If you’re reading this, then congratulations! Your fantasy football continues. Fortunately for you, you will be at full strength for the rest of the season, so your stragglers can start to make their way onto your waiver wire for much more valuable players. For example, this is the time of year I recommend you handcuff your players. If you have Kyren Williams, Blake Corum is far more important to your future success than Marquez Valdes-Scantling, even if Corum doesn’t play.
Let’s dive into the third-to-last cut list for the year! Like every other edition of the cut list this season, we feature three players at each position rostered in at least 50% of Yahoo! leagues that should make their way back to the waiver wire.
Quarterbacks
C.J. Stroud, Houston (88% rostered)
Stroud hasn’t been good lately, finishing seven-straight games under 16 fantasy points, and only topping 20 fantasy points once this season. While Nico Collins’ injury certainly has a ton to do with that early section, Collins has been back for three games. Not only has Collins been back for three games, Stroud has had three top-ten matchups, and he finished with 3 total touchdowns, 3 total picks, and under 250 passing yards per game. He has zero top-ten finishes since week 5, and just three top-ten finishes on the year.
Caleb Williams, Chicago (66% rostered)
Caleb Williams looked miserable against the 49ers on Sunday, there are no two ways about it. A 49ers team without Nick Bosa managed to put Williams in the dirt seven times, and held the Bears’ offense to four total yards in the first half. Williams gets the Vikings, who just put Kirk Cousins in a blender, the Lions who allow the 28th-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks on the season, and the Seahawks, who haven’t allowed a 20-point fantasy day to a quarterback since week six.
Geno Smith, Seattle (59% rostered)
Geno Smith put up 22.12 fantasy points against the Rams back in week nine, and it was the last time that he passed even 16 fantasy points on the week. The Cardinals twice, the Jets, and the 49ers stymied his efforts. Things don’t get any easier for him in the fantasy playoffs, as he gets the Packers, Vikings, and Bears. See you next year, Geno.
Wide Receivers
Deebo Samuel, San Francisco (96% rostered)
Some folks think that the years of playing running back finally took its toll, others point to Deebo’s pneumonia, but no matter where you look, Deebo is cooked for this season. Since that pneumonia game back in October, Deebo has had one top-36 finish and four-straight games outside the top-50 at wide receiver. The Rams on a short week, Miami, and Detroit loom in the fantasy playoffs.
Tank Dell, Houston (82% rostered)
Don’t let the bye week distract you from the fact that Tank Dell has not been good this season. Dell is well worthy of getting fired on his day off, as he has just one game over 72 yards this year, and just three games over 57 yards. The Texans are headed for a rough stretch, and Tank Dell won’t be immune from the inevitable downturn.
Chris Olave, New Orleans (73% rostered)
With the Saints going nowhere fast, and Derek Carr out for the season with a fractured hand and concussion, it’s likely that the Saints quietly announce that they will not bring Chris Olave back this season, and allow him to fully recover from his concussion before the 2025 season.
Running Backs
D’Andre Swift, Chicago (93% rostered)
Swift has had the backfield to himself and has failed to impress lately. The Bears’ running back just has one double-digit fantasy point day in the last five weeks. In those five weeks, he’s averaged under 3.5 yards per carry and is failing to make fantasy football waves. Swift has been outside the top-30 running backs in three of his last five games, and that was during the fantasy football bye weeks. Now that the league will be going full bore for the rest of the year, the bar of a startable running back raises. With Minnesota, Detroit, and Seattle on the docket, I have no faith in Swift going forward.
Kareem Hunt, Kansas City (66% rostered)
With Isiah Pacheco back in the fold, the Chiefs now have a one-two punch at running back (before you account for Samaje Perine and Carson Steele stealing snaps). In the last four weeks, Hunt has just one game above six fantasy points, and that was against the #1 matchup in the NFL for running backs. In the last two games, he has 12 carries for 31 yards, and 3 catches for 13 yards, for 7.4 PPR points, combined.
Gus Edwards, L.A. Chargers (54% rostered)
The erstwhile backup running back in L.A. has done absolutely nothing to prove himself worthy of a fantasy football roster spot. In his last two games, in J.K. Dobbins’ stead, he has 16 carries for 68 yards, and a touchdown, kicking in one catch for one yard. Despite the touchdown, Dobbins has zero double-digit fantasy days this season. He’s splitting with Kimani Vidal in an increasingly pass-heavy offense, and he doesn’t catch passes. He makes for a touchdown-or-bust proposition, even if Dobbins (week-to-week with a knee injury) doesn’t return.
Tight Ends
Kyle Pitts, Atlanta (83% rostered)
Pitts has three or fewer PPR points in four of his last five games, and that fifth game saw him reach the lofty heights of 9.5 PPR points. He has 3.6 targets for 1.4 catches and 17.8 yards per game since Halloween. Even if things get better for him next week, can you trust him after this recent stretch?
Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo (72% rostered)
Kincaid missed this week, but if you’ve had Kincaid on your roster, this feels like more of the same, to be honest. He hasn’t played since week ten, and even before then, he had just one top-nine finish and three weeks as TE12 or greater. The Bills have too many mouths to feed on offense, which includes Amari Cooper and the emergent Khalil Shakir. Those two, and Josh Allen throwing touchdowns to himself, steal enough away from Kincaid to find me uninterested in his services.
Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia (64% rostered)
Goedert’s current IR trip will keep him out until week 18 after the fantasy football season has ended.
