Fantasy football: Who to drop ahead of Week 8? You can bounce Bengals RB Zach Moss

We’re halfway through the 2024 fantasy regular season, and there are some fortunate fantasy managers who look at their loaded rosters, set their lineups, prepare for another victory and go about their day. Those people are evil. Purest, darkest evil. Like Darth Vader kicking a baby seal evil. For most of us though, the week starts off much differently. Win or lose the week before, there are holes on the roster that have to be patched. Sometimes those holes are due to injury — cue Chris Godwin managers nodding solemnly. But sometimes, there’s a vortex of suck draining the very essence from your fantasy team. There are rostered players who just aren’t getting it done. Can those disappointing players rebound and become valuable fantasy assets? Yes — apparently all I have to do is mention one in this article. But those rebounds aren’t guaranteed, and if you play in a league with a short bench and there’s a hot waiver commodity out there (say, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings — again. Life is a circle.) you have to be able to clear a spot. The following running backs and wide receivers have reached the point where you can’t start them. And if all they’re going to do is clog up bench space, it’s pink slip time. Might as well come out swinging. It’s been an up-and-down first seven games for Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton and quarterback Bo Nix. And as Nix told reporters, it’s important that both quarterback and receiver do their best to understand the other side of the pitch-catch equation. “If there’s something that I can do to help them, I’m definitely always there for them, but I definitely think it’s a work in progress and we’re all — all 11 of us on offense, have things we can improve on,” Nix said. “Sometimes a drop is seen on national television, but you didn’t see the inaccurate throw, or you didn’t see somebody that might have messed up within the play. So sometimes that is made bigger than what it is.” However, last week was the breaking point for fantasy managers. Not only did Sutton not record a catch in Denver’s blowout win over the New Orleans Saints, but he wasn’t targeted. Not once. In the entire game. It’s Sutton’s third absolute clunker already this season — and he’s ostensibly supposed to be the team’s No. 1 receiver. There has been renewed chatter that Sutton could be traded, but it’s not especially likely with the Broncos above .500. A trade would also be the only way Sutton is going to get anything resembling consistent fantasy value. The Cincinnati backfield has been a pain in the posterior of prognosticators since the summer. For every fantasy analyst who was convinced Zack Moss would be the lead back, another was just as firmly behind Chase Brown. And as is becoming more and more common in today’s NFL, what we got was a little of both. However, the further into the season we have gotten, the more the pendulum has swung toward Brown. Over the first three games of the season, Brown totaled 14 carries. He has since had 15 carries in two of the four games since, and 52 total over that same span. During that four-game stretch, Moss has carried the ball 36 times, and he’s averaging a robust 3.3 yards a pop for the season. Brown is averaging 5.0 yards per tote, and while the snap count was relatively close between the two last week (31-27 in favor of Brown), Brown received almost twice as many touches. Moss’ ability to pass-protect is the only thing keeping him on the field right now. And last I checked, they don’t award fantasy points for blocking. The trade that sent Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills was great for Cooper, but Jeudy told reporters he also intended to take advantage of the opportunity to be “the guy” at wide receiver in Cleveland. “I think I’ve always been ready,” Jeudy said. “I’ve always been a guy that’s always been getting the ball until I got to the league a few years. I always think I’m ready. Now they gave me the opportunity to really step up, and now it’s time to take advantage of that.” This is a rarity — usually, once I mention a guy in this column, that’s that. He’s dead to me. But Jeudy’s rostered percentage is virtually unchanged since I wrote about him in Week 6 and I cannot abide that. I mean, I get why — with Cooper gone, Jeudy is theoretically the new No. 1 wide receiver in Cleveland. But that doesn’t matter. Not when he’s catching one pass a game and isn’t targeted until the fourth quarter. Apparently, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll likes to call veteran running back Devin Singletary “Motor,” because vroom. Singletary missed time recently with a groin injury, and while rookie Tyrone Tracy shined in Singletary’s absence, Daboll assured reporters before last week’s loss to the Eagles that Singletary was still a significant part of the New York offense. “He’s done a good job, so he’ll get plenty of playing time,” Daboll said. “Motor, we’ll see how the game’s going and how it transpires. But Motor will play, Tracy will play, (running back Eric) Gray will play. We’ll use all three of those guys.” Given how badly the game went, one would think that Singletary’s receiving and blocking chops would have gotten him on the field. But Tracy out-snapped and out-touched the veteran. The reality is that Tracy earned more work while Singletary was out. Tracy was more explosive. He showed good receiving chops. And the workload is probably going to keep shifting in his direction as another Giants’ season goes down the tubes. Back in the long-ago days of Week 5, Smith-Schuster was a star for the Chiefs, catching seven passes for 130 yards against the Saints. That outburst made Smith-Schuster a very popular waiver add, and he told reporters it was great to be back in Kansas City. “It’s pretty cool to get the band back together,” said Smith-Schuster. “Man, I’m telling you, there is no place like this. What we have here is special. It’s unreal.” Since that game, there has been a bye week, then an injury early in last week’s win over the San Francisco 49ers that has already gotten Smith-Schuster ruled out for Week 8 against the Raiders. It’s Sammy Watkins all over again. Several years back, Watkins would open a season in Kansas City with a massive game. In 2019, he caught nine passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns. The year after that it was seven grabs for 82 yards and a score. Then Watkins would vanish from the fantasy landscape for weeks, if not the entire season. Gary Davenport is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Yell at him on X at @IDPSharks