Fantasy football managers constantly evaluate their rosters, especially as injuries and bye weeks create challenging decisions about which players to hold versus drop. Some players who seemed promising earlier in the season may no longer justify their roster spots due to changing circumstances or limited upside.
Making the right cuts can free up valuable space for emerging waiver wire targets or players with better immediate prospects. The key is identifying which players have become dead weight versus those still worth the investment.
Cut: Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 56%
It appears many fantasy managers have already moved on. This isn’t a situation where you absolutely have to drop Trey Benson — he’s on IR — we know the deal. Benson will miss another 2-4 weeks. When he returns, he will almost certainly reclaim the feature back role. Can you afford to hold him?
If Benson isn’t costing you a roster spot, then there’s no reason to drop him. Don’t drop any player if their remaining on your roster isn’t restricting you in any way.
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This is for those managers who need the spot. Benson will have value when he returns, but that is likely going to be on the longer end of the projected timeline.
When he does get back on the field, it will be as the lead back on a bad team. His upside isn’t so significant that you can’t afford to let someone else have him. If you need the spot, don’t feel compelled to hold Benson.
Hassan Haskins, Los Angeles Chargers
Rostered: 51%
Prior to Week 6, Adam Schefter reported that Hassan Haskins was likely going to be the lead back with Kimani Vidal also seeing work. There’s no reason to doubt that’s how the Los Angeles Chargers felt heading into the game. But they have no allegiance to either back.
Neither is particularly talented, and Omarion Hampton will be the feature back the moment he can return. It was always going to be a hot hand situation.
Well, Vidal had the hot hand. A very hot hand. He played 67% of the snaps against 32% for Haskins and out-touched the veteran 21-7. With that said, it would not shock anyone if Haskins found a groove next week and he wound up seeing more work. But it’s clear right now that Vidal is ahead.
Haskins has never been fantasy-relevant in his career, and there’s no reason to think it will happen now. While Vidal hasn’t either, he’s in his second season. It’s far more likely that Vidal is better than expected and never got an opportunity than Haskins, who already had the team that drafted him give up on him.
Given the usage and performance disparity, Haskins can be returned to the waiver wire if necessary.
Tyrone Tracy Jr., New York Giants
Rostered: 50%
Tyrone Tracy Jr. is still the New York Giants’ RB2. If something were to happen to Cam Skattebo, which is certainly possible given his desire to hit anything and everything as hard as he can when he runs, Tracy would suddenly have fantasy value. Right now, though, he has none.
The Giants leaned on Skattebo on Thursday night. He rewarded their faith by delivering 110 total yards and three touchdowns on 21 touches. Tracy carried the ball four times for six yards.
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This is not a timeshare. This is Skattebo’s backfield. Tracy went from potentially being the 1b in a committee to clear backup.
Much like every other pure handcuff, they only need to be rostered if there isn’t a superior option available. If there is someone you want to add who has more immediate value than Tracy’s injury contingent value, don’t feel tethered to Tracy.
Joe Mixon, Houston Texans
Rostered: 48%
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.
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.
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We haven’t gotten any concrete updates on Mixon’s timeline to return, so every bit of news we have gotten has been pessimistic. The most likely scenario is that he doesn’t play football this year. Do not feel obligated to hold Mixon any longer.
Bhayshul Tuten, Jacksonville Jaguars
Rostered: 44%
Whenever you draft rookies, you have to be prepared to be patient, especially early in the season. It’s unrealistic to expect every rookie to burst out of the gate with instant fantasy value.
That was the case for Bhayshul Tuten, who was always going to open the season behind Travis Etienne Jr. and Tank Bigsby. But Bigsby was traded to the Eagles weeks ago, and it’s now been six weeks of this being mostly a two-man backfield. Yet, Tuten hasn’t made any sort of move on Etienne’s lead-back status.
Last week, Etienne played 60% of the snaps and touched the ball 16 times. Tuten had five opportunities, matching his total from each of the past two weeks. He isn’t even the clear RB2, as LeQuint Allen operates as the passing-down back. He out-snapped Tuten 18-11.
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If Etienne were to go down, Allen’s role would remain unchanged, though. Tuten is the handcuff and would be the primary back in that scenario. However, the theory behind drafting Tuten was that there was a path to him seeing fantasy-relevant work without an injury to Etienne.
At this point in the season, it’s safe to say that is no longer the case. Tuten needs an injury. He is officially a pure handcuff, and pure handcuffs only need to be rostered to the extent there isn’t a superior option.
Emari Demercado, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 27%
Emari Demercado is essentially LeQuint Allen. These are pure passing-down backs who will never see significant early-down work.
The Cardinals lost James Conner and Trey Benson. Demercado was the RB3 each week while those two were healthy. Yet, he was passed over for Michael Carter as the lead back. Then, Carter was demoted after one week as the starter. It wasn’t Demercado who elevated to the lead role, though. Instead, it was Bam Knight.
That is reason enough to drop Demercado. But he also suffered an ankle injury. Fantasy managers do not need to roster a pure satellite back on a bad offense with no path to upside.
