Fantasy Football: 5 Players You Can Drop After Week 3

​Duke Johnson, RB, Cleveland Browns

ESPN Ownership: 67%
Yahoo! Ownership: 48%

Another player we expected to break out (or at least maintain his breakout) this season was Cleveland Browns running back Duke Johnson. Just after his tremendous 74-catch 2017 season as the 0-16 Browns’ catch-up running back of choice, Johnson is on-pace for just 27 catches this season. Granted, the Browns are already much better this season than they were last, hanging in with decent teams to a current 1-1-1 record.

Still, very few people expected – after Johnson’s receiving explosion and the draft selection of Nick Chubb in the second round – that it would be free-agent acquisition Carlos Hyde who led the way on both the ground and air for Cleveland in 2018. Sure enough, Hyde has played 56 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, while Johnson has just 41 percent – a far cry from his 53 percent snaps played last season.

To make things muddier for Johnson’s production, where he earned much of his receiving work last year was as a slot receiver. The Brownies, though, went out and traded for premier slot receiver Jarvis Landry this year, who has sapped most of those touches from Johnson (101 wide or slot snaps in 2017; on-pace for 69 in 2018).

Currently averaging 6.7 opportunities (rushes plus targets) per game, Johnson is on-pace for career-lows across the board and is highly droppable.