We made it! If you are reading this, you are either a real sicko who loves to hear about guys that should get cut off of fantasy football rosters, or you’re playing for something in week seventeen. If it’s the first case, cut it out; if it’s the second case, then congratulations! Waleed will have you covered with the hot pickups (Chig Okonkwo, anyone?) and I will play the role of the reaper. The long story short here is you should only be making one or two cuts at this point, as your team should probably be all set up and ready to go for the finals. That i, unless you relied on Jalen Hurts (concussion) and Rachaad White (likely relegated to the CFL after fumbling on Sunday Night Football). As with every other cut list, this is not a comprehensive list of players to remove from your roster, just a list of suggestions. It’s also limited to three players at each position rostered in at least half of Yahoo! leagues.
This week comes with a quick caveat: handcuff running backs, second defenses, second D/STs, and bench quarterbacks that you won’t be starting this week take priority. There’s no reason to keep Blake Corum or Dameon Pierce around at this point.
Quarterbacks
Patrick Mahomes (KC) at Pittsburgh (98% rostered)
There’s just so much about Mahomes that I don’t like this week. First, he’s playing his third game in eleven days. Second, he’s still dealing with that ankle, even though he can run with it (but not walk with it?). Finally, the Steelers are getting him at home coming off of a walloping at the hands of the Ravens’ run game. Mahomes has multiple passing touchdowns just once in his last four games, and in the ten games since the Chiefs’ bye, he has only three games over 18.2 fantasy points.
If you don’t want to drop Mahomes, I get it. But if you’re considering it, I would probably start the guy that you are considering over Mahomes.
C.J. Stroud (HOU) versus Baltimore (86% rostered)
Stroud, like Mahomes, gets a short week on Christmas after playing on Saturday. It’s not an ideal schedule, but at least the NFL could squeeze a bit more money out of a streaming provider, right? Stroud hasn’t been good lately and hasn’t finished inside the top ten at quarterback since week four at Jacksonville. He gets a Ravens defense that is coming around lately, allowing under 220 passing yards in five straight games, and carrying a 4TD:3INT ratio in that timeframe. The Ravens are no longer a defense to trifle with.
Tua Tagovailoa (MIA) at Cleveland (80% rostered)
Tua has entered the game manager phase of his season, as Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle injuries have modified the Dolphins’ ability to run a passing game. No worries, however, as they’ll let their strong defense and running game lead the way. Tua’s game plan mostly consisted of staying out of the way this week, and with either Dorian Thompson-Robinson or Jameis Winston under center next week, Miami will likely just task Tua with staying out of the way, as well. The matchup isn’t great for him either; Joe Burrow dropped 22 fantasy points on them this week, but that marked the third time this season and the first time in six games that a quarterback dropped at least 20 fantasy points on them.
Wide Receivers
Marvin Harrison Jr (ARI) at L.A. Rams (98% rostered)
If you made it this far with this dude, this is just catharsis; you don’t want him to stain your championship roster. MHJ and Kyler Murray just can’t seem to get on the same page this season outside of a bonkers first half back in week two. Harrison has just one game over 65 yards since that game, and seven under 50 yards. He took over against the Rams back in week two, but they’ve come around since then, allowing 15 points in their last 8 quarters.
Amari Cooper (BUF) versus N.Y. Jets (89% rostered)
Amari Cooper has five games since joining the Bills, and he had 14 targets, 6 catches, and 95 yards in week 14. Outside of that game, he has 7 targets, 6 catches, and 77 yards. He ran routes on 40% of dropbacks in week fifteen, and week sixteen saw him running a route on just 54% of Josh Allen’s dropbacks It’s the weirdest usage of a midseason acquisition this side of Diontae Johnson.
Tank Dell (HOU) versus Baltimore (83% rostered)
This is an extra to tell you to ignore the doubtful tag, he’s out for the year. It’s also possible given when in the season the injury happened, we might not even see Tank Dell in 2025.
Jerry Jeudy (CLE) versus Miami (81% rostered)
This is another half-measure. This is only a recommended drop if we get information that indicates that Dorian Thompson-Robinson will be under center again for the Browns next week. DTR is dreadful and got Jeudy the ball just twice for 20 yards this past week.
Michael Pittman Jr. (IND) at N.Y. Giants (72% rostered)
Poor Michael Pittman just isn’t made for this iteration of the Indianapolis Colts. He is best suited in a high-volume passing attack, not as a release valve for a guy who is only going to throw the ball 20-25 times per game. He’s a low-ceiling volume play whose major fantasy football usefulness in this iteration of the Colts comes from patching cracks in a roster due to injuries or bye weeks. You shouldn’t need that in the fantasy finals.
Running Backs
Najee Harris (PIT) versus Kansas City (91% rostered)
Najee Harris has been crazy inefficient over the last three weeks, posting 31 carries for 91 yards (3.1 YPC) and he has just one target, one catch, and seven receiving yards in that time frame. He’s ceded carries and targets to Jaylen Warren, making him an inefficient back in a timeshare. He also gets the league’s best run defense on a short week. I’m good, thanks.
Travis Etienne (JAX) versus Tennessee (86% rostered)
Travis Etienne has been my most maddening swing-and-miss this season, as he should be better than this. But whether he’s a symptom or a cause of the Jags’ woes, Etienne has simply not been a difference-maker for fantasy football in a long time. He has just two games inside the top 24 in his last nine games and has zero finishes higher than RB20 in PPR this season. The Titans let Jonathon Taylor and Chase Brown beat them into submission, but they each had 25+ carries. Etienne would need two games to get there.
David Montgomery (DET) at San Francisco (78% rostered)
Much like Tank Dell, this is an extra courtesy to let you know that David Montgomery, despite not being on the IR, will not play in week seventeen. You can move him off of your fantasy football roster.
Zach Charbonnet (SEA) at Chicago (74% rostered)
With Kenneth Walker back, and healthy, Zach Charbonnet had one carry for -2 yards. He chipped in two catches for 14 yards. But, ultimately, he’s returned to full-on handcuff status. Unless you fear Kenneth Walker’s ankle injury costing him week seventeen, then you can move on from Charbonnet.
Tight Ends
Kyle Pitts (ATL) at Washington (80% rostered)
Kyle Pitts, not Michael Penix, was responsible for Penix’s sole interception (and lack of touchdown) in his debut. Pitts finished with one catch for seven yards, on two targets. It marks the fifth time in the last seven games that he failed to pass four targets and has just six catches for 49 yards since the Falcons’ week twelve bye. The Human Rug Pull can easily make his way off your roster now.
Dalton Kincaid (BUF) versus N.Y. Jets (83% rostered)
Kincaid has seven targets in each of his two games since returning from injury, but the same refrain remains as the rest of the season: he turned the targets into a non-difference-making number of fantasy points. This last week, he caught four targets for fifteen yards. This came out to 5.5 fantasy points and marks the ninth time in twelve games that Kincaid failed to reach double-digit PPR points. The Jets loom, and they are yet to allow more than 73 yards to a tight end, and Tyler Higbee’s11-yardd touchdown in week sixteen marked only the fourth that they’ve allowed to tight ends all year long.
Cade Otton (TB) versus Carolina (65% rostered)
Otton is battling a knee injury, and missed week sixteen. He may be back for the week seventeen tilt against the Panthers, but Carolina just shut down Trey McBride, Jake Ferguson, Grant Calcaterra (touchdown notwithstanding), and… Cade Otton… over the last four weeks. The days of attacking the Panthers seem to be done, and Otton is battling an injury to boot. To add insult to injury, the Buccaneers have already moved on, giving Jalen McMillan 20 targets for 14 receptions, 191 yards, and four touchdowns over the last three games.
