Fantasy football managers often struggle with knowing when to move on from once-promising players. Every week brings tough roster decisions, especially when talent doesn’t translate into production. Two players in particular have become frustrating holds for many teams this season.
Their recent trends suggest it’s finally time to cut ties and look elsewhere for upside. Even with recognizable names and past starting roles, their usage and health have declined to worrying levels. Sticking with them could mean missing out on more consistent or emerging options available on waivers.
Cut: Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs
Rostered: 67%
It remains one of the great mysteries as to how Isiah Pacheco has maintained such a high roster rate all season. He opened the year as the starter and served in that role for eight weeks before he got hurt. During that span, he topped out at 12.8 fantasy points, cracking double digits twice, and only because of two flukey touchdowns.
While Pacheco was out with his sprained MCL, Kareem Hunt started and did exactly what he did last year: looked infinitely better than Pacheco.
MORE: Free Fantasy Start/Sit Optimizer
The Chiefs turned back to Pacheco as the starter in his second game back. But who “starts” doesn’t actually mean anything for fantasy purposes. All that matters is who gets the meaningful touches.
Pacheco did see more work this time around, handling nine carries. He turned those into a predictably inefficient 30 yards. And that is the extent of Pacheco’s production.
The Kansas City Chiefs face a difficult run defense in two of their last three games of the fantasy season. Even in the event of a Hunt injury, you’re still probably not starting Pacheco.
Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 60%
After being designated to return from IR, Trey Benson got in four limited practices and seemed to be trending toward a return. Well, he hasn’t practiced since, missing five straight. That is not how this progression normally goes. Clearly, Benson suffered a setback at some point.
READ MORE: Fantasy Football Cut List Week 15: Isiah Pacheco, Trey Benson, Justin Jefferson, and Others
The Cardinals have to activate Benson from IR this week, or he will revert to season-ending IR. On Sunday, Adam Schefter reported that it is not a lock the Cardinals will activate him. That’s code for they’re not going to.
Playing out a lost season, there’s no reason to push Benson to return for four meaningless games. He’s clearly not healthy and won’t play again this season.
