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 6 fantasy football cut list?
Quarterbacks: Geno Smith, QB, Las Vegas Raiders
Rostered: 36%
To say Geno Smith has misplayed would be a monumental understatement. It’s been so bad that there is a legitimate chance he gets benched for Kenny Pickett.
Outside of Week 3 in pure garbage time against the Washington Commanders, Smith has no games of 19+ fantasy points. Meanwhile, he has two games in single digits.
Smith has thrown six touchdowns against a league-leading nine interceptions. Brock Bowers is likely out through the Las Vegas Raiders’ Week 8 bye. The schedule is not easy. It’s hard to see a spot where Smith would be worth starting.
Running Backs: Joe Mixon, RB, Houston Texans
Rostered: 53%
We’ve reached the point in the season where injuries and bye weeks are starting to take their toll on fantasy rosters. Even though Joe Mixon doesn’t directly cost a roster spot, he may indirectly do so if he occupies an IR spot that another player could use.
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If you have a relatively healthy team and open IR spots, by all means, don’t drop Mixon. This is for the fantasy managers who need to make moves, but aren’t quite sure if it’s okay to drop him. It is.
We haven’t gotten any concrete updates on Mixon’s timeline to return. Every bit of news we have gotten has been pessimistic. The most likely scenario is he doesn’t play football this year. Do not feel obligated to hold Mixon any longer.
Braelon Allen, RB, New York Jets
Rostered: 30%
Many of you have already moved on from Braelon Allen, and rightfully so. The New York Jets’ RB2 had carved out a nice role alongside Breece Hall. Unfortunately, he suffered a sprained MCL two weeks ago that is far more serious than your typical knee sprain.
Allen is on IR and expected to miss 8-12 weeks. The Jets are winless. They are not making the playoffs. There will be no incentive to bring Allen back for the final few weeks. Even if they did, fantasy managers would have no reason to put him in lineups. There is no reason to hold onto him.
Wide Receivers: Darius Slayton, WR, New York Giants
Rostered: 47%
Darius Slayton spent Week 6 reminding fantasy managers why the New York Giants tried to move on from him last year. He’s not a good football player.
Slayton was operating as the primary X receiver before leaving with a hamstring injury. His role was precisely what we expected in a post-Malik Nabers world. He’s just not good enough to deliver.
Slayton caught three of six targets for 31 yards. That came one week after a 3-44 line in a game Nabers missed almost all of. Slayton hasn’t exceeded 8.1 fantasy points in a game this season.
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Perhaps if Slayton were healthy, there would be a flimsy case to hold him another week. With the injury, there is nothing.
Malik Nabers, WR, New York Giants
Rostered: 41%
Speaking of Nabers, fantasy managers have already dropped him en masse. Nabers is done for the season with a torn ACL. This is a quick reminder that Nabers can be dropped in all redraft leagues.
Rashod Bateman, WR, Baltimore Ravens
Rostered: 29%
In Week 3, Rashod Bateman caught five of seven targets for 63 yards and a touchdown. Every once in a while, he will do that. But most games will look like every other week. Bateman does not have 63 yards in his other four games combined. He didn’t catch a pass on three targets in the Baltimore Ravens’ loss to the Houston Texans last week.
Bateman is probably looking at one more week of Cooper Rush at quarterback. To put it mildly, it won’t go well. Then, the Ravens are on bye before Lamar Jackson presumably returns in Week 8. He’s not good enough to justify holding.
Tight Ends: Zach Ertz, TE, Washington Commanders
Rostered: 77%
A bunch of tight ends emerged as viable starting options in Week 5. We saw huge games from A.J. Barner, Mason Taylor, and Darren Waller.
On the other side of the spectrum is Zach Ertz. His 6-84-1 line from Week 2 seems so long ago. Since then, he’s posted games of 3-38, 4-21, and 0-0.
Ertz is old and trending in the wrong direction. Barner, Taylor, and Young are trending in the right direction. All three of them are superior options, and all are mostly available. You don’t absolutely have to drop Ertz, but if you can claim one of the tight ends who emerged last week to replace Ertz, do it.
