Should You Add Darius Slayton, Trey Sermon, Dallas Goedert, Other Dropped Fantasy Football Players?

Oftentimes, the best pickup of a fantasy football season isn’t a player who went undrafted. Instead, it’s someone who was originally selected 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:

This week, we don’t have many players who are being widely dropped. The top three leaders in EDI are last week’s most popular streaming defenses. With that said, we can still find some diamonds in the rough, and there are a ton of players with EDIs at 5% or higher. Let’s break them down.

WR Darius Slayton, New York Giants 

It makes sense that people are dropping Slayton. He saw back-to-back weeks with 11 targets with Malik Nabers sidelined, but the rookie has now returned to practice. With Nabers healthy in Weeks 1-4, Slayton never exceeded three receptions and had just one game above 4.8 Half-PPR points. He can be left to waivers in all but the deepest of leagues as long as Nabers keeps progressing through the concussion protocol.

RB Trey Sermon, Indianapolis Colts

Sermon’s case is interesting. Many managers are likely dropping him in anticipation of the return of Jonathan Taylor, but JT has yet to return to practice. However, Sermon himself missed Wednesday’s practice with a knee injury. He also managed just 2.9 points even with Taylor out in Week 6, as he averaged just 1.6 yards per carry and saw zero targets to Tyler Goodson’s five. You can hold Sermon for a few more days until we get clarity on his and Taylor’s health, especially heading into a matchup with the Dolphins. But if you wouldn’t start Sermon this week if Taylor were out, he’s not worth rostering at this point.  

TE Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles

Week 6 was a double-whammy for Goedert, as he fell down the Eagles’ pecking order with the returns of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and injured his own hamstring. It's not surprising that some managers are willing to give up on the Eagles' TE. With that said, Goedert is still the TE7 for the season despite having had his bye and essentially missed all of last week’s game (he played just three snaps and saw one target before exiting). He should be rostered. 

WR Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay Packers

Last week, I recommended snagging Wicks if he had been dropped after a disappointing Week 5. This week, I can’t say the same. As much as I like Wicks’ talent, his suffering a shoulder injury just as the rest of the Packers’ receivers return means he is only a must-roster in deeper formats. 

WR Christian Kirk, Jacksonville Jaguars

At this point, Christian Kirk is who he is. He has posted a route participation rate between 70.6% and 80.6% every week of the season, while his target share has fluctuated around 20%. The return of Evan Engram will likely hurt his volume (Engram led the Jags with 10 targets in Week 6 and traditionally operates in some of the same areas as Kirk), but Kirk’s bigger problem is the Jaguars’ overall offensive inefficiency. In deep leagues, he should absolutely not be on waivers. But in shallower formats, a low-ceiling WR3/WR4 like Kirk is just a roster clogger. It’s better to hold a high-upside handcuff RB than someone like Kirk, who will have solid weeks but is very unlikely to force his way into your lineup.

WR Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears

Oduzne, however, is someone who can force his way into your lineup. With Caleb Williams settling into the NFL, this Bears passing offense is on the way up. Odunze’s own stats have been very mediocre so far (just one game above 6.5 Half-PPR points), but he could certainly have a late-season breakout, either thanks to injury or simply by cementing himself as one of Caleb’s top two targets. We all know that rookie receivers often come on in the second half of the season, so dropping the ninth-overall pick just six weeks into the season is short-sighted. He should be added where he is available.  

RB Devin Singletary, New York Giants

Rookie Tyrone Tracy has looked excellent in Singletary’s absence, but the veteran was having a very solid season before he suffered a groin injury. Tracy will remain involved, but it's not a foregone conclusion that Singletary has lost the lead role in this backfield. He should be rostered in all formats, especially given he has been able to get in some limited practices of late. 

WR Jalen Tolbert, Dallas Cowboys

Tolbert led the Cowboys in routes in Week 6, outpacing even CeeDee Lamb. This was just a week after he caught seven of 10 targets for 87 yards and a touchdown. If someone has dropped him in your league, scoop him up.

RB Jerome Ford, Cleveland Browns

Everything is going wrong for Ford all at once. In Week 5, he saw fewer carries than D’Onta Foreman, the second time so far this season that has happened with zero warning. In Week 6, he injured his hamstring. Meanwhile, Nick Chubb is set to return any week, and the Browns are giving up on their season by shipping Amari Cooper to Buffalo. Don’t bother chasing after Ford if he is available.

WR Wan'Dale Robinson, New York Giants

Like his fellow Giant Slayton, Robinson is likely being dropped because Nabers is due to return. However, Robinson has performed more or less the same all season, regardless of whether the superstar rookie is on the field. He averaged 10.0 Half-PPR points with Nabers healthy, which barely moved to 10.3 over the last two weeks. Putting that aside, Robinson is tied for second in the entire league with 54 targets. That alone makes him a must-roster and a priority pickup in any leagues where he has been dropped.

Other Players With Positive EDI To Check For On Waivers

• RB Raheem Mostert, Miami Dolphins

• RB Braelon Allen, New York Jets

• TE Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers