If you have ever purchased a car, you know that it drops in value as soon as it leaves the parking lot. Fantasy football is similar, in a way. As soon as the draft is over, your players no longer carry the same value as they did prior to the draft. Unlike cars though, some of your players can gain some value since the draft. So as fantasy managers it is important not to rely entirely on draft capital when making your roster management decisions.
You can still use draft capital as a factor in your trades or cut decisions. But as we get more, data draft capital should not be a factor. What becomes more important is usage, production, and even roster construction.
At this point in the week it is still important to play the waiver wire. There are still plenty of decent players that are worth roster spots, or at least speculative stashes for the weekend. But in order to make those adds you will need to make some cuts. By adding these late week addition players and cutting the roster cloggers you are increasing your chances of putting out a competitive team on a weekly basis.
Late Week Addition
At just 37.8% rostership in fantasy football, Jamaal Williams was one my favorite late week adds last week. He is still only rostered in 43.6% of leagues. But it is a different Williams that I am trying to add this weekend if I can.
Darrel Williams is currently rostered in just 6.5% of leagues. After James Conner left the field due to an ankle injury in Sunday’s game, Darrel Williams was one of the main beneficiaries. Conner still has not practiced this week, so it is unclear if he will be ready for the Cardinals matchup against the Rams.
Brian Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, who are rostered in just 36.1% and 16.7% respectively are two of my other favorite players to stash through the weekend. Robinson is still a few weeks out from playing, but he is only going to gain value.
Tyler Allgeier played a decent amount in his rookie debut. If his touches increase, or there is an injury to Patterson, Allgeier will have a large jump in fantasy value.
All of Tyler Allgeier’s Week 1 touches.
-31% snap share
-10 attempts for 30 yards
– He recieved 48% of the carries pic.twitter.com/t8qsAaXUmv— Zareh Kantzabedian (@ZKantzFF) September 19, 2022
Fantasy Football Roster Cloggers
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars, 50.5% Rostered
Following a poor Week 1 performance, Trevor Lawrence was added to the Week 2 Rostered Clogger List. However, Lawrence did have a better fantasy game in Week 2. In fact it was good enough to earn him a top 12 week. But his 235 passing yards and 2 passing touchdowns is typically not enough to guarantee a top 12 weekly finish.
Last season, Lawrence threw 17 interceptions, and there were five games that Lawrence threw multiple interceptions. If Lawrence had thrown his average 1 interception in Week 2 he would have dropped out of the top 12 QBs for the week. If Lawrence can string together a stretch of games with multiple touchdowns and few interceptions I will consider removing him from this roster clogger list. But with him getting very close to 50%, I do not imagine he will be eligible past this week.
Trey Lance, San Francisco 49ers, 51.6% Rostered
Week 1 was not very impressive for Trey Lance, but I was willing to hold on hope. But in Week 2, Lance suffered a season ending ankle injury.
49ers officially placed QB Trey Lance on the Injured Reserve List. The team also signed QB Kurt Benkert and RB Tevin Coleman to the team's practice squad.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 21, 2022
So having him on the roster clogger list is a bit of a cop out on my part. But the only reason that you should even consider having Lance on your roster still is if you have good value on him as a keeper. The fact that Lance is still rostered in over 50% of fantasy football redraft leagues is kind of crazy in my opinion.
Russell Gage, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 55% Rostered
This offseason Russell Gage was a very intriguing fantasy football pick. But this is Gage’s 2nd appearance on the Roster Clogger List. First it was due to offseason injuries and some offseason acquisitions by the Buccaneers. This time however, it is due to his on the field usage.
In Week 1, Gage was 4th in snaps for the Bucs at the WR position, but was 5th in receptions. In the lead up to Week 2, it appeared that Gage would be in line for a big jump in production due to injuries to Godwin and Julio.
Gage did see a significant jump in snapshare in Week 2 and he ended the day 2nd in targets. If Mike Evans was not ejected early in the 4th quarter, Gage would have been the 3rd most targeted WR on the team. He turned his 7 targets into 5 receptions for just 28 yards. With the lack of production and the inability to pass Breshad Perriman on the depth chart, Russell Gage should not be rostered.
Kadarius Toney, New York Giants, 62.1% Rostered
For the 2nd week in a row I am including Toney as a roster clogger. In Week 1, Toney only was on the field for 7 snaps. He followed that up by being on the field for 29 snaps in Week 2. His 29 snaps still ranked 3rd on the team behind Sterling Sheppard and David Sills.
He also improved in routes run, targets, and receptions. But he still ended with the same amount of total yardage. It is clear that Toney will only be on the field for certain play packages.
Toney would be worth a roster spot or a flex start if he was on a more high powered offense. For the time being, Toney is not worth a roster spot. Until he gets onto the field in more packages and carves out a more consistent role he is cuttable. But it seems like a lot of fantasy football managers are having a lot of trouble cutting Toney from their teams.
My toxic trait is refusing to drop Kadarius Toney.
— John Daigle (@notJDaigle) September 19, 2022
Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears, 55.5% Rostered
I was very tempted to put Kmet on the Roster Clogger list last week. But with him being on the field for over 80% of the snaps I was hopeful that his lack of targets was just a fluke. In Week 2, Kmet was on the field for 85% of the snaps again.
I'll be honest, I thought Cole Kmet would have a fantasy point by now.
— Jakob Sanderson (@FF_RTDB) September 19, 2022
Kmet was only targeted once, but he ran the 2nd most routes on the team. In addition, the Bears only had 11 total pass attempts in the game. This type of passing attack is not going to be productive enough to support one pass-catcher, let alone two. If you did not cut Kmet after Week 1, it is time to cut bait now. Things could get better, but it’s going to be a while before you feel comfortable enough to get him into your lineup.
Roster Clogger Watchlist
The once prolific New England Patriots offense has been struggling to put up points. With a matchup against the Ravens in Week 3 it could be a struggle to scorefan yet again. I will be paying attention to the entire offense this week. But there are a few Patriots that I will be even more focused on than others. If they do not step up, like the rest of the players on the Roster Clogger Watchlist, they will be potential cut candidates as we hit the quarter point of the NFL season.
