With week 1 officially in the books it’s time to take a look at some players who might no longer be worth a roster spot. A lot of questions were answered as we were able to get our first glimpse of offenses and schemes. There were some injuries like always, minor and major (good luck Michael Thomas fans). Now that we have all this information, you probably need some roster space for waiver adds. Let’s take a look at the week 1 fantasy football roster drops.
Week 1 Fantasy Football Roster Drops
QB Baker Mayfield – Cleveland Browns
Baker Mayfield leads out week 1 fantasy football roster drops. To be fair, he went up against one of the toughest defenses in the league, the Baltimore Ravens. And if you read my previous article, I listed him as a ‘sit’ for week 1. Mayfield proved to be inefficient yet again, completing just over 50 percent of his passes for 189 yards with 1 TD and 1 interception.
It’s clear that the Cleveland Browns offense is built around their running backs. It doesn’t help that the team’s top weapon, Odell Beckham Jr., is rumored to be on the trading block as well. Tight end David Njoku suffered another injury taking away another pass catcher. What started out as a promising redemption season has quickly gone bad for Baker and Co. Drop him now for someone who will actually produce.
RB Jordan Howard – Miami Dolphins
After acquiring Jordan Howard from the Eagles in the offseason, the Miami Dolphins hoped he would be their early down back. But Howard saw only 9 snaps in his first game behind Myles Gaskin and Matt Breida. Gaskin played 39 of 62 snaps and appears to be a priority waiver wire pick-up in deeper leagues this week. Howard scored a touchdown to salvage 6.7 points but other than that, he was relatively ineffective. At this point, Howard is basically a goal line back with little upside.
RB Justin Jackson – Los Angeles Chargers
Justin Jackson came into the 2020 season listed as the second running back on the depth chart behind Austin Ekeler. Since training camp, Jackson has been competing with fourth round draft pick Joshua Kelley. It felt like momentum shifted during training camp as Kelley’s stock continued to rise.
On the opposite side of that was Jackson, who throughout training camp was nursing a toe injury. Jackson started the first game against the Cincinnati Bengals behind Austin Ekeler but suffered a quadriceps injury. After the injury, Kelley came in and contributed with 60 yards rushing and a score, meaning Jackson is unlikely to see touches once healthy again.
But hey, the lack of work might free Jackson up to do more Cameo videos.
WR Christian Kirk – Arizona Cardinals
Although the Arizona Cardinals came away victorious against the San Francisco 49ers, Kirk was not a big part of the offense. Kirk was supposed to be a target hog this year alongside DeAndre Hopkins in Kliff Kingsbury’s spread system. However, Kirk was held to one catch on five targets against the 49ers. With Larry Fitzgerald in the slot and pass catching backs Kenyan Drake and Chase Edmonds also seeing plenty of action, Kirk was almost forgotten about on Sunday. He will also have to compete with young speedster Andy Isabella if he wants to remain relevant on this Cardinals offense.
TE Vance McDonald – Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers brought in Eric Ebron this offseason for depth at the tight end position. At the beginning of training camp, it was expected that McDonald would still get a majority of the work. Fast forward to today and neither look relevant for the Steelers. Ebron played 40 snaps to McDonald’s 38 and yet McDonald only had one reception on two targets. For a team that throws it as often as the Steelers do, it has to be concerning for McDonald can’t get more passes thrown his way. All signs indicate that McDonald will be out on the field mostly for his blocking ability and 12 personnel packages.
