Much of fantasy football in-season owner strategy centers around which players to pick up from the waiver wire or to target in the trade market. However, roster spots are a premium resource. Cutting a player - or adding them to a trade - opens a roster spot for a key waiver wire addition or flexibility to keep a currently injured player through a missed game or two. Here are the key players to cut or trade after Week 1:
SHALLOW FORMATS
*15-18 roster spots*
Why: Winston was a high-level streaming special in Week 1, but showed the same old Winston against the 49ers with turnovers and sapping scoring chances for an otherwise talented Tampa Bay offense. Winston has a rebound opportunity on Thursday against Carolina, but the Panthers stifled the Rams' passing game and the Tampa Bay run game looks like a better play overall for fantasy. Winston is not worth a roster spot in shallow leagues after a 99% MFL (myfantasyleague.com) ownership heading into Week 1.
Why: Drake has 100% ownership on MFL and Week 1 was the worst-case scenario for the Dolphins and for Drake. Kalen Ballage drew the 'start' but the snap split was murky overall between the clear top-2 backs in Miami. Finally, Drake could not take advantage of garbage time (much of the game) to log a decent PPR outing. Other than seeing a deluge of targets with negative game scripts, Drake is a tough start going forward.
Robby Anderson
Why: Jamison Crowder and LeVeon Bell were cornerstone players in the Jets offense Week 1 and Anderson relied on a few deeper options on an offense content to dump the ball off and play small ball. Anderson is 100% owned in MFL. Shallow leagues have zero marginal to hold questionable wide receivers in terms of their weekly upside and/or NFL role.
Why: The touchdown-producing wonder in 2018 has a number of obstacles for even approaching his production from a year ago. Ebron lost Andrew Luck to start, Jack Doyle is healthy, and Ebron sagged to a tough-to-be-relevant 40% snap share in Week 1. T.Y. Hilton will lead the passing game but the No.2/3 roles are highly contested, plus stacked against Ebron if he is sub-50% snaps weekly. Ebron is 98% owned on MFL.
MEDIUM DEPTH
*18-22 roster spots*
Why: The low-hanging fruit is moving on, even in modest depth dynasty rosters, from Nick Foles after his Week 1 injury. Foles could return later in the season, but his upside is nothing enough juice to be worth the roster squeeze for a couple of months. Gardner Minshew also looked solid in the preseason and in relief Week 1 to open the possibility Minshew keeps the job longer than expected.
Darrell Henderson
Why: More for redraft than a dynasty, but Henderson was on a milk carton in Week 1 for the Rams running back rotation. Malcolm Brown looked fantastic as the RB2 and Todd Gurley is healthy and saw a sturdy snap count. Henderson barely played and is more than one injury away from impact until further notice. With 22 or fewer roster spots in redraft, two-injury-away backs are sub-optimal uses of roster spots with rare exception.
Why: Moncrief was the clear WR2 in snaps for the Steelers, but had one of the more disappointing receivers of Week 1. James Washington is a likely surge candidate to grow in snaps and challenge Moncrief in short order, as well as Dionte Johnson who was a contributor Week 1. Moncrief is the classic 'looks good on paper and/or in the offseason' who shrinks in the regular season lights. Moncrief is a roster albatross in moderate depth format despite his 88% MFL ownership.
Why: Witten was the TE1 for the Cowboys in terms of snaps, but Blake Jarwin was not far off in snaps and flashed more than the movement-limited Witten. Witten saved his fantasy day with a short-range touchdown, but there is minimal upside as he runs sub-10-yard routes as the staple diet in the passing tree with a Tony Gonzalez-like late-career push-off as he mode of separation. Witten is a flimsy streamer at best and reserved only for 2TE leagues based on snap opportunity alone.
DEEP FORMATS
*25+ roster spots, more dynasty-focused*
Why: Fitzpatrick took a beating in Week 1 against Baltimore on all fronts - fantasy, scoreboard, physically with a bevy of big hits. The weapons are sub-optimal, the line is subpar, and Fitzpatrick's 'magic' in previous iterations at times looks to running out of time. Fitzpatrick is set up to fail essentially with surrounding talent and the franchise pointing to 2020 and beyond where the environment is completely different than the strong weapons in Tampa Bay when Fitzpatrick was a revelation for a cross-section of the season.
Why: This is a tough one as Yeldon has an intriguing profile of side and receiving acumen. However, Devin Singletary was the clear starter in Week 1 and flashed on a few plays and Frank Gore was the high-floor RB2. Yeldon is blocked unless both get injured to unlock an upside scenario to approach a fantasy lineup.
Why: Tampa Bay looks like a shell of itself from 2018 and Perriman is the clear WR3 at best on a roster with O.J. Howard also a key pass target (and Cameron Brate as TE2). Perriman is a deep best ball special at most and not even an optimal one at that. Perriman has the former draft pedigree but a long track record of a fleeting flash devolving back into obscurity. Perriman is still 21% owned on MFL.
Why: T.J. Hockenson looked fantastic in his NFL debut and the Lions are stocked with weapons in the passing game. James is a handcuff at best for Hockenson and the movement-limited James has been a low-upside option during his career with short routes and needing a goal-line touchdown. James, at best, is a low-level handcuff in the deepest of 2TE dynasty formats.
