The first cut article of the season is always the toughest one for me. I consistently and constantly preach patience with fantasy football leagues. I might move too slow sometimes, but I also don’t want to make brash decisions. Luckily, there are only a small handful of intriguing waiver wire options in week one, so the cut list can be equally small.
As always, remember: these aren’t recommended cuts; these are just options to help you create a short list. So, if you see a player on this list, that doesn’t mean you can automatically go out and cut them; your league context might preclude it.
To make this list, players must be rostered in at least 50% of Yahoo! leagues.
QUARTERBACK
C.J. Stroud (Houston) 69% rostered
Stroud finished Sunday with 19 completions on 27 attempts, for 188 yards, zero touchdowns, and a pick. He kicked in 32 rushing yards, but it didn’t matter, as he finished with under nine fantasy points. That also marks his fourteenth consecutive game without 300 passing yards or three touchdowns. He’s a midlevel QB2 at this point, despite his talent. The Texans have a lot to sort out, and Stroud can sort out his issues on the waiver wire.
There were a lot of disastrous quarterback games, including a devastating game that made me delete a whole paragraph after it turned not disastrous (J.J. McCarthy). Only one quarterback who had a catastrophic game has a track record of doing so, and he is more name than game at this point than Houston’s personnel decisions. So, we must move on from Stroud.
WIDE RECEIVER
Cooper Kupp (Seattle) 84% rostered
Through one game, Sam Darnold only has eyes for Jaxson Smith-Njigba, and Cooper Kupp (and the rest of the offense) turned into an afterthought. He ran 21 routes, the same as Jaylen Waddle and Puka Nacua, among others. But, he had a 0.14 target per route run rate, which ranked 66th among wide receivers with at least 10 routes run in week one, and tied him with Tyler Johnson and Jahan Dotson. You should wait and see with Cooper Kupp in deeper leagues, but early returns are not encouraging (three targets, two catches, 15 yards).
RUNNING BACKS
Kaleb Johnson (Pittsburgh) 89% rostered
If you are reading this article, then you have more yards from scrimmage in your career than Kaleb Johnson. Early returns are dreadful, as the rookie is running behind both Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell (and Jonnu Smith even had rushing yards), getting just two snaps, one carry, and -2 yards in his Steelers debut. It appehe’she’s a stash-only player, especially since everyone in charge of the offense dislikes him.
Tank Bigsby (Philadelphia) 78% rostered
Bigsby was dreadful for the Jaguars on Sunday, rushing 5 times for 12 yards. Things got even worse for him on Monday. The Jaguars traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles, destroying any fantasy value he could possibly have. He’s now a pure backup to Saquon Barkley (though he’s better than both Will Shipley and A.J. Dillon), and is unlikely to see enough volume to matter unless Barkley suffers an injury.
Jerome Ford (Cleveland) 52% rostered
He’s already the #2 back in Cleveland by a wide margin, as Dylan Sampson finished with 20 touches for 93 yards. Ford’s seven touches for 5. That’s all before Quinshon Judkins’ return. He’s solid. He’s only going to slip further down the depth chart as the season progresses.
TIGHT ENDS
Several tight ends had some honest turd burgers (Mark Andrews, T.J. Hockenson, Colston Loveland), but tight ends vary so much that I am preaching patience here and advising that no tight ends make their way to the waiver wire.
