The Cut List – Who to Drop for Week 14?

Fantasy managers have one more week to get their playoff rosters in order and if you're still fighting for a playoff spot, fantasy managers need to absolutely be treating this week's matchup as a win or go home contest.

Fantasy managers should be keeping tabs on the standings in their leagues and the possible outcomes in the final week of the season. If you've already secured a playoff spot and don't believe you can improve your Week 15 matchup, go searching for those positive matchups for Weeks 15 and 16. Look out for high-upside players on the waiver wire should an injury happen and don't be afraid to handcuff your studs. Now is the time for insurance policies.

Most of the players you'll find on this list aren't performing or aren't producing value over replacement level. Just a reminder, but the following players aren't necessarily ones that you need to cut, they're just players you can cut should your particular situation require it. So as we enter the final few weeks of the season, I just wanted to say thank you to anyone who read this series throughout the season. This was my first year writing for RotoBaller and I had a blast and hope to be back next season helping y'all bring home some more championships! I hope I helped you along the way and I wish all of you nothing but the best in your fantasy matchups.

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Quarterbacks to Drop for Week 14?

Carson Wentz, Indianapolis Colts

56.0% Rostership

This may come as a surprise to find Wentz as a drop candidate – keyword being candidate – but his overall ranking is a little misleading. He's currently the QB11, but when we look at his ranking in terms of PPG, he drops all the way QB15 (16 if we include Jameis Winston). His current PPG average is 16.4, which is just 0.1 higher than Tyler Heinicke and just half-a-point better than what Trevor Siemian did during his spot starts for the Saints. When you consider what he's doing on a per game basis, it becomes a little more clear why fantasy football managers can move on if they have better options. And truthfully, this brings us to the second point as to why he is a droppable player.

He's currently on a bye in Week 14, which explains why he's higher on the overall rankings than the PPG one, but when he returns in Week 15, the Colts are at home against the New England Patriots. The Patriots are currently allowing just 13.2 points this season to opposing quarterbacks. It's the second-lowest average in the league. In Week 16, the Colts go on the road to face off against the Arizona Cardinals, which presents a better matchup than the Patriots, but far from good. The Cardinals' defense is the fifth-most difficult matchup for fantasy quarterbacks this season, allowing just 16.1 points per game. Needless to say, fantasy managers aren't going to start him in Weeks 14–16.

Full disclosure, he has an excellent matchup in Week 17, which very well might be your championship matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders. They're allowing the fourth-most points to quarterbacks this season, so if you need the roster spot this week to get into the playoffs, be sure to look to add him in Week 15 or 16 before that mouth-watering matchup in Week 17.

 

Running Backs to Drop for Week 14?

As I looked through the rostership numbers for running backs, a clear-cut candidate didn't really pop off the chart. I considered Nyheim Hines, but he's a must-have handcuff as we enter the fantasy football playoffs with how valuable Jonathan Taylor has been. So with that, that's a kudos to all fantasy managers because I really did struggle to find some viable cut candidates, which is why the two that are here have such a low rostership.

Latavius Murray, Baltimore Ravens

24.1% Rostership

Murray missed games in Weeks 7–9 and he has not returned to the same kind of role he had prior to his injury. From Weeks 1–7, Murray was averaging 10.5 touches per game. During the stretch, no other Ravens' running back touched the ball more. In Weeks 11–13, his touch total has dropped to just eight touches per game. Devonta Freeman has been the lead back and has been more productive than what we've seen from Murray. In their Week 13 loss to the Ravens, Murray played on just 19% of the snaps, while Freeman played on 69% of the snaps. That was the highest snap count for any Ravens' running back in 2021.

Freeman is currently averaging 4.2 yards per carry on the season, while Murray is struggling to a 3.3 yard per carry clip. If that lack of production wasn't enough, Freeman has also been more involved in the receiving game. Freeman is averaging 2.8 targets per game and Murray is averaging just 1.0 target per game. At this point, Murray is nothing more than a handcuff to Freeman and his lack of production across the entire season begs the question as to whether he'd even be a viable fill-in should Freeman get hurt.

Ty Johnson, New York Jets

20.3% Rostership

Rookie Michael Carter went on IR prior to the Jets' Week 12 game and there was a lot of optimism around Ty Johnson. Prior to Carter's injury, he was the locked-in No. 2 running back for the Jets and he was highly involved in the passing game. From Weeks 5–9, Johnson rattled four straight games with double-digits in half-PPR scoring. From Weeks 1–11, Johnson was averaging 3.8 targets per game and roughly 6.7 touches per game. Despite Carter going on IR, neither number increased. In fact, both numbers went down. In Weeks 12–13, he is averaging just 4.5 touches and 2.5 targets.

Tevin Coleman has acted as the No. 1 running back during Carter's IR stint. This change in utilization now makes fantasy managers what will happen to Johnson once Carter does return – he's eligible to return in Week 15. There's no trusting any Jets' running back right now, especially the No. 2 one.

 

Wide Receivers to Drop for Week 14?

Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos

79.6% Rostership

There's nothing worse when good football players are not good fantasy football players. Courtland Sutton is a prime example of that. I don't think there's any question regarding Sutton's on-field skill, but the Broncos do not have an offense that can currently take advantage of his talents. Every good fantasy football player needs one thing: volume. You need to get touches and targets to be able to produce. Right now, Sutton is simply not getting the targets and this has been an ongoing trend ever since Jerry Jeudy came back from injury.

Courtland Sutton without Jerry Jeudy this year:
25.7% target share, 16.9 PPR points per game

Courtland Sutton with Jerry Jeudy this year:
10.9% target share, 4.2 PPR points per game

— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) November 29, 2021

*Checks injury report*

Jerry Jeudy is healthy, which has essentially meant Sutton is not a startable player. He's not even a rosterable player.

Courtland Sutton is 102nd in Expected PPR Points Per Game in 4 games since Jerry Jeudy returned.

102nd.

— Jared Smola (@SmolaDS) December 2, 2021

 

Tight Ends to Drop for Week 14?

Foster Moreau, Las Vegas Raiders

29.2% Rostership

A lot of fantasy managers pivoted to Moreau when Darren Waller was ruled out. Despite Carr throwing 38 times, Moreau was able to command just three targets. He was only able to catch one of them for 34 yards.

Raiders TE Darren Waller (knee) is optimistic about a potential return this week vs the Chiefs, per source. Las Vegas will see how the week goes but team hopeful he’s making progress.

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) December 6, 2021

Waller could very well be back in Week 14. Even if he's not – and I'm not entirely sold he will be – Moreau shouldn't be on the fantasy radar with a matchup against the Chiefs. Over their last five games, opposing tight ends have scored just 5.86 points per game, which would be tied as the 25th-fewest in the league. It's not that they're beating up on bad tight ends. The Chiefs have faced some good tight ends during that stretch. This included Darren Waller, Noah Fant and Dalton Schultz. Waller only had four catches for 25 yards in Week 10 against the Chiefs. The Chiefs' defense has been playing much better as of late.

 

On the Hot Seat

Rashod Bateman, Baltimore Ravens

38.4% Rostership

It's no fun putting a first-round draft pick on this list, especially one I was so high on, but this Baltimore offense is struggling lately. Lamar Jackson has just two games all season with more than one touchdown pass. He's been under 250 yards in five of his 11 starts. He had a three-week stint from Weeks 3–5 where he had 1,045 yards. In the other eight games, he's thrown for just 1,820, or 227 yards per game. Based on what we've seen from the Ravens' passing, it appears that his earlier three-week stretch is more of an outlier than something fantasy managers should be expecting. If the lack of production from the Ravens' passing wasn't enough, Bateman's production and peripheral numbers have decreased in recent weeks.

Rashod Bateman’s snap % and routes have dropped each of the last 3 weeks

The past 2 weeks he hasn’t even hit 50% of snaps. Yesterday, 1 target.

That is… not what you want to be seeing right now

— Sam Erman (@FFBallAllDay) December 6, 2021

Now that he's moving further and further down the pecking order among Ravens receivers, it's getting almost impossible to start Bateman. It's always hard to drop such a talented player, which is why he's on the hot seat because I believe he's the second-most talented receiver on the team. Hopefully the Ravens realize that, but if nothing changes prior to the fantasy playoffs, fantasy managers shouldn't be scared to move on.

 

Hold On

DeVante Parker, Miami Dolphins

54.5% Rostership

Parker has only been active for six games as he's struggled with injuries for most of the season, but when he's been healthy, he's been effective. He's averaging 10 half-PPR points this season and it certainly doesn't appear as if Will Fuller is returning this season. Waddle has cemented himself as the No. 1, but that doesn't mean Parker can't be a useful WR3  or backup wide receiver should any playoff fantasy team get hit with a late-season injury.

DeVante Parker in his Week 13 return:

* 71% snaps
* 71% routes
* 5 targets (12% share)#Dolphins have a Week 14 bye but return with plus passing matchups vs. the #Jets, #Saints and #Titans.

— Jared Smola (@SmolaDS) December 6, 2021

The Dolphins are on bye in Week 14, but in Weeks 15–17, he gets the Jets, Saints and Titans. While the Jets are just 15th in points allowed to fantasy receivers, a lot of that is because they are the absolute worst against running backs. Do the Dolphins have the personnel to take advantage of that at running back? I'm not sold. The Saints are allowing the second-most fantasy points to wide receivers and the Titans are allowing the seventh-most. Fantasy managers should try to hang onto Parker through the bye. He'll get another week to get healthy and comes back to an excellent schedule in the fantasy playoffs.

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