Fantasy Football: 3 Players You Can Drop After Week 2

Every week, basically every fantasy website in the industry puts out a waiver wire column -- here's ours for this week. But in some instances, the real problem isn't deciding who to pick up; it's figuring out which players to part ways with.

Knowing when to drop an under-performing player is a tough call, but I'm here to help you out.

These are tough decisions to make -- if they weren't, I wouldn't need to write this article. But it doesn't have to be so hard. After this past week, here are some players you can drop and why.

All NFL projections via our numbers at FanDuel Research, and NFL odds references are to FanDuel Sportsbook. Statistics via NFL Next-Gen Stats and Pro Football Focus unless otherwise stated.

Fantasy Football Players to Drop After Week 2

Colston Loveland, TE, Bears

The tight end position has lacked production on the Chicago Bears thus far. Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland have combined for only nine targets, five receptions, and 72 receiving yards through two games. Between the two, Loveland has gotten the short end of the stick.

He has only three targets, two catches, and 12 receiving yards compared to Kmet's six targets, three receptions, and 60 receiving yards. Kmet remains this unit's TE1, carrying an 89.8% snap share and 64.3% route rate. Meanwhile, Loveland has a 55.9% snap rate and 44.0% route share. Even his red zone snap rate is only 25.0%, making a big blow to his touchdown potential.

Loveland's efficiency has lacked, too, holding a -14.1% catch rate over expectation (CROE) and -7.3 receiving yards over expectation (RecYOE), per NFL Next Gen Stats.

The Bears used the 10th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Loveland, leading many fantasy managers to predict a significant role ahead. We just haven't seen that so far. At this point, I can't ignore Loveland's lack of work through two games.

Braelon Allen, RB, Jets

Braelon Allen generated offseason hype as many expected the second-year back to dip into Breece Hall's workload. This even reflected in his average draft position (ADP) in half-PPR leagues -- via FantasyPros -- as RB41 and 112.7 overall. However, Allen's fantasy production has been a dud.

After totaling six rushing attempts for nine rushing yards (1.5 yards per carry) and a rushing touchdown in Week 1, Allen's work took a step back in Week 2 with two carries for 11 rushing yards (5.5 yards per rushing attempt). His 6.9 fantasy points in Week 1 was nothing to write home about, but Week 2's 1.1 total has me hitting the panic button.

Hall took 58.1% of the snaps in Week 1 while Allen totaled a 30.6% share. Hall posted a similar snap share of 63.8% in Week 2, but Allen's snap rate fell to 19.1% with Isaiah Davis posting a 21.3% snap share. After leading the team with a 30.0% red zone rushing attempt share to open 2025, Allen at least took all of the red zone carries in Week 2.

Allen simply feels like a handcuff -- similar to last season. Hall's production of 0.41 rushing yards over expectation (RYOE) per carry only adds to this point. The New York Jets clearly view Hall as their workhorse, awarding him with 21.5 adjusted opportunities per game compared to Allen's 5.0 per-game average.

Kaleb Johnson, RB, Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers' rookie running back Kaleb Johnson has recorded 0.1 fantasy points through two weeks, yet he's still rostered in 73% of leagues, according to Yahoo Sports.

Ahead of Week 2, we expressed our concerns with Kenneth Gainwell comfortably holding the Steelers' RB2 role. However, Johnson still felt like a piece worth stashing. Pittsburgh's offense came back to Earth with 17 points in Week 2, and Johnson's role remained almost nonexistent. It may be time to cut ties.

He's taken only two snaps in back-to-back weeks. Meanwhile, Gainwell has a 46.9% snap share compared to Jaylen Warren's 52.2% snap rate. Even in an extremely small sample size of two rushing attempts, Johnson has posted -1.34 RYOE per carry.

Johnson is likely nowhere close to becoming a fantasy contributor. His kickoff snafu only hurts his trust with this Pittsburgh coaching staff.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.