Fantasy football rosters are starting to tighten as injuries pile up and bye weeks hit hard. Some big names once viewed as breakout candidates are no longer holding up their end of the bargain. Fantasy managers who’ve been waiting for signs of life may be done waiting. A few tough cuts might be necessary to keep your season alive.
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Cut: TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots
Rostered: 90%
I waited as long as I possibly could. It’s time.
It’s not uncommon for rookies to start slowly and see their playing time and production increase as the season wears on. They gain experience. They get better. With TreVeyon Henderson, it’s been the opposite.
Henderson saw 11 opportunities in Week 1, including six targets. He caught all of them. It was frustrating that Henderson only played 35% of the snaps, but it was the first game for a rookie. Surely he would only earn a larger role as the season progressed.
Of course, that didn’t happen. In fact, we saw Antonio Gibson carve out a larger role. But then Gibson tore his ACL, consolidating this backfield between Rhamondre Stevenson and Henderson. Surely, it would be something like a 60-40 split with Henderson as the satellite back…nope.
In the two games since Gibson went down, Henderson has seen his two lowest snap shares of the season. He was at 30% two weeks ago. That fell to a mere 14% last week. He played one more snap than Terrell Jennings. I have no idea who Terrell Jennings is.
At this point, I am not convinced that Henderson is even the handcuff to Stevenson. We have no idea what is going on behind the scenes, but the only conclusion we can draw is that Henderson is not impressing at meetings or in practice.
The rookie has a mere two games of double digit fantasy points on the season. He’s scored 4.7, 4.6, and 0.5 in each of his last three. There is no longer a compelling case to keep him on rosters.
Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals
Rostered: 56%
It appears many fantasy managers have already moved on. This isn’t a situation where you absolutely have to drop Trey Benson — he’s on IR — we know the deal. Benson will miss another 2-4 weeks. When he returns, he will almost certainly reclaim the feature back role. Can you afford to hold him?
If Benson isn’t costing you a roster spot, then there’s no reason to drop him. Don’t drop any player if their remaining on your roster isn’t restricting you in any way.
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This is for those managers who need the spot. Benson will have value when he returns, but that is likely going to be on the longer end of the projected timeline.
When he does get back on the field, it will be as the lead back on a bad team. His upside isn’t so significant that you can’t afford to let someone else have him. If you need the spot, don’t feel compelled to hold Benson.
Joe Mixon, Houston Texans
Rostered: 47%
We’ve reached the point in the season where injuries and bye weeks are starting to take their toll on fantasy rosters. Even though Joe Mixon doesn’t directly cost a roster spot, he may indirectly do so if he occupies an IR spot that another player could use.
If you have a relatively healthy team and open IR spots, by all means, don’t drop Mixon. This is for the fantasy managers who need to make moves, but aren’t quite sure if it’s okay to drop him. It is.
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We haven’t gotten any concrete updates on Mixon’s timeline to return, so every bit of news we have gotten has been pessimistic. The most likely scenario is that he doesn’t play football this year. Do not feel obligated to hold Mixon any longer.
Bhayshul Tuten, Jacksonville Jaguars
Rostered: 40%
Whenever you draft rookies, you have to be prepared to be patient, especially early in the season. It’s unrealistic to expect every rookie to burst out of the gate with instant fantasy value.
That was the case for Bhayshul Tuten, who was always going to open the season behind Travis Etienne Jr. and Tank Bigsby. But Bigsby was traded to the Eagles weeks ago, and it’s now been six weeks of this being mostly a two-man backfield. Yet, Tuten hasn’t made any sort of move on Etienne’s lead-back status.
Two weeks ago, Etienne played 60% of the snaps and touched the ball 16 times. Tuten had five opportunities, matching his total from each of the past two weeks. He isn’t even the clear RB2, as LeQuint Allen operates as the passing-down back. He out-snapped Tuten 18-11.
READ MORE: Fantasy Football Cut List Week 8: TreVeyon Henderson, Justin Fields, Jerry Jeudy, and Others
Last week, even in a game that was never even remotely competitive, Tuten’s snap share wasn’t any better at just 28%.
If Etienne were to go down, Allen’s role would remain unchanged, though. Tuten is the handcuff and would be the primary back in that scenario. However, the theory behind drafting Tuten was that there was a path to him seeing fantasy-relevant work without an injury to Etienne.
At this point in the season, it’s safe to say that is no longer the case. Tuten needs an injury. He is officially a pure handcuff, and pure handcuffs only need to be rostered to the extent there isn’t a superior option.
Kendre Miller, New Orleans Saints
Rostered: 27%
The first two years of Kendre Miller’s career did not go as he hoped. This was largely due to his inability to stay on the field. Miller missed more games than he played in 2023 and 2024.
This year, Miller finally has been healthy, and he’s been pushing Alvin Kamara for more carries. Unfortunately, his run of good health appears to have come to an end.
Miller left last week’s game with a knee injury that the team is describing as “concerning.” It sounds as if it is going to require a lengthy absence, if not the rest of the season.
Miller’s value was mostly as a handcuff to Kamara anyway. If he’s going to miss even a couple of weeks, he is not worth burning a roster spot.
