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September 20, 2023, 12:07 am
Week 2 was a doozy. We saw some players go down with gut-wrenching injuries, and some that rose to the occasion and demonstrated their talents on full display. Now it’s time to scramble to the waiver wire to bid for this week’s hot talent and bandage up holes on fantasy rosters. Inversely, it’s also time to cut players that disappointed in Week 2 to free up space for the next big thing. Sometimes an empty space on a fantasy team for waivers is more valuable than someone rostered in a majority of fantasy leagues. For this piece, I’m going to be referring to players rostered by at least 25 percent of teams in ESPN leagues, and I’ll list them in descending order of those ownership percentages.
Note: I will not be including any of the players I already mentioned in the previous week’s list. I suggest clicking the link below and making sure you don’t have some of those guys still hitching a ride on your roster.
TE Kyle Pitts – Atlanta Falcons (96.2% ESPN, 98% Yahoo!)
Allow me to lead by saying fantasy managers should absolutely try and sell low on Kyle Pitts before moving on from him, one way or another. The fact remains that Pitts is, at best, the second option in the passing game of one of the most efficient and heavily-utilized rushing offenses in the league. He also has one of the worst passing quarterbacks in the league in Desmond Ridder, so what little targets he sees are also less valuable than most other top fantasy tight ends. On top of that, the Falcons are 2-0 and so their game plan likely won’t be seeing a change in Week 3 or anytime soon. The PPR TE28 through two weeks this season, Pitts is a bust of a fantasy draft pick for 2023. Try and dangle him for whatever can be pried from league mates, but the roster space alone is more value than Pitts is bringing to the table so far this season. Cut him if it’s necessary.
RB Cam Akers – Los Angeles Rams (87% ESPN, 89% Yahoo!)
After a strong finish to his 2022 NFL season, many thought that Cam Akers was rocking and rolling heading into 2023 with a potentially massive workload slated for him. However, after a Week 1 performance where he whimpered his way to 29 scoreless yards on 22 yards (1.4 YPC), it was very underwhelming to say the least. Where Akers took a step back, backup RB Kyren Williams stepped up and looks like a great young runner for the Rams. Now, Akers has likely played his last down as a Ram. If fantasy managers can afford to stash Akers on their bench, I would advise them to continue doing so for a few more weeks or until the dust settles on his future in the NFL. However, if not, try and sell him to a rivaling manager before pushing the button and replacing him with an actively contributing fantasy player.
RB Jamaal Williams – New Orleans Saints (87% ESPN, 87% Yahoo!)
Jamaal Williams (hamstring) came up gimpy early in Monday night’s contest vs. the Panthers and never returned. Hamstring injuries tend to nag and on Tuesday morning head coach Dennis Allen claimed he will “take some time to get back”. Williams is the only Saints RB with descending value at this time, and now his fantasy outlook for the remainder of 2023 gets really murky. RB Alvin Kamara (suspended) is due to return in Week 4, rookie Kendre Miller looks nearly recovered from a hamstring injury of his own, and Tony Jones Jr. scored two touchdowns in Williams’s absence Monday. By the time Williams returns from injury, there may not be much room for him in this offense. Perhaps we can wait a few days to see if he lands on IR, but if fantasy managers are desperate for the roster space or don’t have an IR spot in your league, Williams could be dropped.
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