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 15 fantasy football cut list?
Quarterbacks: Daniel Jones, QB, Indianapolis Colts
Rostered: 79%
Daniel Jones is a warrior for playing through a small fracture in his leg. Unfortunately, there is no possible way to play through a torn Achilles.
Jones knew it as soon as he went down on Sunday, slamming his helmet in front of him. It’s the worst possible news for a quarterback who was doing a tremendous job rehabilitating his career, and a very sad end to a great rebound season.
Running Backs: Isiah Pacheco, RB, 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.
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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, RB, 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.
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.
Wide Receivers: Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Rostered: 100%
An absolute stunner. Never in a million years would anyone have guessed Justin Jefferson would find his way to the cut list. Yet, here we are. Still a top-five receiver in the NFL, I need fantasy managers to understand why it is not only acceptable to drop Jefferson, but potentially advantageous.
Since Week 10 returned, Jefferson has had one game with more than 8.8 fantasy points. That game was merely 11.1. He hasn’t caught more than five passes in a game since Week 9 and has just one game with more than 48 receiving yards over that span.
The remaining schedule is fantastic. Minnesota gets the Cowboys, Giants, and Lions. These are three of the worst pass defenses in the NFL. In theory, Jefferson should have high upside. But didn’t he just have that last week against the Commanders when he managed two receptions for 11 yards?
We’ve seen Jefferson in games where the Vikings are non-competitive. He doesn’t get targeted. We’ve seen him in a game where they dominate with an extremely positive game script. He doesn’t get targeted. What is the scenario in which Jefferson will be featured in this offense?
The reason you should drop him is that we are now in the fantasy playoffs. Your goal each week is to advance to the next one.
If you drop Jefferson, it will accomplish three things. First, you won’t feel compelled to put him and his single-digit fantasy points in your lineup anymore. Second, someone you are competing with will burn the rest of their FAAB on him. Third, that team will also start him. Jefferson is a poison pill you can send to an unwitting opponent.
Of course, he is still Justin Jefferson. We have to acknowledge the possibility that he goes 8-140-1 any given week. If you cannot stomach dropping him, then don’t do it. This is merely the case for why you might want to.
Romeo Doubs, WR, Green Bay Packers
Rostered: 76%
It was a fun start to the season for Romeo Doubs when all of the more talented receivers weren’t playing. Christian Watson was recovering from his torn ACL. Jayden Reed broke his collarbone in Week 2. That led to a slew of useful weeks for Doubs. Well, the parents are home now.
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Since Week 10, Doubs has seen more than four targets in a game just once. He’s now topped 23 receiving yards once over that span.
Last week, Doubs was targeted twice and did not catch either. He finished with zero fantasy points.
With Watson and Reed back, combined with the Packers’ run-heavy approach, there’s no room for Doubs. You can safely drop him.
Ricky Pearsall, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Rostered: 66%
Fantasy managers can point to the first four weeks of the season as a reason to hold Ricky Pearsall. But those performances must be placed in the proper context.
The only reason Pearsall saw volume over the first month of the season is that there was no one else. George Kittle was on IR with a hamstring strain. Jauan Jennings was in and out of the lineup with several injuries.
Sometimes, lesser players end up producing good numbers because they have to. This is precisely how Kendrick Bourne became a WR1 for two weeks. Where is he now?
The same thing applies to Pearsall, who is not a starting-caliber NFL wide receiver. With Christian McCaffrey, Jennings, and Kittle all healthy, Pearsall is a very distant fourth option on a team that wants to run the ball. That’s why he’s only seen nine targets and caught a total of five passes for 20 yards in his three games back.
Pearsall is not still banged up. He’s practicing in full and is no longer being listed on the injury report. He’s a glorified WR handcuff. Feel free to pick him back up if Jennings or Kittle goes down. Right now, though, he doesn’t even have deep league WR6 fantasy value.
Darnell Mooney, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Rostered: 61%
I have lost track of how many consecutive weeks Darnell Mooney has been on the cut list. Why is he on so many rosters?
If you were making a list of the 80 most talented wide receivers in the NFL, I’m not sure Mooney would be on it. Perhaps his preseason collarbone injury is to blame for his slow start, but what’s the excuse now that we’re through 14 weeks?
Mooney caught a 49-yard touchdown from Kirk Cousins in Week 12. If that never happened, he wouldn’t have a single game of double-digit fantasy points all season.
Amazingly, Mooney is actually averaging fewer targets per game without Drake London than with him. That’s because London’s presence makes no difference for Mooney’s fantasy value. Good players earn targets. There is a reason Mooney cannot earn targets.
Mooney has posted lines of 2-25 and 1-6 over his last two games. He’s seen a total of nine targets. It doesn’t matter if London returns this week; Mooney is nowhere close to fantasy relevance. Get him off your rosters.
Tight Ends: Zach Ertz, TE, Washington Commanders
Rostered: 71%
When Zach Ertz tore his ACL in 2022, I thought that was it for his career. Incredibly, he was not only able to play again, but return to being a starting-caliber NFL tight end. Unfortunately, that seems impossible to happen again at age 35.
Ertz tore his ACL again last week, which will probably be it for his career. One of the greatest tight ends of the 2000s, Ertz did not deserve to go out like this. It is very sad to see, and the worst reason to drop a player in fantasy.
Sam LaPorta, TE, Detroit Lions
Rostered: 61%
Sam LaPorta underwent back surgery and is currently on IR. Head coach Dan Campbell said he does not expect his tight end to play again this season.
There’s an outside chance LaPorta could return in the NFL playoffs. But he is definitely out for the remainder of the regular season. Thus, he can be dropped.
Cade Otton, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Rostered: 39%
Fantasy managers seem to have forgotten that Cade Otton has never been a must-roster tight end. The only reason he was ever picked up last season is that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sustained a bunch of injuries to their wide receivers. It was the same situation this season.
Now, the Bucs have most of their guys back. At the very least, they have enough that Otton is back to being “Cardio Cade.” Why Cardio Cade? Because he runs a bunch of routes and never gets targeted.
Otton has a total of 18 targets over his last three games. He’s caught a combined 11 passes for 77 yards. He hasn’t scored more than 6.1 fantasy points since Week 10.
With Baker Mayfield not playing well and Emeka Egbuka gobbling up uncatchable targets, there’s nothing for Otton to do.
