. Unless you have the roster space to stash a backup quarterback for weeks, you can move on from Williams.
Running Backs
Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals
This one hurts because it was a back I drafted a ton of this year. Unfortunately, it looks like he's a distant second on the Cincy depth chart. For the second week in a row, Zack Moss dominated snaps, playing 80% of the offensive snaps. Even with the majority of the workload, Moss hasn't been anything special either. The Bengals' offense has struggled mightily from top to bottom. Because of this, we don't even know if Brown would be a locked-in starter if he was handed the reins. That's enough reason to cast him off to the waiver wire.
Jeff Wilson, Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins offense is going to struggle without Tua Tagovailoa and it will hurt everyone on the team. We got to see what the offense would look like without Raheem Mostert last week and it was the De'Von Achane show. Wilson was promptly injured, ending any hopes fantasy owners had of him being a breakout streaming option. With Tua out, Achane leading the way, Mostert potentially returning, and rookie Jaylen Wright seeing an increased role, Wilson's value is non-existent. If you picked him up last week, there is no reason to keep him on your roster.
Javonte Williams, Denver Broncos
Drop may be strong for Williams because he did catch five passes this week, but he's impossible to start. He's probably more valuable to you on someone else's roster. This week he 1.5 yards per carry and is averaging 2.1 ypc on the season. Whether it's Audric Estime when he returns from injured reserve, Jaleel McLaughlin, or somebody else, somebody is going to take his job. We'd advise shopping him and trading him for absolutely anything you can get then consider cutting him loose. Let him be someone else's problem.
Wide Receivers
Demario Douglas, New England Patriots
Through two weeks, Douglas has two catches for 12 yards on three targets. He wasn't targeted at all in Week 2. We had hopes that he'd develop into a low-end PPR flex option, but that doesn't appear to be the case. He is an afterthought in a terrible passing attack, which does not bode well for his future being that he can't even get looks on a team that may have the worst weapons in the league. There is no need to hold him. The Pop Douglas experiment is over.
Joshua Palmer, Los Angeles Chargers
Palmer hasn't done much of anything so far this season. There is a chance it's because he's been beat up, but it doesn't look like he's going to become the WR1 in LA we hoped he would. Even if he did, being Justin Herbert's top target doesn't seem as enticing as it did a month ago. This is a bad passing attack with terrible weapons, and a quarterback living off what he did as a rookie. Avoid this entire passing attack if possible.
Mike Williams, New York Jets
Aaron Rodgers can barely sustain Garrett Wilson as a viable fantasy option in his old age. So if you had any hope of Mike Williams returning to health and breaking out as his WR2, it's time to let those hopes fade away. He was always more likely to force the ball to a terrible Allen Lazard anyway, but that is a bad offense with no chance of having two startable receivers on a weekly basis. Don't wait for Williams to get healthy because he won't be useful then either.
