Players to Drop in Fantasy Football After Week 6

Week 6 is nearly in the books, and it is time to start navigating bye weeks in fantasy football. Thankfully, we can use these bye weeks to jettison players off our roster that just aren’t working out this year.

This article will be published bi-weekly throughout the 2022 season. As always, recommendations in this article should be looked at through the lens of the fantasy manager’s starting lineup requirements, scoring settings and roster size.

Leagues with deeper benches may want to hold onto some players listed in this article since those leagues won’t have the waiver wire depth of others.

Quarterback

Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

The Rams offense has not looked nearly as efficient this year as they did throughout the 2021 season. Part of the problem has been a porous offensive line, but Matthew Stafford isn’t blameless either.

Stafford is completing 71.1% of his passes this season but has just six touchdowns to eight interceptions on the year. The Rams quarterback has just one game with over 300 passing yards. Stafford’s elbow is holding him back a bit, which isn’t good since the offensive line can’t protect him long enough to get through his reads.

The bye week is an excellent time to get Stafford off your roster to upgrade to a more consistent fantasy quarterback. It’s hard to believe their passing efforts will improve unless there is a material change along the offensive line.

Running Back

Cam Akers, Los Angeles Rams

Social media was buzzing this weekend with the news that Cam Akers would be inactive in Week 6’s game against the Carolina Panthers due to “personal issues”. Shortly after, those personal issues came to light on social media and, surprise, they were football related.

Time will tell if Akers will return to the Rams or end up traded to another team. And part of his struggles could easily come down to the abysmal Rams offensive line. But it’s also possible Akers hasn’t regained his explosion after last season’s Achilles injury.

The Rams utilized a two-headed approach at running back, causing Akers to see just three games with double-digit carries. Unfortunately, he didn’t do much with that opportunity.

The veteran running back has just one game this season where he averaged over 3.0 yards per carry. He’s also been a total non-factor in the passing offense, catching just 2-of-5 targets for 18 yards in five games.

Akers may find himself on a new team in the coming weeks. But he will likely be joining an already crowded backfield and will continue to split carries. As long as he’s struggling to gain yards rushing the ball, he’s droppable in fantasy.

Chase Edmonds, Miami Dolphins

Chase Edmonds continues to lose snaps and touches to Raheem Mostert in the Dolphins offense. Edmonds registered just two carries for three yards and two receptions for 28 yards in a game where Mostert was questionable due to a knee injury.

Fantasy managers had plenty of hope when Edmonds signed with the Dolphins this offseason, but all he has done is continually cede his touches to Mostert at the lead-back spot. At this point, it is completely justifiable to send Edmonds to the waiver wire.

Nobody will blame fantasy managers for holding out hope that Mostert will once again go down with an injury, leaving Edmonds to own the backfield. With bye weeks on the horizon, though, fantasy managers need to start making hard decisions. Edmonds is a player who can be dropped to add help at another position.

Wide Receiver

Elijah Moore, New York Jets

Well, the good news is Elijah Moore is on the field and running routes.

The bad news? Moore is just running wind sprints at this point and can’t be trusted as a fantasy option. Through six games, Moore has just 16 receptions for 203 yards. The second-year receiver didn’t even register a target in Week 6’s game against the Packers.

The Jets are playing a run-heavy offense and letting their defense make plays, which is leading to neutral or positive game scripts that aren’t forcing the team to throw the ball. Zach Wilson has also struggled since returning to the lineup, completing 56.0% of his passes for one touchdown and two interceptions.

Whether it’s the team moving the ball on the ground, or Wilson struggling to throw down the field, it is clear that Moore just isn’t getting the volume we hoped for this season. It could improve, but at this point, he’s a fantasy trap every week.

Julio Jones, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Julio Jones came out hot to start the season, catching three passes for 69 yards. Since then, he’s been inactive four times and totaled just one other catch for seven yards. Jones’ injury problems have continued to plague him with another team, ruining what many hoped would be a strong season in a heavy passing attack.

Part of the appeal of Jones was the possibility that he could function as the team’s second target down the field while Chris Godwin got healthy after his 2021 ACL injury. Jones’ injuries have allowed Godwin to get healthy (even after a Week 1 hamstring strain), cutting into what we thought Jones’ fantasy ceiling could be.

Regardless, Godwin is healthy, Mike Evans is still Mike Evans and Julio Jones is on the sideline once again. Drop him (if you haven’t already) and add a player who is on the field.