Fantasy Football 2019 Busts: Players You Can Drop Right Now Before The Season Starts

Most drafts are done, and in the aftermath, it’s surprising to see certain players either owned way too much or way too little. These guys below are over-owned, and are wasting a valuable roster space on teams all over the place. Read this, then immediately head to your waiver wire and make a move.

Tony Pollard, RB (70% Owned)

If you haven’t seen the news, here it is. Those who drafted Pollard in the hopes of snagging a cheap starting RB for a few weeks have had their hopes dashed. He’s also likely owned by tons of Zeke owners, who now wasted a mid-round pick insuring their top man. No matter your reasons for drafting Pollard, you now have absolutely no reason to own him. The fourth-rounder out of Memphis definitely had some moments in the preseason, but he has never even hit 80 rushing attempts in a season, and that’s in college. He has proven he can catch the ball out of the backfield, but in Dallas Elliott is as true a three-down back as you’ll ever see. Ezekiel Elliott does not need to be handcuffed, and Pollard is not a sure bet for a full workload even if Zeke did suffer a catastrophic injury or get suspended.

Kareem Hunt, RB, Browns (53% Owned)

Hunt is owned in more than half of Yahoo leagues, which goes to show you how much name value matters. Hunt was ridiculous last year, averaging 4.6 yards per carry and racking up 824 yards and seven touchdowns in just 11 games. Even more impressive, he cracked 1,200 yards from scrimmage in his shortened season. While he’s no longer in the Chiefs’ high-powered offense, he’s now joined the Browns, who figure to have a damn good offense of their own.

That’s great and all, but Hunt should probably not be drafted at all. He’s missing the first eight games of the season because he was recorded shoving and kicking a woman. The video was so bad the Chiefs cut him damn near immediately, and in the middle of a playoff push. This is the same team that hung on to WR Tyreek Hill, and traded for DE Frank Clark. Aside from that, the absolute earliest you’ll be able to play Hunt is in Week 10. Because Cleveland’s bye week comes in Week 7, Hunt won’t be eligible to suit up until halfway through the actual NFL season. Complicating matters even further, he’s already behind Nick Chubb on the depth chart, a player going in the first round of most drafts. If Chubb is having the season most feel he’s capable of, why would Cleveland force feed the ball to Hunt? So even though Hunt is eligible to come back in Week 9, who is starting him if Chubb’s been rolling? You need to see how the Browns will deploy him, leaving Week 10 as the earliest you can conceivably use him. Why roster him for that long, especially when in most platforms he won’t be eligible for your IR spot? If you’ve made the mistake already, fix it now. Drop him and pick up a lottery ticket at RB who, at bare minimum, will be allowed to play.

Kyle Rudolph, TE, Vikings (76% Owned)

Rudolph was a nice source of TDs for a few seasons before falling off a cliff in 2018 and scoring just four times. He caught a career-high 64 passes in his first season with Kirk Cousins, and tallied 634 yards, but without the touchdowns he was incredibly underwhelming. This year, it’s possible that he’ll return to touchdown glory. Unfortunately, I’m not a believer, as Cousins will have far superior options like Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs and RB Dalvin Cook to utilize over Rudolph.

Rudolph is owned in more leagues than Trey Burton (68%), Jimmy Graham (46%), Greg Olsen (68%), all of whom are more central to their offenses, and T.J. Hockenson (53%), Dallas Goedert (18%), and Noah Fant (15%) who have significantly more talent. If you don’t land an upper tier TE, why not take a shot at one of these TEs with a bigger role or bigger upside?