The Cut List - Who to Drop for Fantasy Football Week 9

Each new week of NFL games gives us more information to make better, more informed decisions. That’s crucial when figuring out who to add and who to cut. It can be difficult to admit we were wrong on a particular player. For example, using a high draft pick on someone and cutting them so early in the season can be demoralizing. However, the only thing worse than making a mistake is not being able to admit we made one in the first place.

Don’t be afraid to make bold decisions, but be careful not to be too reactionary. Bad weeks are going to happen. Sometimes, opportunity doesn’t always translate into box-score success. The flip side of that is true, too. Sometimes, the box score can look amazing despite poor utilization. This article will help you determine who to send packing and how to value players whose value is falling.

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The Parameters

There are a few different categories here. Anyone listed under the “Insert Position to Cut for Insert Week” can be safely cut. Seems pretty self-explanatory, correct? No surprise there. We'll focus on players with rostered percentages higher than 40% to keep this a little more straightforward. Otherwise, we could name many players for every position every week.

The following two categories are “Uh-Oh…” and “On the Hot Seat.” If a player is listed under “Uh-Oh…” that doesn’t mean they’re a cut… yet. It just means their value is falling. That could be due to several reasons. Maybe it’s due to repeated inefficiency. Perhaps it’s due to a change in role and utilization. Whatever the reason, these players are not as valuable today as they were before last week’s games.

The other category is “On the Hot Seat.” This one is also pretty self-explanatory. These players do not need to be cut, although if you’re on the hot seat, there’s certainly an argument to be made that they could be cut if you’re in a tough roster predicament.

These players should be given one final shot to make your roster. Especially early in the season, we don’t want to overreact to a change in utilization or a bad week or two, but we also don’t want to ignore it. Players in this section are a bad week away from being on the cut list.

One of the final categories we'll sometimes touch on is "Hold On." These players may have had some bad weeks, but their utilization is good, indicating better days are ahead. Hold onto them. On occasion, we’ll also identify sell-high and sell-low players. A sell-high player is one whose production has spiked, but maybe their role creates questions about whether the production is sustainable.

These players have increased their value recently, so it makes sense to see if you can trade them at peak value. Players who are sell-lows are often players with a lot of name value. These players are best explained as “get some value for them while you still can before their value falls to nothing.”

Fantasy Football Quarterbacks to Cut for Week 9

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs – 95.3% Rostered

Mahomes is coming off his best game of the season, scoring 18.1 points, and he's still cuttable in one quarterback leagues. This was the first game in which he scored more than 18 points. This was also the first time since Week 4, back on September 29, that Mahomes threw a touchdown pass. It was the first time he threw multiple touchdowns in the same game this year.

29 different quarterbacks have recorded a top-10 weekly fantasy performance this season.

Patrick Mahomes is not one of them.

— Ryan McDowell (@RyanMc23) October 23, 2024

If there's any hope for Mahomes, it's that the Chiefs play the Buccaneers in Week 9, which has allowed the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. Despite the exceptional matchup, it's still difficult to trust him. Mahomes shouldn't be viewed as anything more than a streamer. He might be ranked just inside the top 12 for Week 9 rankings, but fantasy managers cannot have much comfort or confidence putting him into their starting lineup.

If you have another viable option, Mahomes can be cut. Following his matchup with Tampa, Kansas City plays Denver and Buffalo, who have allowed the 29th and 27th-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, making them two of the most challenging matchups for quarterbacks this season.

Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts - 68.0% Rostered

Since Week 1, when he scored 26.1 points, Richardson has scored under 12 points in five straight games and under 10 points in four out of his last five starts. He has been the most inaccurate quarterback of the season. He hasn't thrown for more than 175 yards since Week 2. He has as many games with zero passing touchdowns as he does with at least one.

The “Get Up” panel was not kind to Anthony Richardson this morning. pic.twitter.com/34iGI78jlT

— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) October 28, 2024

Fantasy managers had enough concerns about Richardson without last week's incident in which he took himself out of the game because he was tired. Head coach Shane Steichen has been noncommittal about Richardson's starting gig this week. While it might be surprising to see Richardson not get the start, the fact that this is now a discussion means it's at least on the table that Joe Flacco relieves him mid-game if he plays poorly enough.

Other Players to Cut:

• Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets - 57.1% Rostered
• Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers - 29.9% Rostered
• Daniel Jones, New York Giants - 14.5% Rostered

Fantasy Football Running Backs to Cut for Week 9

Jordan Mason, San Francisco 49ers - 95.8% Rostered

This may seem a bit premature, but consider that Mason re-injured his shoulder this past week. He re-aggravated his AC joint sprain and will be re-evaluated after the bye. That's strike No. 1. Superstar Christian McCaffrey is expected back after the bye. That's strike No. 2.

League-winner Jordan Mason with PPR RB27, RB31, RB31 and RB60 (pre-MNF) finishes in his final four games as the 49ers lead back

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) October 28, 2024

Strike No. 3 is how well Isaac Guerendo has played in recent weeks. Over the past three games, Guerendo has rushed for 186 yards on 25 carries, giving him a 7.4-yard per-carry average. Guerendo's recent play has earned him more touches and playing time. If CMC cannot go in Week 10, the pendulum seems to have swung in Guerendo's favor.

Other Players to Cut:

• Zack Moss, Cincinnati Bengals - 76.9% Rostered
• Jerome Ford, Cleveland Browns - 47.2% Rostered
• Zamir White, Las Vegas Raiders - 41.2% Rostered
• Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys - 34.5% Rostered

Fantasy Football Wide Receivers to Cut for Week 9

Keenan Allen, Chicago Bears - 76.7% Rostered

Allen has played in five games this year and has yet to have 45 yards in a single game. He happened to fall into the end zone twice in Week 6, but if we eliminate his touchdowns, the most points he's scored in a game without touchdowns is 9.1 half-PPR points. He's scored over seven half-PPR points in just one game this season.

Starting Allen is basically like starting an extra tight end right now. Who in the world wants to do that? If he doesn't score a touchdown, he's scoring about five points. He's a touchdown-dependent WR5. What makes his fantasy value even worse is that passing touchdowns are hard to come by in Chicago right now. Caleb Williams has three games this season with zero touchdowns.

Other Players to Cut:

• Allen Lazard, New York Jets - 37.2% Rostered
• Jalen Tolbert, Dallas Cowboys - 27.6% Rostered
• Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay Packers - 20.1% Rostered

Fantasy Football Tight Ends to Cut for Week 9

Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans - 51.6% Rostered

Schultz hasn't been terrible this season, but he's not been good enough to be a roster mainstay. This past weekend was the first time this year that he eclipsed 35 yards in a game. That's even more disappointing because star receiver Nico Collins has been out for the past two and a half games. Collins should be back soon, but Stefon Diggs could miss time with a knee injury.

Injuries to Houston receivers are keeping Schultz's head above water, but despite catching passes from C.J. Stroud, Collins being out, and Tank Dell not being himself, Schultz has yet to score a touchdown this season, eclipse double-digits in a game, or finish with more than 55 yards in a game.

Isaiah Likely, Baltimore Ravens - 46.2% Rostered

Since Week 1, when he had 111 receiving yards, Likely has surpassed 30 yards in a game just once in his last seven games. He's finished with under 20 yards in three of those. He's also finished with fewer than three receptions in five of them.

If it weren't for his two-touchdown performance in Week 5, when he had three catches for 13 yards, Likely's rostered percentage would be much lower. That game has given fantasy managers false hope. Mark Andrews is starting to heat up again, and Zay Flowers is the team's undisputed No. 1 target. Not only that, but Rashod Bateman has shown signs of life, which on any given week can make Likely the fourth or even fifth option in their offensive attack.

Hold On

C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans - 95.2% Rostered

Stroud's season hasn't exactly gone to plan, and if things don't change, we could soon be talking about Stroud as a potential cut. However, losing Nico Collins was a big-time loss for Stroud and this entire offense. Tank Dell has struggled in his return from a broken leg and being shot this offseason. Now with Stefon Diggs' injury, you can see why fantasy managers may want to cut bait on Stroud.

In eight games, he's scored under 15 points four times, including two contests in which he was held to less than 10. He has a tough matchup in Week 9 against the Jets. He gets the Lions, Cowboys, Titans, and Jaguars from Weeks 10-13. Collins is scheduled to be back in Week 10. Three of those four opponents are in the top-13 in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks, outside of Tennessee. With the favorable matchups coming up and Collins' return, fantasy managers need to hold on to Stroud.

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys - 82.9% Rostered

Prescott has only scored more than 17 points in one game this season. It's been a rough start for Prescott and the Dallas offense. In that sense, it's very similar to last season. Now, fantasy managers need to hope Prescott and the Dallas offense do what they did last year after the bye. Prescott didn't get off to a good start this past weekend, but CeeDee Lamb sure did.

BUY LOW on Dak Prescott.

Currently QB19 in PPG.

Cowboys remaining schedule (Pass EPA rank):

Falcons (25th)
Eagles (16th)
Texans (5th)
Commanders (21st)
Giants (18th)
Bengals (23rd)
Panthers (31st)
Bucs (26th)
Eagles (16th)

6 of those 9 games are indoors.

— Frank Ammirante (@FAmmiranteTFJ) October 28, 2024

Prescott has a very favorable schedule the rest of the way. With the Cowboys having virtually no run game to speak of, Brandin Cooks due to come off of IR soon, and the favorable schedule in front of him, Prescott is worth holding onto.

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