These players aren’t going to help you win. They are wasting room on your roster and keeping you from rostering difference making players. The only thing keeping them on your roster is their name and the allure of the safe and familiar.

I typically try to stay positive, but you can’t add all the players I suggest you should be adding or stashing in my weekly Next Week Tonight show (out every Friday night) unless you have available roster spots. This is the time of year you need to quickly adjust, let go of your tightly held preseason takes, and trade away or drop the players that will hold you back.

I’ll be ordering the players from best to worst, so don’t be dropping the first name before someone at the bottom. Also, feel free to get these players involved in a trade. After all, many of these players still have perceived value by your league as possible flex starts.

Let’s get right into it.

Wide Receivers

1. Russell Gage

Despite high route participation (82%), Gage only has 5% of the Air Yard team share. The Falcon offense as a whole is struggling and there just isn’t much of the upside that many of us imagined left over. He still has trade value in deeper leagues

2. Donovan Peoples-Jones

This is a tough one with Odell Beckham missing the first two games and and Jarvis Landry out a few weeks on IR. But DPJ has had the opportunity with 77% snaps and route participation, but less than 5% Air Yard team share. Look to Hooper, Higgins and Schwartz to fill the Odell and Jarvis void.

3. Chester Rogers

Not a name that is probably owned much, but wanted to make sure you weren’t considering wasting a spot based on a bunch of targets in Week 1.

Running Backs

1. James Conner

This is one you’ll want to trade for sure, but I fear Conner is finished. Conner has put up fewer than 8 PPR in two combined games despite almost ten weighted opportunities.

Lack of production, lack of snaps, and in an offense that doesn’t leave many valuable opportunities for him, Conner is an expensive brick. But he may still have some shine to others, be sure to shop him before you drop.

2. Ronald Jones

Through two games Jones has only logged 25% snaps, despite both games having opportunity to use the slugging back. 

3. Justin Jackson

If you were holding Jackson as a backup to Austin Ekeler, you can just let him go. Ekeler is healthy, Jackson isn’t, and Roundtree is getting enough work to suggest Jackson wouldn’t take Ekeler’s work in full if he was injured.

Tight Ends

1. Mike Gesicki

Definitely a player to trade away, Gesicki has flashed the red flags for years with his disappointing production and strange lack of broken tackles despite the Combine athleticism. Albert Wilson is matching Gesicki in opportunity and Will Fuller and Preston Williams are returning meaning Gesicki’s hope for slot usage, the only place he’s had relevance, is disappearing.

2. Blake Jarwin

It’s time to face the fact that Dalton Schultz has beat out Jarwin as the TE1 on this team. There are plenty of better Tight Ends to stash.

3. Zach Ertz

Ertz is the odd man out in most any way you can imagine. Behind even Quez Watkins in Weighted Opportunities, Ertz is on the field but you would never know. It’s possible someone will trade for him but don’t waste too much time on him.

Don’t forget to check out Next Week Tonight on Friday for ideas on how to fill these voids.