Roster management is the single most crucial in-season task for fantasy football managers. Knowing which players to let go is arguably as important as who to add. Which players find themselves on our Week 7 fantasy football cut list?
Players You Should Cut in Fantasy Football
All roster percentages are taken from Yahoo.
Trey Sermon, RB, Indianapolis Colts (46%)
With Jonathan Taylor suffering a high ankle sprain in Week 4, Trey Sermon had a terrific opportunity to show what he could do with an increased workload. While he got the start in Week 5 and received 18 carries, he struggled mightily.
Sermon finished with just 29 yards, averaging 1.6 yards per attempt. Tyler Goodson outplayed Sermon, rushing eight times for 51 yards (6.4 yards per attempt) while catching four passes for 14 yards.
Since Taylor’s injury, Sermon has turned 28 carries into just 67 yards, while Goodson’s 13 attempts have netted 77 yards. And the deeper you dive into Sermon’s rushing profile, the worse it gets. Across his two starts, 41.8% of his rushing yards came on two carries, and 37.8% of his attempts this season have failed to gain yardage.
Even if Taylor continues to miss time, the Indianapolis Colts would likely start Goodson over Sermon, who is unplayable in fantasy.
Ty Johnson, RB, Buffalo Bills (12%)
James Cook was a surprise inactive as the Buffalo Bills faced the New York Jets on Monday Night Football, and while Ty Johnson got the start, it was Ray Davis who emerged as the team’s RB1 in Cook’s place.
Davis looked excellent and could be in line for an increased role as the season progresses, rushing 20 times for 97 yards while adding three receptions for 55 yards.
Johnson only ended up with four carries for 34 yards and zero catches. With Davis solidified as the handcuff to roster behind Cook, Johnson belongs on the waiver wire.
Dontayvion Wicks, WR, Green Bay Packers (46%)
It’s crazy how much can change in two weeks. Wicks was fantastic in the Green Bay Packers’ Week 4 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, turning 13 targets into five receptions for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
Wicks seemed poised for a huge role after Christian Watson was believed to have suffered a serious ankle injury and Romeo Doubs was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team. He was viewed as a priority add on the waiver wire, and all eyes were on the wide receiver to see how he’d follow up his terrific performance.
Jordan Love. Dontayvion Wicks. TOUCHDOWN. pic.twitter.com/aXU9l3PhCs
— Lily Zhao (@LilySZhao) September 29, 2024
Well, over the last two weeks, Wicks recorded just three catches for 29 yards, and he suffered a shoulder injury that has him listed as week-to-week. Meanwhile, Watson and Doubs are both back in the starting lineup after the former dodged a bullet with his injury and the latter made amends with the team.
Suddenly, Wicks is back to serving as Green Bay’s WR4, and given that he’ll be sidelined for a bit due to his shoulder injury, it’s understandable if you move on.
Jalen Tolbert, WR, Dallas Cowboys (33%)
Last season, Brandin Cooks was a weekly fantasy contributor since he held a firm grasp on the Dallas Cowboys’ WR2 role. Cooks wasn’t efficient (posting a career-low in yards per route), but he fell into eight touchdowns because he was consistently on the field and in advantageous spots.
With Cooks on IR due to a knee infection, the hope was that Tolbert could duplicate his success. He did just that in Week 5, turning 10 targets into seven catches for 87 yards and a touchdown — good for a WR12 finish.
"You grew up today."
For Jalen Tolbert with the game on the line, a perfect route beat perfect coverage.
#NFLTurningPoint | @LRiddickESPN pic.twitter.com/MCH6azLv7x— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) October 9, 2024
However, last week, Tolbert had just four catches for 43 yards, and now the Cowboys are on bye. That puts fantasy managers in a tough position.
Tolbert isn’t a must-drop by any means. Not only is Cooks’ recovery timeline up in the air, he was struggling prior to the knee infection. In fact, he wasn’t a top-70 receiver in Weeks 2, 3, or 4, and if not for a defensive error in Week 1 that resulted in a 21-yard touchdown, he’d be 0-for-4.
If you play in a league with shallow benches and need to drop Tolbert during his bye, go for it (but try to add him back in seven days). But if you can afford to be patient and keep him stashed on your bench, it could pay off.
Roschon Johnson, RB, Chicago Bears (25%)
After scoring three touchdowns in two weeks, Roschon Johnson came back down to Earth in Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He finished with just five carries for eight yards while adding two catches for 25 yards.
At one point, there were rumblings that the Bears might turn to Johnson as the starter since D’Andre Swift was struggling.
However, Swift has silenced his critics over the last three weeks, totaling 257 rushing yards and three touchdowns plus 13 catches and 147 receiving yards. Now, Johnson is back to being a handcuff who will only have Flex appeal if Swift gets hurt.
Ja’Lynn Polk, WR, New England Patriots (8%)
Prior to the start of the season, there was some hope that Polk could emerge as one of the Patriots’ top receiving weapons. One would think that the quarterback change to Drake Maye would help Polk since they trained together in the offseason and might have a connection.
Unfortunately, in Maye’s first start, Polk had his worst performance of the season, playing just 65% of snaps and catching one pass for four yards. After the game, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo didn’t mince words when discussing Polk’s play.
“He needs to get over this mental hump. You’ve got to eliminate the dropped passes. You’ve got to be better at blocking, which in college he did a great job at that. You have to continue to grow. He has to work harder, has to pay more attention to the details,” Mayo said. “We fully expect him to grow into a receiver that’s dependable on run and pass downs.”
That pretty much sums it up. There may come a time when Polk is worth a roster spot, but he belongs on the waiver wire right now.
Justin Fields, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers (55%)
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin shockingly made a quarterback change on Tuesday, benching Justin Fields despite Pittsburgh’s 4-2 start. All along, Tomlin made it clear that Russell Wilson was benched due to his calf injury and that he would reevaluate things once Wilson was 100% healthy. Now, he’s doing just that.
Fields has always been a terrific fantasy streamer because of his rushing, and the first six weeks were no different. He posted four consecutive top-15 finishes, including a QB1 finish in two of his last three games.
4th down. Justin Fields gets the touchdown.
📺: #PITvsLV on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/fI31lKh6JA— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024
However, Fields had been struggling as a passer recently, completing just 14 passes in Week 6 and 15 passes in Week 5. Also, he posted sub-60% completion percentages in back-to-back games.
Now, Russell Wilson will get a chance to show what he can do under center for Pittsburgh. In Week 7, Wilson will have a brutal matchup against the New York Jets, who are allowing the second-fewest passing yards per game (148.8) and second-fewest passing touchdowns per game (.7).
Darius Slayton, WR, New York Giants (32%)
We know that the wide receiver position doesn’t handcuff quite like the running back position. If a running back goes down, the backup fills a similar role. However, when a receiver gets banged up, the entire target hierarchy adjusts.
Usually.
In the case of the New York Giants, Darius Slayton has walked right into a poor man’s version of the Malik Nabers (concussion) role. In Weeks 1-4, he was targeted on 15 of 135 routes, but with the star rookie sidelined, he’s seen 22 targets on 80 routes (14 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown, a stat line that could be bigger if not for a defensive pass interference in the end zone last week).
With an active Nabers, Slayton sits outside of my top 40 without much question, and he’s a drop. With an inactive Nabers, I think there is a conversation to be had between Slayton, Tank Dell, and receivers like that in the high-end Flex range.
Antonio Gibson, RB, New England Patriots (48%)
With Rhamondre Stevenson sidelined in Week 6, Antonio Gibson saw a season-high 13 carries and four targets. Unfortunately, he turned these touches into just 19 rushing yards (1.5 yards per attempt) and 24 receiving yards.
This was disappointing, as Gibson had been averaging 5.9 yards per attempt entering Week 6. A strong performance may have led to more starts or an increased role, especially given Stevenson’s fumbling issues.
Now, Stevenson has a chance to return from his foot injury in Week 7, as Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo recently told reporters that the running back won’t be sidelined long-term. It certainly seems like Gibson is back to being the handcuff behind Stevenson.
