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 9 fantasy football cut list?
All roster percentages are taken from Yahoo.
Players You Should Cut in Fantasy Football
Anthony Richardson, QB, Indianapolis Colts (72%)
The ability of Anthony Richardson to maintain his predraft value despite having virtually no sample size of high-end success is truly fascinating. Now more than halfway through the fantasy season, we’re past the point where “it’s coming” for Richardson. It’s not.
Richardson hasn’t given fantasy managers a startable outing since Week 1. He’s constantly banged up, he’s inaccurate, and if the Indianapolis Colts have any serious playoff aspirations, they will bench him for Joe Flacco.
Update: The Colts did, in fact, bench Richardson for Flacco.
Prior to getting hurt, Deshaun Watson looked like the worst QB in football. Yet…
A-Rich, buddy pic.twitter.com/FqkfgvI6Xs
— Denny Carter (@CDCarter13) October 28, 2024
It’s difficult to truly contextualize how poorly Richardson has played. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean he still can’t be a good fantasy asset.
But in single QB leagues, we cannot be rostering real life NFL backups, no matter how good they might be when starting. And Richardson was not good.
Justin Fields is an every-week QB1 when he starts. But as long as Russell Wilson is healthy, that’s not going to happen. If we can’t hang onto Fields, we can’t hang onto Richardson.
Caleb Williams, QB, Chicago Bears (80%)
Is this overreacting to one bad game? Maybe. But is it one bad game?
Caleb Williams played four bad games to start the season, followed that up with two great ones, and now posted another dud.
Lot of box score watchers are going to see Caleb Williams only completing 25% of his passes and averaging 2.3 yards per attempt and they will assume that he's played horribly and they will be correct
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) October 27, 2024
Williams is probably startable this week against the Arizona Cardinals. His rest-of-season schedule is a bunch of average pass defenses, so he may emerge as a streamer at some point. He also could just figure it out and be an every-week QB1.
There are arguments on both sides here, but if you want to drop Williams after his 9.34-point outing against the Washington Commanders, I won’t stand in your way.
Christian Kirk, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars (74%)
This is the worst type of cut list player. Christian Kirk broke his collarbone in Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers. Kirk’s injury is season-ending; thus, fantasy managers can drop the talented slot receiver.
Jordan Mason, RB, San Francisco 49ers (92%)
Remember the first month of the season when Jordan Mason was averaging 18.6 fantasy points per game? He was an every-week must-start RB1…it seems so long ago.
Mason has not hit double-digit fantasy points since. He’s left two of his last four games early due to injury. And, in both instances, he got hurt, said he was fine, returned to the game, and then exited for good shortly thereafter.
Now, Mason has a twofold problem. First, Isaac Guerendo has looked better. There’s a nonzero chance that he would be the starter going forward. Second, Christian McCaffrey is set to return following the team’s Week 9 bye.
The RB1 for the San Francisco 49ers is a very valuable fantasy asset. If you want to hold Mason to see how things play out, that’s perfectly reasonable. Given how this season has gone, we should believe McCaffrey is back when we see him on the field.
But given that Mason is no longer the obvious and unquestioned handcuff to McCaffrey and the upcoming bye week, it may be time to say goodbye to Mason if you need the roster spot.
Tyler Lockett, WR, Seattle Seahawks (68%)
At 32 years old, Tyler Lockett is finally showing signs of slowing down. He’s been overtaken by Jaxon Smith-Njigba (who has his own issues) as the Seattle Seahawks’ WR2. Yet, neither guy can hold a candle to DK Metcalf.
Lockett has hit double-digit fantasy points just four times all season. Last week, in a game where the Seahawks faced negative game script throughout — in a game where Metcalf did not play — Lockett managed just one catch for nine yards.
It’s hard to justify holding him, especially in shallower leagues.
Rashod Bateman, WR, Baltimore Ravens (37%)
It was a really nice three-week run for Rashod Bateman. He scored 15.8, 11.1, and 22.1 fantasy points from Weeks 5-7. Last week, he only had one catch for 28 yards.
The one dud week following three good weeks is not reason enough to drop a player. It’s the underlying concerns.
For starters, Bateman still hasn’t been commanding volume. He’s seen more than five targets in a game just once all season.
Now, the Ravens have traded for Diontae Johnson. While Bateman and Zay Flowers will reportedly remain the top two receivers on the team, Johnson’s talent should win out rather quickly. At the bare minimum, it’s another piece of this offense and another player who is going to get the ball. The number of people eating the pie increased, but the size of the pie did not.
Bateman was already nothing more than a fantasy WR4. Now, he’s probably not going to be startable.
Cole Kmet, TE, Chicago Bears (72%)
What a strange season it’s been for Cole Kmet. The Chicago Bears TE has two games of 24 and 25.7 fantasy points, yet he’s practically been unstartable every other week.
Kmet caught his lone target for 14 yards last week, as well as a two-point conversion. He’s still part of the Bears’ offense but did see his role diminish a bit last week, running a route on just 60% of Williams’ dropbacks.
There will be TE1 weeks in the future. Will you ever know when they are in advance? No.
You can safely drop Kmet.
Romeo Doubs, WR, Green Bay Packers (69%)
It seems like Romeo Doubs exists perpetually on the fantasy roster bubble. He’s not good enough to be an every-week starter, but his weekly upside is high enough that there’s usually someone who has use for him on any given week.
Doubs caught three passes for 72 yards last week. He’s now hit double-digit fantasy points in three straight games. In Weeks 6 and 7, he posted WR1 numbers.
If you drop Doubs, rest assured his name will pop up on the waiver wire column at a later date this season. But I do understand if you need to.
Jordan Love is dealing with a groin injury, and the Packers have a Week 10 bye. It makes all the sense in the world for the team to be cautious, hold him out this week, and get him 100% for the stretch run beginning in Week 1.
No Packers WR outside of maybe Jayden Reed is startable with Malik Willis. You obviously can’t start any Packer in Week 10, and two weeks is a long time to hold a fringe WR4. Doubs is not a must-cut, but he is someone you can drop without worrying too much.
Players You Can Consider Cutting But Might Not Want To
Jauan Jennings, WR, San Francisco 49ers (59%)
Jauan Jennings was a speculative add last week in light of Brandon Aiyuk’s season-ending injury and Deebo Samuel Sr.’s hospitalization with pneumonia.
I understand the issue with Jennings; he’s currently hurt. Samuel is (mostly) healthy (he should be fine with a full two weeks to rest), and the 49ers have their bye week.
With that said, this is a player who showed a crazy high ceiling, posting 46.5 fantasy points in Week 3. Jennings should be back following the bye, and there’s no guarantee Ricky Pearsall has overtaken him as the WR3.
Given that Jennings was out this past week, the fantasy platforms will allow him to remain on your IR spot through the bye week — I wouldn’t be letting him go just yet.
Jordan Addison, WR, Minnesota Vikings (76%)
One key way I evaluate how young receivers will perform in subsequent seasons is based on their rookie-year performance. Jordan Addison’s rookie year suggested a WR1 season was in his future, yet his sophomore-year performance has him on the brink of getting cut.
Fantasy managers significantly devalued Addison coming into this year due to Kirk Cousins’s departure. But Sam Darnold has been great, and quarterback play has not been an issue.
Addison just isn’t earning targets.
He’s commanded more than four targets just once this season. Outside of his anomalously efficient Week 4 game, Addison has failed to reach double-digit fantasy points.
I still believe in the talent. He was very good as a rookie (amassing over 900 receiving yards), so it’s extremely unlikely he ends up being a bust.
Addison is also still the clear WR2 on the Minnesota Vikings, running a route on 100% of Darnold’s dropbacks last week. I understand if you are compelled to drop Addison, but I wouldn’t cut bait just yet.
Rico Dowdle, RB, Dallas Cowboys (70%)
It’s not that surprising to see fantasy managers wanting to cut Rico Dowdle. There’s something especially aggravating when a player who was completely healthy surprisingly misses a prime-time game, leaving managers with very limited alternatives.
But, please, do not drop Dowdle.
The Dallas Cowboys are not a good team this year, but they can still be good for fantasy. This defense has taken a significant step back from last year, resulting in the need for more offensive production.
Without Dowdle, the Cowboys were forced to roll out a backfield duo that was simultaneously one of the greatest and worst of all time. Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook are two of the best running backs of the past decade. In 2024, you won’t see a lesser duo.
Dallas’ running game hit a nadir, with Elliott and Cook forced to be the only two in action. It’s very clearly over for both former greats. Zeke ran the ball 10 times for 34 yards, while Cook, who was undoubtedly the fresher of the two, managed 12 yards on six carries.
Dowdle was dealing with an unexpected illness but should be fine going forward. I expect his workload to increase, as he is the only NFL-caliber RB on the roster.
Again, do not cut Dowdle.
Zack Moss, RB, Cincinnati Bengals (77%)
I am placing Zack Moss on the “don’t cut yet” part of this column, but I don’t feel nearly as strongly about it as I do with Dowdle above.
After starting the season so strong, Moss has topped out at 8.2 fantasy points over his last four games. This is despite quality involvement as a receiver, catching at least three passes in three of his last four games.
The Bengals have a very good offense. You want pieces of it, and Moss actually outsnapped Chase Brown last week — largely because Moss is the more trusted pass blocker, and the Bengals faced negative game script.
Given Moss’ recent production, I understand if you’ve had enough. But there’s still ambiguity here. With nearly half a season left, I’m willing to wait a couple more weeks to see if Moss truly is droppable.