Fantasy Football: 5 Players You Can Drop After Week 2

Rex Burkhead, RB, New England Patriots

ESPN Ownership: 86%
Yahoo! Ownership: 88%

I was never on the bandwagon when people started drafting New England Patriots running back Rex Burkhead, on average, in the fifth round of redraft leagues this year. Burkhead has suffered a bevy of injuries over his career. Plus, the Patriots love to split touches in their backfield, they use James White in the receiving game, and just spent a first-round pick on Sony Michel in the 2018 NFL Draft. With all this considered, Burkhead felt like the easiest trap to avoid in 2018 drafts.

Still, more than 80 percent of you are holding onto Burkhead despite every single one of these concerns coming true.

In the aftermath of Week 1, Burkhead was in the concussion protocol (yet another ding), and despite his 18 rushing attempts he mustered just 3.6 yards per attempt. His attempts and snaps played took a nosedive in Week 2, with the return of rookie Michel from injury and the Patriots trailing. Burkhead was nowhere to be seen in the second and third quarters, and only got six opportunities (rushes plus targets). He was in on just 23 percent of the offensive snaps in Week 2, while Michel was in on 21 percent, and White stayed on for 56 percent.

It seems clear that Burkhead’s usage is, at best, game-flow dependent. Michel should start picking up most of the goal-line work, and White maintains a stranglehold on the receiving game. That just doesn’t leave enough opportunity for Burkhead to be fantasy-viable.