Roster management is the single most crucial in-season task for fantasy football players. Just as important as adding the right players is knowing when players need to go. Which players find themselves on our Week 8 fantasy football cut list?
Who Should You Cut in Fantasy Football in Week 8?
The Week 8 fantasy football cut list consists of a number of running backs and wide receivers. This week’s cut list consists of several running backs, a rookie wide receiver, and a veteran quarterback we would not have expected to have on this list in the preseason. Note that all roster percentages are from Yahoo.
Russell Wilson, QB, Denver Broncos (66% Rostered)
Seeing Russell Wilson at 66% rostered means that about a third of you are away ahead of me. Truthfully, I should’ve had Wilson here two weeks ago. Whether Wilson returns to face the Jaguars in London or not, I don’t really care. He’s just not a good quarterback anymore.
Wilson hasn’t thrown for over 300 yards since Week 1. He has five touchdowns in six games, with just one multi-TD game. Prior to 2022, Wilson’s worst single-season completion percentage was 61.3%. This season, it’s 58.6%.
He doesn’t run anymore. He’s making poor decisions and inaccurate throws. Wilson is not even a weekly QB2 and can be dropped.
Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets (98% Rostered)
I don’t wanna talk about it. Breece Hall is so incredibly good at football. Every injury is awful, but this is right up there with Javonte Williams for the most soul-crushing injury of the season.
Hall tore his ACL in the Jets’ win over the Broncos. He’s done for the season and can be safely dropped. Michael Carter will take over as the lead back.
Jeff Wilson Jr., RB, San Francisco 49ers (56% Rostered)
Jeff Wilson Jr. being rostered in only 56% of leagues already says it all. Fantasy managers are wise to what Christian McCaffrey’s arrival means for Wilson. Simply put, he’s toast.
Wilson carried the ball seven times for 54 yards against the Chiefs. He looked good, too! It just doesn’t matter. McCaffrey is here now. After being with the team just two days, CMC already out-carried Wilson 8-7.
Next week, McCaffrey will be a full go, and Wilson will be nothing more than a handcuff. You can still hang onto Wilson like any other handcuff, but he no longer has standalone fantasy value.
Mike Boone, RB, Denver Broncos (13% Rostered)
Since Mike Boone is only on 13% of rosters, I won’t belabor the point too much. This backfield is a split between Melvin Gordon III and Latatiuvs Murray. On Sunday, Gordon played 40 snaps to Murray’s 31.
Boone, meanwhile, played just nine. He’s not even the passing-down back. Boone ran just three routes compared to 15 for Murray and 27 for Gordon.
Every time Boone has found himself in a position to get increased work, his team has always signed someone else. There’s clearly a reason for it. Boone just won’t ever matter. Drop him.
AJ Dillon, RB, Green Bay Packers (91% Rostered)
I’m taking a big fat L on this one. While my overall fade of Aaron Jones wasn’t necessarily wrong, my love affair with AJ Dillon very clearly was.
Dillon hasn’t reached double-digit fantasy points since Week 1. He’s really hit rock bottom the past three weeks with carry counts of six, 10, and four, respectively. Taking pretty much all of Dillon’s lowers on Underdog Fantasy has been a winning play for weeks now. Against the Commanders, Dillon played just 16 snaps. This backfield is back to belonging to Jones.
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Part of why I loved Dillon was my belief he would dominate goal-line work on a very good offense. I failed to account for the fact that the Packers’ offense would be broken. They are averaging just 18.2 points per game. Dillon can’t punch in short touchdowns when the Packers are so infrequently in scoring position.
There’s still value in Dillon as a handcuff to Jones. But the value in Dillon as a fifth-round pick this season was that he would be a standalone RB2. He has exactly zero fantasy value unless Jones gets hurt. If you want to drop him, you can.
Kenyan Drake, RB, Baltimore Ravens (63% Rostered)
Welp. So much for Kenyan Drake RB2 week. Just one week after posting a 100-yard rushing effort, the Ravens activated Gus Edwards and relegated Drake to a backup role.
Drake played just 26% of the snaps, carrying the ball 11 times for five yards. For those keeping score at home, that is less than a half-yard per carry. I can’t imagine that’s going to earn him any additional work.
Edwards’ snap share was only 36%, but that will rise to around 50-55% going forward, further minimizing Drake’s role. He was even out-snapped by Justice Hill, who looks to be the passing-down back. Drake is a drop in all formats.
Chase Edmonds, RB, Miami Dolphins (58% Rostered)
I understand why Chase Edmonds is still rostered in 58% of leagues. Fantasy managers know he has no standalone value. But Raheem Mostert hasn’t exactly been the pinnacle of health throughout his career. If he were to get hurt, Edmonds would become the lead back…in theory.
I’m here to disavow you all of that belief. From what we’ve seen from Edmonds this season, I don’t think it would matter. Edmonds looks downright awful.
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Over the past four weeks, he’s carried the ball 15 times for 27 yards. That’s over four games! Edmonds didn’t catch either of his two targets Sunday night. Even worse, he looked completely lost attempting to catch them — just flailing at the ball.
If Mostert were to get hurt, I don’t believe Edmonds would be startable. He’s clearly not startable now. Accordingly, there’s no reason to keep him on fantasy rosters.
Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets (50% Rostered)
I love Garrett Wilson. On another team — or on this team with another quarterback — he’d be an every-week WR2. But we have enough of a sample size to establish that Zach Wilson is not going to throw to his name buddy.
Over the past three weeks, Garrett hasn’t caught more than four passes in a game for more than 27 yards. He saw 25 targets between Weeks 2 and 3. Since then, he’s averaging five targets per game. Sadly, Wilson can be returned to the waiver wire you grabbed him from.