Fantasy football managers constantly evaluate their rosters, looking for players who can provide consistent weekly production. The waiver wire churn never stops, with owners picking up promising players only to drop them weeks later when they fail to deliver.
Sometimes the most difficult decision isn’t who to add, but who to finally let go of when a player’s potential no longer matches their actual performance. These roster spots are too valuable to waste on players who aren’t contributing to your championship run.
Cut: Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills
Rostered: 66%
Another week, another dismal effort from Keon Coleman. The sophomore caught three passes for 11 yards, so he’s now failed to score more than 7.5 points in four of his last five games. If not for a fluke touchdown two weeks ago, it would’ve been five straight. Even with injuries to Dalton Kincaid, Curtis Samuel, and Joshua Palmer, he couldn’t get going.
Coleman had a rough rookie season and has shown no improvement as a sophomore. He cannot separate and thus does not earn targets. His Week 1 explosion was purely a product of the sheer amount of plays the Bills ran in negative game script. There is no upside with Coleman. Drop him.
Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers
Rostered: 40%
The fantasy regular season will officially be at its midpoint after next week. Yet, we are no closer to a Brandon Aiyuk return than we were back in August. The best update we have is that head coach Kyle Shanahan expects to have a more concrete timeline “soon.”
You figure that even when the announcement of Aiyuk’s return comes, we’re still at least three weeks away from him playing football beyond that. So maybe in the best-case scenario, we get him back in Week 11.
There will be a ramp-up process and heavy target competition with Ricky Pearsall, George Kittle, Jauan Jennings, Christian McCaffrey, and, apparently, Kendrick Bourne. Maybe you’re compelled to use Aiyuk in Week 12. But, again, these dates really are ambitious.
49ers Injury Updates: Latest on George Kittle, Brock Purdy, Ricky Pearsall, Brandon Aiyuk, and Fred Warner
The San Francisco 49ers have a Week 14 bye. How worth it is it to hold Aiyuk for the potential to use him for a week or two in the fantasy regular season? Then, if he doesn’t quite look like himself, which it’s unlikely he will, are you trusting him in the first round of the playoffs?
All of this is to say the scenario in which Aiyuk contributes anything meaningful this season gets less likely by the week. If you need the roster spot, feel free to move on.
Darnell Mooney, Atlanta Falcons
Rostered: 28%
Last year, Darnell Mooney was a nice story. He rebounded from the abyss that was the Chicago Bears to return WR3 fantasy value, averaging 12.1 fantasy points per game. That seemingly made his WR40-plus ADP a great value this season. Unfortunately, his run-out hasn’t been what fantasy managers had hoped.
Mooney missed most of training camp with a shoulder injury. He returned in Week 2 and was eased back into the fold. Then, he earned 11 targets in Week 3, but only caught four for 44 yards. He strained his hamstring in Week 4 during a 1-15 effort.
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We are now headed into Week 7. Mooney has yet to deliver anything resembling a productive outing. He missed last week’s game with the hamstring injury and did not practice at all leading up to it. Mooney’s return does not appear imminent.
At best, Mooney is a fringe WR3. He’s startable, but he’s not a difference maker. That is not someone fantasy managers need to hold while he recovers from his second injury of the season.
Troy Franklin, Denver Broncos
Rostered: 24%
Remember when Troy Franklin posted an 8-89-1 line in Week 2. The breakout was here. He has the Oregon connection with Bo Nix. Managers rushed to the waiver wire to grab him. Since then, Franklin has seen more than five targets in a game just once and failed to hit double-digit points entirely. Week 2 remains his only game with over 9.5 points.
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Courtland Sutton is the only Denver Broncos WR with a consistent role. Franklin, Marvin Mims Jr., and now Pat Bryant are combining to serve as the team’s WR2. Given Franklin’s inconsistent role and lack of production, anyone who grabbed him in September can return him to the waiver wire.
