3 players to drop before Fantasy Football Week 5 feat. Steelers' Najee Harris 

It's Week 5 in the NFL and we've finally got enough of a sample size to be comfortable dropping a select few players in fantasy football. These players are drop candidates based on their production and their team's current stance on them.

Yes, it's hard to drop quality players, usually due to their name recognition. That being said sometimes holding onto them for too long will narrow your options going forward and sour your lineups.

Here are three players that look droppable ahead of Week 5 in fantasy football:

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Fantasy Football Week 5: Which players to dump and why

1] JuJu Smith-Schuster

Fantasy Football Week 5: Which players to dump and why - JuJu Smith-Schuster

The whole New England Patriots team could qualify for this article. JuJu Smith-Schuster came off one of his best seasons in seven years with the Kansas City Chiefs and he probably wishes he took less and stayed there.

This year with the Patriots his stat line is 21 targets, 11 receptions and 80 yards. The Patriots themselves have scored the third-fewest points (55) through four weeks. They also have the fifth-worst turnover differential (-5), meaning they are giving up the ball more than they're taking it away.

So let's dig through the weeds and find out why it's okay to drop JuJu. First off his average distance of target (ADOT) is 6.3, meaning he isn't getting downfield before he gets the ball. Quick throws and a lack of creativity have led to Smith-Schuster getting hurt in this offense.

Then there is the target share (13.8%) which ranks behind: Kendrick Bourne (18.4%), Hunter Henry (15.1%) and Mike Gesicki (14.4%). This shows where he is at on the totem pole and considering he was drafted before all of these guys it's worrisome. This is why it's okay to drop JuJu ahead of Week 5. Unless he puts in a mammoth display, he probably won't be picked up on waivers.

2] Dalvin Cook

Fantasy Football Week 5: Which players to dump and why - Dalvin Cook

Dalvin Cook came into this season thinking he was going to be playing with Aaron Rodgers. No one could've foreseen what would happen just four plays into the 2023 season to the legendary QB. Since that opening game where Cook went for 59 yards and did his part to rally the team, he's only collected 59 yards in the three games since.

What really hurts is that according to Adam Schefter, coach Saleh told reporters that the team will not be limiting RB Breece Hall's workload going forward. This spells disaster for Cook's fantasy value.

Why it is okay to drop Cook ahead of Week 5? First off he's running with a career-low 2.5 yards per carry. His usage has gone down by 25% since Week 1 and has averaged out to 25.6% in the last two weeks.

Cook has six red zone touches, but five of those were in Week 1. It's safe to say Breece Hall is taking the training wheels off this week in a favorable matchup and it's time to let go of this legend.

3] Najee Harris

Fantasy Football Week 5: Which players to dump and why - Najee Harris

This has been a rough year for Najee Harris, as the emergence of Jaylen Warren is becoming a big factor in his usage. Throughout Harris' career, he has relied heavily on volume to push his fantasy football stats. Most importantly Harris' targets have significantly gone down since his rookie year when he had 94.

Last year a Lisfranc injury slowed him down and brought his targets down to 53. This year, Harris has looked a bit slower and Warren is taking advantage of his opportunities, getting almost triple the amount of targets as Harris (22-8). Harris is currently on pace for 34 targets on the season, which would be a career low.

Najee Harris was according to FantasyPros, the RB11 in fantasy football preseason ranks and his ADP was 23. Harris hasn't returned well on that value. This might not be a problem if he wasn't losing snaps to Warren. Harris' season-high usage was 56.9% and his Week 4 usage was his lowest at 49.2%. Warren on the other hand started out at 40.3% and had a season-high 49.2% last week.

This indicates that there might be more of a 50-50 split in this backfield with a chance of Warren officially taking over. So while it is hard to drop an RB1 and someone you spent a low-second or early third-round pick on, it's time to face the music and move on to better options.