Roster management is the single most crucial in-season task for fantasy football managers. Knowing which players to let go is as important as adding the right guys. Which players find themselves on our Week 8 fantasy football cut list?
All roster percentages are taken from Yahoo.
Players You Should Cut in Fantasy Football
Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs (99%)
By no means do you absolutely have to drop Patrick Mahomes. But the biggest problem fantasy managers often face when it comes to elite players is actually having the stones to part with them when it’s warranted.
We are now through seven weeks of the season. Mahomes’ best game was 17.38 fantasy points. He’s been remarkably consistent, scoring between 14 and 17.38 fantasy points in every game. What exactly is that doing for you? Those are worse than streamer numbers. Drake Maye has made two starts and hit 20+ in both. There’s just no reason to continue trotting Mahomes out there.
Marcus Mariota scored 19.6 standard fantasy points on Sunday. Patrick Mahomes' season high in points scored is 16.4.
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) October 21, 2024
Justin Fields, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers (32%)
I hate this one so much. While I must give credit to Russell Wilson for playing quite well in a blowout win over the Jets, Justin Fields did nothing to deserve his benching. Nevertheless, he is now a backup quarterback and we cannot be rostering backup quarterbacks in fantasy.
If Wilson gets hurt, Fields will immediately be the No. 1 pickup at quarterback the following week. In fact, if you have an open roster spot on a Sunday morning, it’s not the worst idea to stash Fields every week, see what happens in the Steelers’ game, and then drop him afterward if Wilson is fine.
Trey Sermon, RB, Indianapolis Colts (35%)
It sure looks like it’s over for Trey Sermon. Jonathan Taylor is nearing a return, which would completely erase what little remains of Sermon’s fantasy value. But more importantly, even if Taylor is out another week, Sermon is no longer startable.
The gap between Sermon and Tyler Goodson disappeared last week. The snaps were close, but the touches were not. Goodson doubled up Sermon in carries, and it was actually Goodson punching in the short touchdown.
If Taylor sits another week, Goodson is the back to start, not Sermon.
Zamir White, RB, Las Vegas Raiders (36%)
Zamir White returned after a two-week absence and confirmed what we already knew before he got hurt — he lost the RB1 job to Alexander Mattison. It wasn’t the injury. It was performance. This was happening regardless.
White could have been dropped three weeks ago. If you were waiting to be sure, now we are sure.
Mattison played 70% of the snaps. Second on the team was Ameer Abdullah. White was third. He touched the ball four times. It’s over.
Brandon Aiyuk, WR, San Francisco 49ers (99%)
This is the worst type of name to put on this list. Brandon Aiyuk tore his ACL in the 49ers’ loss to the Chiefs. His season is over and he can be safely dropped.
Rashid Shaheed, WR, New Orleans Saints (47%)
Clearly, a bunch of fantasy managers have already dropped Rashid Shaheed. Sadly, the Saints WR2 tore his meniscus and opted for the full repair. He is done for the season and can be safely dropped as well.
DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Tennessee Titans (49%)
Before his training camp knee injury, I was actually very much in on a DeAndre Hopkins bounceback. The injury bailed me out of a bad take.
It appears to be over for the future Hall of Famer. Hopkins has now failed to reach 2.0 fantasy points in half of his games this season. In two others, he failed to reach double digits. He has one WR1 game mixed in, but that is not enough of a reason to continue rostering him.
Dalton Schultz, TE, Houston Texans (71%)
Dalton Schultz is the perennial streamer. If you ever need a desperation tight end pickup to not get you zero, Schultz is your man. But you don’t actually need to roster him on a weekly basis.
Schultz has scored no lower than 3.1 fantasy points this season, but he’s also never scored more than 7.4. Even with Nico Collins out, Schultz’s productivity hasn’t improved. He saw just two targets against the Packers last week. You can drop him.
Players You Might Consider Dropping but Shouldn’t
JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Kansas City Chiefs (45%)
Fantasy managers were undoubtedly disappointed by JuJu Smith-Schuster’s failed attempt at playing through his hamstring strain. But that’s not enough of a reason to drop him. The issue was the injury — not any change in role.
We saw what happened after Smith-Schuster went down. The Chiefs started utilizing more 12 personnel with Noah Gray. They schemed up some plays for Mecole Hardman. It got so bad that they even had to put Skyy Moore on the field for an outrageous 33 snaps.
Rashee Rice is not coming back. Smith-Schuster may end up having to miss some time, but you should stash him on IR rather than drop him. When he does return, he will immediately resume his role as the Rice fill-in, which, as we saw two weeks ago, can be quite productive.
50-yard completion for JuJu and he’s at 117 yards on 6 catches!
📺: #NOvsKC on ESPN
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/7djKfPURaE— NFL (@NFL) October 8, 2024
Wan’Dale Robinson, WR, New York Giants (65%)
If you are considering dropping Wan’Dale Robinson, please do not. While Robinson may never been a matchup-winner, there is plenty of value in what he brings.
Robinson is the ultimate floor guy. His 8.3 fantasy points last week actually marked his lowest game of the season. How many WRs can you say that about? The answer may literally be zero.
Robinson is second in the NFL in targets. He’s the clear WR2 on the Giants and has been usable in fantasy almost every week. Do not drop him.
Jerome Ford, RB, Cleveland Browns (52%)
By no means is Jerome Ford a must-hold. Nick Chubb is back, and his usage will continue to slowly ramp up until he gets back to being the clear RB1. Plus, Ford is currently out with a hamstring strain. It’s entirely possible, if not likely, that Ford returns to a role that isn’t usable in fantasy.
With that said, Ford should return as the RB2 behind Chubb. He should be the guy playing on passing downs. As great as Chubb is all-time, this is still a 29-year-old running back returning from a devastating knee injury. At worst, Ford remains a strong handcuff, especially now that the Browns’ offensive environment is set to improve following the loss of Deshaun Watson.
DeMario Douglas, WR, New England Patriots (42%)
Heading into Week 7, DeMario Douglas had seen nine targets in three of his last four games. He scored at least 11.9 fantasy points in those three games.
Ja’Lynn Polk is really struggling and is not a threat to see any sort of increased role. Douglas is Drake Maye’s clear favorite target. So, what happened last week? Douglas was sick. An illness limited Douglas to just a 33% snap share.
While Douglas isn’t typically on the field on clear run plays or 12 personnel, the Patriots are unlikely to experience much positive game script. When they throw, Douglas is still the WR1.
The Patriots have a truly brutal stretch of pass defenses coming up. If you absolutely need to cut Douglas, you can. But his role is good enough that he still is worthy of a spot on the back of fantasy benches.
Braelon Allen, RB, New York Jets (41%)
It’s always tricky figuring out what to do with pure handcuffs. If you’ve rostered Braelon Allen all season, you haven’t really had a chance to use him. But take someone like Tank Bigsby. He wasn’t startable either…until he was. That’s how quickly Allen can go from “wasting a roster spot” to every week must-start.
Allen was making a push for standalone value earlier this season. Following Robert Saleh’s dismissal, though, the Jets have recommitted to Breece Hall as their bell cow.
Jets RB touches under HC Jeff Ulbrich:
Breece Hall 41
Braelon Allen 6— John Daigle (@notJDaigle) October 21, 2024
Hall’s snap shares have been 82% and 87% over the past two weeks. There’s just nothing left for Allen.
At this point, if you want to drop Allen, I get it. He has absolutely zero fantasy value as long as Hall is healthy. But injuries happen all the time and without warning in the NFL. If you can find a way to keep Allen stashed, he remains one of the best handcuffs in fantasy.
