Tony Pollard: Entering week 11, Tony Pollard has still failed to score a touchdown since week 1. For someone, whom many fantasy managers drafted to be not only their RB1, but potentially RB1 in all of fantasy, that’s—to cite the Canadian Band BBNG—bad bad not good. With that being said, Dallas’ offense is an absolute powerhouse, and they continue to have favorable matchups in the coming weeks. The possibility of Pollard continuing to be a fantasy slouch is near zero with upcoming matchups against the Panthers, Commanders, and Seahawks on the horizon. If you’ve held on to Pollard this long, there’s no use in jumping ship now. Continue to Hold Pollard, and trust that his best days are coming, and just in time for fantasy playoffs.
Trevor Lawrence: 10 weeks in, and we are still waiting on the promised year 3 breakout from Trevor Lawrence. After an abysmal rookie year, Lawrence began to show signs of fantasy life in his second season, even entering elite territory towards the second half of the campaign, (averaging close to 20 fantasy ppg). This led many to believe he’d continue to build upon that success in year 3. Past the midway point of the fantasy season, Lawrence is currently the 24th ranked QB on a ppg basis, behind the likes of Baker Mayfield, Will Levis, and Jordan Love—yeah so much for that presumed success. While it seems hard to imagine Lawrence not improving at least to a certain degree on his mediocre season thus far, there’s not a ton of evidence to support major improvement. While Lawrence does offer some mobility from the QB position, he doesn’t have the same rushing upside—and therefore fantasy floor—as a player like Lamar Jackson. If Lawrence isn’t throwing for multiple passing touchdowns—which he’s only done twice this year—it’s more of an issue. With a strong rushing game to lean on, and a relatively unfavorable set of upcoming matchups, it’s probably best to Fold Trevor Lawrence and seek a more steady, perhaps ‘smaller’ name player to insert into your lineup.
Lamar Jackson: This is not how things were supposed to go for Lamar Jackson this year. After 2 years of struggling to stay healthy, this was supposed to be the year he returned to being a full fledged fantasy monster. Optimism rained supreme coming into the year, as the Ravens hired a new OC—Todd Monken, and brought in some new receiving threats in rookie 1st rounder Zay Flower, and veteran Odell Beckham Jr. We were promised a revamped, pass first—or at least pass happy—offense. 11 weeks in however, and Lamar Jackson has thrown for over 300 yards just once(!), and has multiple touchdown passes in just 4 games. With all that being said, much like Tony Pollard, Jackson has a favorable schedule as the fantasy playoffs approach, and is a strong candidate to pick up his level of play in the coming weeks. The star turn towards fantasy dominance has already begun in fact, with Jackson taking advantage of an inferior Bengals’ defense on Thursday Night Football, posting a gaudy statline of 264 yards through the air, another 54 on the ground, and 2 touchdowns. With Jackson’s elite QB rushing keeping his fantasy level floor relatively high, and upcoming matchups against the Chargers, Rams, and Jaguars, it’s a safe bet to Hold Lamar Jackson, knowing that his best days are yet to come.
Christian Watson: At the start of the season, the jury was still out on former 1st round pick Jordan Love. The QB watched mostly from the sideline for the first 2 years, as Aaron Rodgers piloted the Green Bay offense. Part of that piloting included taking advantage of the speed and athleticism of 2022 second round pick Christian Watson. In his rookie campaign, Rodgers helped Watson reach totals of 611 receiving yards, and 7 touchdowns. 6 Games into his sophomore campaign, and Watson is sitting at 236 receiving yards, and 1 touchdown. At this point I think it’s fair to say the jury is officially in on Jordan Love, and the general consensus is not great. At this stage of his career, Love just doesn’t seem capable of keeping a fantasy relevant receiver like Watson afloat. With Love under center it’s hard to see much changing in the coming weeks, and as a result, it’s not only officially past time to panic, but also past time to Fold on Christian Watson.
Kyle Pitts: There’s no better way to sum up the Kyle Pitts experience than to quote the great Maya Angelou, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them”. Now, whether this quote applies more to Kyle Pitts or Arthur Smith—his Head Coach—is a fair question, but regardless, this is now back to back seasons that Kyle Pitts is essentially a fantasy non-factor. After a promising, and somewhat historic rookie season, Pitts has accumulated a grand total of 775 yards, and 3 total touchdowns since. Even for a position that is often viewed as a barren wasteland, Pitts is fantasy relevant in name only. Let me put it like this, If his name weren’t Kyle Pitts, he’d be on your waiver wire. Whether it’s because of poor quarterback play—yes Desmond Ridder was bad, but Heineke is not the answer—, or poor coaching—please no more goal-line end-arounds to Jonnu Smith—it’s long past time to Fold Kyle Pitts.
