We’re four weeks into the NFL schedule, and we know what teams are right now. Or… do we? A lot of teams, and players sit in limbo after the first four weeks of the season. But, we still have to keep moving forward with our weekly roster moves. While Waleed Ismail has you covered for who to add to your fantasy football squads, sometimes finding the player to remove is extremely difficult. That’s okay, I have you covered there with the week five edition of “Who To Cut.” Not all these players are recommended cuts; just a guide to help you create a shortlist of players who could potentially make their way off of your fantasy football rosters to make room for the new hotness.
To make this list, a player needs to be on a roster in at least 45% of leagues. After all, there’s no reason to tell you to cut Davis Mills. You already know that.
Quarterback Cut List Candidates:
Baker Mayfield, Cleveland (64% rostered)
PLEASE CUT BAKER MAYFIELD! I am done being kind and gentle about this. Despite looking like warmed-over doggie doo-doo for four full weeks, only about 10% of those who rostered Baker Mayfield dropped him. At this point, he’s averaging 234 passing yards and 15 rush yards per game and has just three total touchdowns in four games. He gets the Chargers, the Cardinals and the Broncos over the next three weeks. Again, I ask: what is the point, here?
Wide Receiver Cut List Candidates:
JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh (88% rostered)
You can look at JuJu’s stat line on Sunday one of two ways: he had 8 targets, or he had a 25% catch rate for 11 yards. The Steelers’ offense is circling the drain, and unless your name is Najee or Diontae, I probably want to get off of the ride. Through four games, JuJu has 27 targets, for 129 yards. That just won’t fly in shallower leagues. Like Robert Tonyan last week, I am not calling for a mass JuJu culling. But, if you are in eight-teams or shallower, I would probably knock JuJu off onto the waiver wire.
Rondale Moore, Arizona (54% rostered)
Moore sure was fun while he lasted. After going 4/68 in week one, he had eight targets for 114 yards and a touchdown in week two and has had five targets for 29 yards since then. Moore still hasn’t topped 46% snap share for the Cardinals, who have at least 31 points in all four of their games, and have blown teams out in three of them. DeAndre Hopkins and Rondale Moore both have a target problem, and I would think the Cardinals get Nuk going before they get Pym Particles going.
Mecole Hardman, Kansas City (50% rostered)
Hardman has seven targets for 49 yards in his last two games, after reaching the astronomical heights of five catches for 55 yards in week two. He’s just a guy, and the Chiefs have Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce to divide targets. They don’t need him, and neither do you.
Running Back Cut List Candidates:
Sony Michel, Los Angeles Rams (64% rostered)
Michel is a pure backup to Darrell Henderson, who returned to action this week against the Cardinals. Michel promptly returned to the bench, as he went from 74% of snaps to 10% of snaps. Even when he was in the game in week three, he notched an extremely pedestrian 67 yards on 20 carries. Michel is just-okay, and just-okay isn’t what you want to hang onto in a lot of leagues. He’s a bench clogger at this point, with Henderson out snapping him 61-to-7 on Sunday.
Ronald Jones II, Tampa Bay (54% rostered)
Rojo’s touchdown saved the day on Sunday, but it’s been the Leonard Fournette Show in Tampa Bay. Leonard Fournette played more snaps on Sunday (64) than Rojo played all year (57). If you’re like me and had to desperately plugin Jones, then the touchdown saved your day. Celebrate by moving him off of your rosters. The snaps just aren’t there for Jones to justify keeping him around, as sad as that makes me.
Tight End Cut List Candidates:
Robert Tonyan, Green Bay (83% rostered)
Last week, I said that Tonyan belonged on about 80% of rosters. So, thank you for listening to me. I was wrong. Drop that down to about 70 to 75% of fantasy football rosters. Regression hit Tonyan square in the face like a brick, as his 88% catch rate and 18.6% touchdown rate currently sit at 53.3% and 6%, respectively. Trust those numbers rather than his 2020 rates, though I expect the catch rate to go up. Tonyan nearly doubled his target volume in week four (seven of his fifteen targets), but he turned that into two catches for 8 yards. He now has eight or fewer yards in three of four games. I’m not sure what we are doing here except being stubborn with Tonyan.
Austin Hooper, Cleveland (45% rostered)
I’m sure this is a side-effect of Hooper scoring a touchdown last week and people remembering what once was with Atlanta. But, this is a horrible use of a roster spot. He has 97 yards and a touchdown through four games, as the Cleveland Browns move to a Chubb-and-Hunt focused offense. Since joining the Browns prior to 2020, he has just one game over 60 yards receiving and averages just 31.3 yards per game. Please get this man off of your fantasy football rosters.
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