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Players to Cut: Week 7 (2020 Fantasy Football)

Players to Cut: Week 7 (2020 Fantasy Football)

It’s hard to believe that we already have six weeks of the NFL season in the books and we’re headed toward Week 7. The nice thing about Week 6 is that all the games scheduled for this week were played in Week 6, and there is no reshuffling of the NFL schedule on the horizon for Week 7. That will make it a little easier for fantasy managers to plan for the week, although things can change very quickly.

As for players to cut, some of the names are going to be repeat players from previous weeks that are still rostered in too many leagues. I tried to come up with a few new players, but my goal is not to make a splash with every article and just come up with random players to cut. I try to keep a balance of giving you some new players to think about while reinforcing previous takes on players that continue to underproduce but remain on too many rosters.

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Baker Mayfield (QB – CLE)

Mayfield is one of two quarterbacks who I can’t see an argument for rostering, and it’s been that way for some time — I have been writing about these two quarterbacks for most of the season. Most of the other underperforming quarterbacks, such as Philip Rivers and Kirk Cousins, can give fantasy managers a good game. That makes them worth rostering as bye week replacements or injury insurance.

Mayfield has a ceiling of about 20 fantasy points, and his floor is incredibly low. That showed in Week 6 — he threw for only 119 yards, one passing touchdown, and a pick. He gets a rematch with Cincinnati in Week 7, who he posted his best fantasy numbers against in Week 2. He is also playing through a rib injury, which creates uncertainty about his availability or his ability to duplicate that performance. Mayfield is on pace for only 2,602 yards passing and 24 passing touchdowns. He just is not worth rostering in fantasy football at this point.

Daniel Jones (QB – NYG)

I am shocked he is still rostered in 31% of Yahoo leagues and 22.2% of ESPN leagues. I wonder if that’s the percentage of leagues in those platforms that have become ghost ships, because a prudent fantasy owner should not roster Jones. This quarterback has three touchdown passes in six games, which puts him on pace for eight touchdown passes this season. His 74 rushing yards gave him some fantasy value, but that upside is handicapped by his inability to throw touchdowns and his 203.8 passing yards per game. Even with the rushing success, I don’t see him as a viable streaming option. The Giants are the second-worst offense in the league, behind only the New York Jets.

NYJ and NYG Offensive Rankings

Team RuYD RuYPA RuTD PaYD PaYPA PaTD Total Points Total Yards
New York Giants 527 (30th) 4.0 (23rd) 3 (30th) 1,125 (30th) 5.6 (29th) 3 (32nd) 101 (31st) 1,652 (31st)
New York Jets 632 (21st) 4.3 (15th) 2 (31st) 1,028 (32nd) 4.7 (32nd) 4 (30th) 75 (32nd) 1,660 30th

 

D’Ernest Johnson (RB – CLE)

Johnson looked like he could have some fantasy value after Nick Chubb went down and Johnson tallied 13 carries for 95 yards against Dallas. Johnson followed up that performance with eight rushes for 32 yards against the Indianapolis Colts and four carries for one yard against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has only one target, one reception, and four yards in those two games. Johnson is not worth rostering if Kareem Hunt is going to see all the action, leaving Johnson with just six-to-eight touches per game. I think the Dallas game was more of a fluke than a sign of good things to come in fantasy.

Frank Gore (RB – NYJ)

The positive is that Gore rushed 11 times for 46 yards and caught four passes on four targets for 24 yards. A running back seeing 15 touches is usually a good thing. The problem is that Gore would need 40 touches per game to warrant flex status in an offense as stagnant as the Jets. It also seems that Lamical Perine is likely to become the primary ball carrier as the season progresses with Gore having a secondary role. They need to see what they have in Perine, and I would expect Perine and Ty Johnson to see the bulk of the touches with Gore settling in at six-to-eight per game. I don’t think that 15 touches will become the norm for Gore going forward. He is not worth rostering due to his declining role in the worst scoring offense in the NFL.

Jordan Howard (RB – MIA)

For some reason, Howard is rostered in 26% of Yahoo leagues and 24.2% of ESPN leagues, even though he has been a healthy scratch for two straight weeks. He has more rushing attempts (18) than rushing yards (14), and even though he has three rushing touchdowns, he last scored in Week 3. You cannot roster a running back who is a healthy scratch for two straight weeks. He should not be rostered in any fantasy leagues.

T.Y. Hilton (WR – IND)

I am going to give you three big names at wide receiver to think about. Hilton is rostered in 83% of Yahoo leagues and 80.1% of ESPN leagues. Marquez Valdes-Scantling is rostered in 30% of Yahoo leagues and 24.7% of Yahoo leagues. Yet there is not much difference in the players in terms of fantasy production. Valdes-Scantling has 25 targets, 12 receptions, 210 yards receiving, and one receiving touchdown. Hilton has 32 targets, 19 receptions, 231 yards, and one touchdown in one more game that Valdes-Scantling.

Hilton is strictly rostered at this percentage due to his name. If you look at production, there is no difference between him and Curtis Samuel, Corey Davis, or Anthony Miller. Yet Hilton is rostered in at least twice as many leagues. Did I mention that Hilton had five targets, one reception, and 11 yards in Week 6 against Cincinnati — in a game the Colts trailed by 21-0, forcing Philip Rivers had to throw the ball 44 times? You can try to trade Hilton, you can stash him on your bench if you are in a deeper league, or you can ask yourself if it even pays to roster him at this point. He is not producing like a player who is rosterable in 80% of fantasy leagues.

Julian Edelman (WR – NE)

Since a monster game that saw Edelman tally 11 targets, eight receptions, and 179 yards in Week 2, Edelman has been very quiet. He has 18 targets, seven receptions, and 64 yards in his last three games. He has failed to find the end zone and has failed to reach 40 yards receiving in any of those games. The one thing that would give me pause about releasing him is that Cam Newton contracted COVID-19 and Edelman has had to play with Brian Hoyer in Week 4, drew an unexpected bye in Week 5, and hand a rescheduled game against Denver in Week 6. There has been a lot of chaos in New England, and that can sometimes throw a player off his game.

The other possibility is that Edelman turned 34 years old, and the combination of his age and a new quarterback has contributed to his decline. It’s hard to roster a receiver that struggles to put up 40 yards receiving. You will ultimately have to decide whether the depth of your league and the options on your waiver wire make it practical to drop Edelman. He does not look like a fantasy asset at this point, and it’s hard to have confidence streaming him with his floor this low. That Seattle game looks more like an outlier than a realistic expectation for games going forward.

Marvin Jones Jr. (WR – DET)

Jones has seven targets, three receptions, 17 yards, and no touchdowns in his last two games. He has been the big loser since Kenny Golladay returned, and it’s hard to stream a guy that cannot top 10 yards receiving. He has a great matchup against the Atlanta Falcons next week, but I wouldn’t trust him at this point, and if you can’t trust a wide receiver against the Atlanta Falcons, there isn’t much point to rostering him at all.

Evan Engram (TE – NYG)

I’m not sure if I’m ready to flat out cut him, but I think it’s time to have that conversation. The Giants are 30th in yards gained and 32nd in passing touchdowns scored, so there is not much to go around for any of the Giants’ passing targets. Engram has five targets, three receptions, and 46 yards over the last three weeks. If he had not had two rushing attempts for nine yards and one touchdown in Week 5 against Dallas, he would have been a complete bust for three straight weeks. Engram has not topped 40 yards receiving or scored a receiving touchdown in the last four weeks. Fantasy managers need to decide if they can trade Engram, bench him, or if it’s time to just part ways. The Eagles have given up the fifth-most fantasy points to tight ends, so this might be the week fantasy owners give Engram the ultimatum. If he cannot produce in this matchup, it might be time to cut him after Week 7.

Eric Ebron (TE – PIT)

Tight end is a weak position this year. Managers in deeper leagues may need to stream Ebron because there are not many viable options on the waiver wire. My problem with Ebron is that Cleveland was supposed to be a good matchup, Ebron played 75% of the snaps, and he responded with four targets, two receptions, and nine yards. A big problem was Ben Roethlisberger threw only 22 passes because the Steelers were ahead early and cruised to a 38-7 win. Ebron has only topped 50 yards receiving once this year, and he has scored only one touchdown. Both of those came in the same game back in Week 3. He is a streaming option with a very low floor, and it’s hard to justify rostering him when he logs games like Sunday’s.

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Derek Lofland is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Derek, check out his archive and follow him @DerekLofland.

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