Who do I drop? Russell Wilson, Rashaad Penny among fantasy football Week 2 cuts

Read The Athletic’s latest fantasy football drops advice. 

Well, we’re one week into the 2023 fantasy football season, and after a week that featured exponentially more “duds” than “studs,” fantasy managers who took a loss in Week 1 are no doubt ready to start shoving guys out the airlock.

Believe me, I understand. My Week 1 was a disaster.

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Los Angeles Rams running back Cam Akers was the poster guy for the approximately 17 fantasy RB2s who fell flat. Akers was bailed out a little by a second-half score, but 29 rushing yards on 22 carries is bad. Being out-snapped by a margin of almost 2-to-1 by Kyren Williams was worse.

At quarterback, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrated becoming the highest paid player in NFL history by throwing for 82 yards against the Browns. At wide receiver, Tee Higgins of the Bengals, Drake London of the Atlanta Falcons and Christian Kirk of the Jacksonville Jaguars had one reception for nine yards — combined.

The only thing better than having one of those bums in your lineup was having two. Not that I’m bitter or anything.

GO DEEPER

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 2: Streamers, Gus Edwards, Puka Nacua and more

It was the kind of week that just makes you want to do something. To make a change. To shake things up. To show someone the gate and hit the waiver wire.

But here’s the thing. It was one week. That’s an awfully small sample size to start blowing up a roster you thought was a good at this time a week ago. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be trying to get better (I’d recommend something in a nice Puka Nacua, but the waiver wire ain’t my department here), but knee-jerk moves and panic drops backfire more often than not.

Related: Jake Ciely’s Week 2 waiver wire adds

The only thing worse than an underperforming player is watching that player blow up three weeks from now — in your opponent’s lineup.

With that in mind, you won’t see any outlandish (at least in my estimation) drop recommendations this week. Or next week, for that matter. That doesn’t mean there aren’t guys on thin(ner) ice (22 carries for 29 yards? Really dude?). But often the wisest course of action after one weird week is just to chill before you make a bad situation worse.

Still, that doesn’t mean some guys don’t gotta go — including a former Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

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WEEK 2 DROPS

Fantasy rostered percentages courtesy of Yahoo.

Russell Wilson, QB, Denver Broncos (53%) (Droppable in 12-team 1-QB leagues)

Wilson wasn’t awful in his first game under Sean Payton, completing 27 of 34 passes for 177 yards and two scores in a one-point loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Given how badly he played in 2022, the effort was hailed by many as a sizable step forward, with Wilson telling reporters after the game that the offense is coming together.

“Felt like we had opportunities,’’ Wilson said. “We definitely played the type of football we want to play, we just have to make one more play. “Best thing we can do is make one more play. We’re excited about who we are and [the] biggest thing is to continue to push.’’

Granted, Wilson didn’t have Jerry Jeudy in this game. But there’s just nothing for fantasy managers to get excited about with this Broncos passing attack. Wilson isn’t going to wing it vertically like he did in his younger days in Seattle. It’s all dink-and-dunk and pray for YAC. Against the Raiders (not exactly a top-five secondary) Wilson averaged 5.2 yards per attempt — over two yards lower than in any full season of his career.

In a week where quarterbacks laid eggs more than the Cadbury bunny, Wilson couldn’t muster a Top 12 finish. He was outscored by Sam Howell of the Commanders. And Brock Purdy of the 49ers. And Mac Jones of the Patriots. There’s just no ceiling with Wilson anymore. It’s gone.

Rashaad Penny, RB, Philadelphia Eagles (66%) (Droppable in all leagues)

Hey, remember when some idiot fantasy analyst said that Rashaad Penny was going to be the lead back in Philadelphia and lead the team’s running backs in fantasy points? I certainly don’t remember it, because there is of course no chance I would ever say something that completely and utterly stupid. Nope. Not this guy.

Not only was Penny not Philly’s leading rusher against the Patriots in Week 1, but he had exactly as many carries as I did — because he wasn’t even active. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni explained the decision while speaking to reporters Monday.

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“There was just a number count,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “You saw that — I don’t ever want to come out of a game where D’Andre Swift has only two touches, either. Where we were with numbers and some of the things, our first three guys through camp are those three guys, they dressed. So like I said with Boston [Scott], to have four backs up, Boston and D’Andre both only had one carry. We have to play that number game.”

That word salad makes about as much sense as rostering a back who isn’t active on game day. And not to pile on, but those two touches for D’Andre Swift weren’t a great look, either.

Van Jefferson, WR, Los Angeles Rams (36%) (Droppable in 12-team leagues)

When Cooper Kupp was sidelined by a hamstring injury that eventually landed him on injured reserve, the general belief was that Van Jefferson would step into the role of the team’s No. 1 wide receiver. It’s a role that head coach Sean McVay expressed confidence Jefferson was ready to fill while talking to reporters in August.

“He’s confident, he’s playing violent at the point of attack, he’s making contested catches,” McVay said. “I think he’s seeing coverage contours really well, he’s able to win and work edges on some of his isolation opportunities and that’s the Van that we know. And I think for him, I don’t want to speak for him, but he sure looks like he’s feeling good.”

Apparently, someone forgot to tell Matthew Stafford that Jefferson was his new go-to guy. In Sunday’s win over the Seahawks, Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell were targeted 23 times, catching 16 of them for 238 yards. Jefferson was targeted five times, catching four for 24 yards. He may be the most experienced wideout of the lot, but he’s also the most known commodity — and what we know is that he’s a marginal talent who has topped 400 receiving yards in a season once.

Marvin Mims, WR, Denver Broncos (36%) (Droppable in 12-team leagues)

From the moment that Jerry Jeudy pulled his hamstring in camp, folks have been talking up Mims as a potential rookie breakout. After all, Sean Payton traded up in the NFL Draft to acquire the former Oklahoma standout, and as The Athletic’s own Nick Kosmider wrote, fellow wideout Courtland Sutton talked up Mims’ development.

“Marv had a really good camp,” Sutton said. “Watching him develop, watching his game and NFL IQ develop, seeing different coverages, being able to see it and react on the fly, it’s been cool to watch him progress. He’s only going to continue to keep growing. Each game he gets, he gets to bank that film and bank those reps in his mind. The game’s going to continue to slow down for him. The dude can fly.”

This isn’t about Mims as a player — the 5’11”, 183-pounder with 4.38-second speed may one day be an excellent NFL receiver. But he’s a vertical threat on an NFL team that made zero effort to push the ball vertically against the Raiders. In his NFL debut, Mims caught all of two passes for nine yards. Add in Jeudy’s likely return this week and you have (at best) the No. 3 option in a passing attack that didn’t hit 200 yards last week against 2022’s 29th-ranked pass defense.

Greg Dulcich, TE, Denver Broncos (36%) (Droppable in 12-team leagues)

Can you tell how I feel about the Denver passing attack in 2023?

Dulcich was something of a fantasy hype darling this summer—a favorite “sleeper” pick. It’s all Sean Payton’s fault, really—he got fantasy managers all lathered up with his talk of how Denver was going to build on Dulcich’s rookie season by moving him around the formation to create mismatches in the passing game.

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“He’s got [a] unique skill set,” Payton told reporters, “and he’s got traits in the passing game. We use the term ‘Joker’ where we can get matchups. The trick sometimes is trying to predict what you’re going to get defensively, if you’re either going to get a nickel package or a base package. But man, he can run (and) he’s got good ball skills.”

There’s just one problem, by which I mean there are like five. Dulcich may be a capable receiver, but his blocking leaves something to be desired—so he landed behind Adam Trautman on the team’s depth chart. Even when Dulcich is out there he’s (again) the third or fourth option for a passing game that’s barely passable. And now he’s nursing a leg injury to boot.

Other than that though, he’s awesome.

When Gary isn’t dropping Broncos players left and right, you can find him on Twitter at @IDPSharks

(Top photo: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)