Welcome to Week 7's edition of The Cut List, Rotoballer's weekly column filled with advice on who is fat to be trimmed from your roster and who deserves a little more time on your plate. Each player receives both statistical and social media analysis, providing both real and ridiculous reasons why we--Tony Peters and Ben Hamren of the All Stats A Salad weekly fantasy football podcast--feel the way we do. The season's chalk full of angst and anxiety, let us take you beyond the stats to tickle your funny bone and your brain.

All ownership rates are taken from Fleaflicker. Be sure to check our Week 7 (NSFW) episodes of the All Stats A Salad podcast by clicking here.

Editor's Note: Once you're done here, be sure to read about even more Week 7 waiver wire recommendations, for all fantasy-relevant positions. Just click on any link: ALL - RB - WR - TE - QB - DEF - FAAB - CUTS

 

Week 7 Players to Consider Cutting or Replacing

Darren Sproles (RB, PHI) - 61% Owned

WK6: four carries for 20 yards; 1-of-1 for four yards
2016: 28 carries for 116 yards; 15-of-18 for 187 yards and one touchdown
WK7 Opponent: Vikings (28th in points allowed to RB)

TONY: Look, we all know Darren Sproles is good for one big fantasy day of the year, and Santa Sproles came early this year, delivering in Week 3. Since then, he's been too quiet for 10-team standard scoring leagues, rushing nine times for 65 yards and catching all five of his targets for 28 yards. "Tank" was a great find in 2014, but he was rarely useful outside of deep PPR leagues last season and has done nothing to reset that trend this year. With his next three opponents all ranking near the bottom of points allowed to running backs over the past four weeks--Vikings (28th), Cowboys (26th) and Giants (25th)--he's a tough sell for a good while.

All stats a salad...in this throwback picture Sproles posted on Instagram earlier this year, he looks like a mini-version of boxer Mike Tyson. With Greg Hardy making news by attempting to transition into MMA, Sproles should stop wasting his time adding to his amazing career all-purpose yard totals and start fight training. Normally, common sense says you can't be an amazing fighter just by looking like one, but Hardy's delusions have convinced me anything is possible.

 

Chris Boswell (K, PIT) - 74% Owned

WK6: zero field goals, one XPM
2016: 4-of-5 FGM, 18-of-18 XPM
WK7: Patriots (tied for 31st in points allowed to K)

BEN: High-powered offense means all the points! This man came off the street in the wake of Josh Scobee killing dreams to redeem the position in Pittsburgh. Problem is, the Steelers score touchdowns and lots of them. They also live the two-point conversion life like it ain't no thang. Pair that with a team who just lost "Big Ben" for a bit of time and a Week 7 opponent suppressing nearly all fantasy value opposing kickers can muster and Boswell may end up going hungry without all those extra points kicks to pad his totals. Take a season long pass on this guy.

All stats a a salad...I always wonder who kickers are and who they hangout with as they have been wrongfully marginalized as not real members of their teams despite the crucial role they play. (Ask FSU if they agree with how important I think kickers are.) Anyways, this tweet from head coach Mike Tomlin makes me nothing but sad on the inside. They are the three best friends that anyone could ever have but no one wants.

 

Jason Witten (TE, DAL) - 84% Owned (This week's "Bye Week Busta Busta"/"Bye Week Felicia")

WK6: 4-of-8 for 42 yards
2016: 28-of-42 for 274 yards
WK7: Bye followed by Eagles (31st in points allowed to RB)

BEN: Hard hittin' Jason Witten, the gold standard for on-the-field tight end production long before the likes of Gronk showed up. For years Romo to Witten was as sure a thing as any tandem in the NFL. That is no longer the case with Romo perma-hurt and Dak Prescott having better things to do than throw to Witten with Zeke cutting a rug atop of every defense put in front of him. With Romo not even a guarantee to return to center, Witten is a cut in 10-team leagues.

All stats a salad...most people will tell you when Witten isn't tackling cheerleaders on the sidelines, he's a stand up guy who has praises the work ethic of all teammates, even Greg Hardy. If that doesn't call his credibility into question--one of fantasy's most important categories--it hit a new low when he was quoted as “channeling his inner Jerry Jones” using the Cowboys' owner "circumcise a mosquito" line. Is that even kosher? I'm siding with Martellus here.

 

Tyler Lockett (WR, SEA) - 58% Owned

WK6: 3-of-5 for 23 yards
2016: 11-of-20 for 152 yards
WK7 Opponent: Cardinals (23rd in points allowed to WR)

TONY: The issue here is that as great or not great Tyler Lockett is or isn't really doesn't matter when talking about his fantasy value. When your quarterback is Russell Wilson, you play for wins and wins alone. Russell is currently ranked 25th in the NFL with 170 passing attempts, 20th with 1,334 passing yards and 27th in touchdowns with five. So regardless of the lingering effects from Lockett's injured knee, he's only caught 4-of-8 targets for 33 yards over his last four games because there's nothing for him to work with. His only value at this point is as a deep league stash at best.

All stats a salad...fans seems to be enjoying pulling these autographed Tyler Lockett trading cards, especially the one that seems to taunt his fantasy owners. There have been almost exclusively bad days when rostering Lockett this season, let alone those who may be starting him.

 

Hot Seat - Sending Warning Signals

Pittsburgh Defense (DEF, PIT) - 86% Owned

WK6: 30 PA
2016: 20.5 PA per game, eight sacks, three INT, three FUM
WK7: Patriots (24th in points allowed to DEF)

BEN: This squad is less "Steel Curtain" and more Peyton Manning-era Colts. I'm sure there are some good individual defensive players on this team. But as a unit, they don't scare you as they work best with a lead. Enter Big Ben's knee injury that has him out for the foreseeable future and Week 7's opposing quarterback Tom Brady, then a bye week and a lot of tears. New England is as mean as they come and Pittsburgh is coming off a recent shredding at the hands of...wait, am I reading this right? Ryan Tannehill? Mother of god. Be worried.

All stats a salad...this is shot two at the Steelers this week. Take that Tomlin! With Lawrence Timmons puking on the field, no Brett Keisel beard to uplift spirits, this is a team amidst an upheaval. Where can the relief come from? The aforementioned Timmons, he has the answer: The Sims. This old tweet reminds us of the better, beardier times.

 

Michael Floyd (WR, ARI) - 75% Owned

WK6: 2-of-2 for 22 yards, one TD
2016: 14-of-36 for 192 yards, three TD
WK7 Opponent: Seahawks (27th in points allowed to WR)

TONY: With the quarterback position influx all season for the Cardinals thanks to an early injury to Carson Palmer, Michael Floyd has been extremely inconsistent and touchdown dependent. He has yet to top four catches in a game despite four games with over six targets (including one with 11), hasn't had over 36 yards since Week 3 and has only two catches on five targets over the past two weeks. His overall worth this season is padded by those touchdowns, and unless the Cardinals get their act together soon, that makes him a full-on boom-or-bust risk each week going forward, which is bad news for shallow leagues.

All stats a salad...Floyd retweeted this a couple weeks back, as if to tell any of his disappointed fantasy owners "back off, I promise I still like making you happy." With him putting up his worst two games of the season following this, I call classic smokescreen diversion and he really doesn't like to catch passes or put up points. Nice try.

 

Stash and Pray

Tavon Austin (WR, LA) - 74% Owned

WK6: 3-of-4 for 24 yards; three rushes for two yards
2016: 26-of-49 for 242 yards, one TD; 12 rushes for 52 yards
WK7: Giants (14th in points allowed to WR)

BEN: Case Keenum is going straight Peter Frampton out there: he is coming alive! He now has more positive games than negative this year, and that is without Mr. Gurley regularly cutting (foot)loose...yet. If Keenum can make the transition to the Bee Gees, the door will open for Gurley, allowing the team's wide receivers to get more attention. So far his darlings have been Kenny Britt and Brian Quick, but I have a feeling his heart can grow even bigger. If they can actually pick a job for Austin, he can start to do what he was drafted to do: be fast and make it happen. Keep the faith!

All stats a salad...if it hasn't become clear yet in this column, I might have an established distaste for fake athlete positive talk. I'm going to crown Mr. Austin the latest dumb-dumb for this nugget of wisdom that goes against science itself. You can't avoid sweat, embrace it. Let your pores breath, friend!

 

Dwayne Allen (TE, IND) - 86% Owned

WK6: 1-of-2 for 9 yards
2016: 18-of-27 for 192 yards, two TD
WK7: Giants (19th in points allowed to TE)

TONY: After a great Week 5, Dwayne Allen owners were excited coming into the Colts' Week 6 matchup against the Texans, even with their defense one of the top tight end suppressing units in the game lately. But before we could see what he could do, he was knocked out of the game during the Colts' first drive with an ankle injury that's going to keep him make him week-to-week for the foreseeable future. With him already losing touchdowns to fellow tight end Jack Doyle prior to this, Allen's fantasy value was already missing more often than not. Tight end is too weak this season to straight cut him in most leagues, but he's going to be an incredibly heavy stash that might not be worth carrying in the end.

All stats a salad...I wonder if Allen's sluggish 2016 can be partially blamed on over-consumption of complimentary samples from two of his most recent sponsors, Campbell's Chunky soups and American Dairy Association Indiana. Can you imagine how hard it would be to catch passes with a belly full of Beef with Country Vegetable and milk? I can now.

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