The 2023 fantasy football season is on us, and while Waleed Ismail has you set up for who you should add, I am here to be the fantasy Grim Reaper, slicing the heads off of fantasy rosters to make space for the newest hot commodities. Let’s take a look at players available in at least 50% of leagues that probably should take a bit of a haircut. Obviously, every situation is different, and every roster is different, so don’t go out of your way to cut all these guys, but instead consider this your permission to drop the guy on your roster that’s on this list that you’ve been itching to drop.
Quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers, N.Y. Jets (92% rostered)
Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles on Monday Night Football and will miss the remainder of the season.
Jared Goff, Detroit (71% rostered)
Jared Goff and the Lions took down the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football (that’s a lot of proper nouns in one sentence!). But, the game was won by their defense and rushing game, with Goff throwing 35 times for 253 yards, with a 7.2 yards per pass attempt and just one passing touchdown. He belongs on a roster in deeper leagues for his consistent 250 passing yards and two touchdowns upside, but in ten-team leagues, you can move him off your roster to make room for your week two hot adds.
Wide Receivers
Christian Kirk, Jacksonville (92% rostered)
Kirk was the clear fourth option for the Jaguars on Sunday, playing just 43 of 70 offensive snaps for the Jags, and running only 24 routes, on 35 dropbacks, garnering two targets. Those 24 routes are a distant fifth in routes, ranking behind Travis Etienne’s 30 routes. He’s the last option in the regular rotation on offense, and you’re looking toward Zay Jones to find the role we hoped Kirk would have in this offense.
Skyy Moore, Kansas City (65% rostered)
There’s not much I have to say about this. We all saw him do wind sprints on Thursday Night Football, getting three targets, one catch, and four yards, while mostly being a forgotten part of the offense. I would even drop him over Kadarius Toney, who at least had five targets in week one. The Chiefs’ offense is a mess without Kelce, and when Kelce comes back, there won’t be enough targets to make Skyy Moore matter.
Kadarius Toney, Kansas City (52% rostered)
We all saw Thursday Night Football. But if you didn’t:
Allen Lazard, N.Y. Jets (50% rostered)
Admit it, you only had him rostered so you could try to catch some Aaron Rodgers Magic. With Rodgers likely done, there’s nothing left for Alien Lizard.
Running Backs
Cam Akers, L.A. Rams (97% rostered)
From targets, to snaps, to routes run, to carries inside the ten, Kyren Williams absolutely dominated Cam Akers in this one. Akers out-carried Kyren Williams 22-15, but Akers gained 29 yards on those 22 carries, and that just won’t cut it. But you can cut Cam Akers, if you’d like to get rid of him.
J.K. Dobbins, Baltimore (94% rostered)
Dobbins tore his Achilles and is out for the season.
Antonio Gibson, Washington (86% rostered)
Gibson played only 25 snaps in week one’s victory against the Cardinals, and he managed to touch the ball four times and fumble it once in that timeframe. Gibson seems to have put himself back into the doghouse, so if you’re in a shallow league, then you don’t have time for him to make his way back out of it. You can move on from him in ten-team leagues, but I’d hang onto him in anything deeper, at least for one more week.
Zach Charbonnet, Seattle (80% rostered)
This one you probably want to hang onto for now, but he doesn’t seem to be a flex-worthy part of the Seahawks’ rotation for now. He played only 11 snaps, and had just 3 carries for 11 yards, and no targets in week one. This is especially concerning, considering the Rams shellacked the Seahawks, 30-13, and a reason people professed to want Charbonnet over Kenneth Walker was his pass-catching prowess. Yet, in game one, in passing situations, they did not give him a single, solitary target. That’s bad times, man.
Rashaad Penny, Philadelphia (66% rostered)
Two words: healthy scratch.
Jerick McKinnon, Kansas City (62% rostered)
McKinnon had just one catch on two targets, for ten yards. On a day without Travis Kelce, he was extremely uninvolved, playing just 31% of snaps. He had an opportunity for more when Isiah Pacheco limped off in the second quarter. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found, as Clyde Edwards-Helaire filled in with Pacheco getting checked out on the sidelines.
Tight Ends
Chigoziem Okonkwo, Tennessee (73% rostered)
Ryan Tannehill looked flat-out terrible in week one, and given the fact that Okonkwo is likely the third fiddle in this passing game, I don’t want any of him for the time being.
