Players to Cut: Week 13 (2021 Fantasy Football)

The next two weeks will be a little more challenging than Week 11 and Week 12, as we are back to four teams being on bye over the next two weeks. The Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, and Tennessee Titans have a bye in Week 13. The bye weeks are over after Week 14 when the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and Philadelphia Eagles become the last four NFL teams to take a bye.

There also were some injuries to some elite skill position players, which is further going to take its toll on fantasy managers. Christian McCaffrey was put on IR and because it is his second stint there, he is done for the season. Dalvin Cook has a shoulder injury and he is likely going to miss at least a couple of weeks. Deebo Samuel has a groin injury and he may be looking at missing some games. Jalen Hurts is also nursing a sore ankle and the Philadelphia Eagles may look at just giving him the week off with the bye coming up so that they have him healthy for the last four games.

This is the time of year when fantasy managers are scouring the waiver wire looking to add players to fill out their lineup rather than cutting players. Still, to add players, you will also need to waive players, so here are some players that you should be looking to shed from your roster in Week 13.

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12- and 14-Team Leagues

Zack Moss (RB-BUF) Moss was not even active on Thanksgiving Night, he was a healthy scratch. He has scored only one touchdown in the last seven weeks and the last time he had a double-digit fantasy game was Week 5. It is becoming clearer by the week that Matt Breida is the running back you should roster in Buffalo. He has had 36.2 fantasy points over the last three games and his rankings in those weeks among running backs have been 11th, 28th, and 17th.

You could make the argument that Devin Singletary is not worth a roster spot at this point, because he has only 11 fantasy points over the last two games. The Buffalo offense does not run the ball well enough to support two fantasy running backs most weeks, but Singletary at least is active on game day and sees the field. He also had 16 touches in that win over New Orleans, which is more than enough for him to be fantasy relevant if his production goes up.

Moss has no chance of being a factor as a healthy scratch and it would take multiple injuries at running back for him to see a role again. The fantasy playoffs are right around the corner and your roster spot could be better used than hanging onto Moss.

Kenyan Drake (RB - LV) There was a stretch in Week 6 and Week 8-9 where Drake had 48 fantasy points and it looked like he was going to be a weekly RB2. That has faded in recent weeks, he has only 11 fantasy points in his last three games. He is no longer finding the end zone and he does not have a consistent role in the passing game.

At this point, Josh Jacobs is seeing too much of the work to make Drake worth anything more than a handcuff. Handcuffs become less valuable after the bye weeks are done and the playoffs are upon us, I would use the roster spot on someone that is more fantasy viable.

Mike Davis (RB -ATL) The good news is that Davis had as many points in Week 13 as he did in Week 11 and Week 12 combined. The bad news is that he had two points in Week 11 and four points in Week 12. That means he had only six points in Week 13. If he increases his fantasy totals by two points every week, he may become fantasy viable by Week 17. The more likely outcome is that he is going to keep posting low fantasy numbers and he should not be rostered in any leagues.

Jeff Wilson Jr. (RB - SF) Elijah Mitchell was back this week and he saw 27 carries for 133 yards and five receptions for 35 yards, and one touchdown. That left Wilson with just two rushing attempts and one reception. He had seven yards from scrimmage on those three touches. Mitchell is the lead back in that offense and anybody else is just fighting for scraps.

There is always the possibility that Mitchell misses time with an injury, but Wilson had only six fantasy points on 19 carries as the lead back against Jacksonville when Mitchell was inactive. Wilson does not look good enough right now to trust in fantasy and there is not a ton of upside, even if his role were to increase.

T.Y. Hilton (WR - IND) The only reason to keep Hilton around is that he has owned Houston his entire career and even this year he had four receptions for 80 yards against them. If you need a desperation flex option his week and he is the best you can do, keep him.

There is no other reason to have him on your roster. He may have found the end zone against Tampa Bay last week, but he also had only five targets, four receptions, and 28 yards. He also had only six fantasy points in his three previous games combined. I would lean toward not having him on my roster, I do not think his past success against Houston is enough to make me confident in rostering him. I also do not think an outlier game with a touchdown is enough to hope for better days in future weeks.

Robby Anderson (WR - CAR) Anderson was not able to build on that touchdown that he scored against Arizona in Cam Newton's first game with the Panthers. Anderson has 10 targets, six receptions, 45 yards, and no touchdowns in his two games since Arizona. He has a bye this week, Atlanta at home the next week, followed by a road game at Buffalo. I do not think there is enough upside in the Atlanta matchup to warrant holding on to him through the bye week and Buffalo is a horrible matchup. I would look for other options.

Cedrick Wilson (WR - DAL)Wilson had his first 100-yard game of the season, thanks to both CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper being out last week. Both are expected to be back this week and I am not sure Wilson has a high enough floor if those two are starting. Wilson is also not practicing due to an ankle injury and he could be limited. Unless something changes with Lamb or Cooper this week, I think Wilson can go back to the waiver wire.

Tyler Boyd (WR - CIN) Boyd has only one touchdown in his last eight games and he has 69 yards, 11 yards, 49 yards, and 13 yards in his last four games. The Bengals are not throwing the ball well enough right now to support three wide receivers and Boyd has way too low of a floor to justify playing him when his ceiling appears to be 50-60 yards and no touchdown. Unless there are no other options on the waiver wire, I would not trust Boyd to have a strong finish to the season. I would try to stream other players with more upside.

Teddy Bridgewater (QB - DEN) Bridgewater has only three touchdown passes and two rushing touchdowns in his last four games and he is not battling a lower leg injury that cost him the second quarter in Week 12. I do not know if I would trust Bridgewater battling an injury against the Chiefs. Andy Reid is 20-3 coming off his bye week and the Chiefs have allowed only 49 points in their last four games. He seems like a very low-upside QB2 or QB3 and his numbers seem to be on the downswing in recent weeks. He's only averaging 14.92 fantasy points over his last four games.

Trevor Lawrence (QB - JAC) Lawrence continues to struggle, as he is averaging only 11.03 fantasy points over his last five games and now, he has a road game against the Los Angeles Rams followed by a road game against the Tennessee Titans. They also lost his favorite target, Dan Arnold, and will be even more limited on offense. It continues to be a situation to avoid in fantasy.

C.J. Uzomah (TE - CIN) Uzomah is down to averaging 1.9 fantasy points over his last four ball games. He had a couple of monster games earlier in the year, but they appear to be outliers at this point. Joe Burrow has slowed a bit and the same reason that Boyd cannot be trusted is the same reason that Uzomah should be on the waiver wire.

Austin Hooper (TE - ATL) Hopper has averaged only 3.6 fantasy points over his last five games and against the Ravens, he was held without a catch. He has the bye in Week 13 and he is back to play the Ravens again in Week 14. Seeing he did not have a catch in Week 12, there is not much to expect in Week 14 and Hooper is not worth a dead roster spot for the next two weeks.

Shallow Leagues

Cam Newton (QB - CAR) The big question is do you need to keep Newton through the bye week. In a deeper league, I think you should hang onto him or in leagues that allow a super flex or that start two quarterbacks. In a shallow league, his fantasy stock is going to take a hit with Christian McCaffrey done for the year and he just does not have much left as a passer. He has 289 yards passing in his last three games and while he had a very limited role in Week 10 and he was benched in Week 12, I do not see a lot of games where his passing numbers are going to be better.

After Atlanta next week, they have a road game against Buffalo and a home game against Tampa Bay. Short of needing him for the Week 14 bye against Atlanta, his value is declining on an offense that is about to go back to struggling without McCaffrey.

Alex Collins (RB - SEA) Collins rushed seven times for 14 yards in Week 12 and added a reception for 13 yards. He has not found the end zone since Week 6 and he has 17 carries for 50 yards in his last two games. Even with Russell Wilson back, he has not been able to produce anything close to viable fantasy numbers. He's a starting running back, they have value in deeper leagues. In a shallow league, he has very little fantasy upside.

Kenny Golladay (WR - NYG) Golladay caught only three of his seven targets for 50 yards last week. Sadly, that was his best game since Week 4 and the Giants were without Sterling Shepard and Kadarius Toney. The Dolphins are 28th against fantasy wide receivers over the last five weeks, so there is a good matchup for fantasy managers in deeper leagues. I am not sure if that is enough managers in shallower leagues, if he can only manage that little production without Shepard and Toney, it is hard to trust him in any matchup. Even a change in offensive coordinators did not produce much positive production for Golladay in Week 12.

Evan Engram (TE - NYG) The Giants offense leaves a lot to be desired, Engram had three receptions on six targets for 37 yards and no touchdowns in Week 12. He has only one game with more than 50-yards receiving and after scoring touchdowns in back-to-back games in Week 8 and 9, he has not found the end zone since. That may be enough production in a deeper league, but in shallower leagues, I think you can find better streaming options. One player I would consider is James O'Shaughnessy. Now that Dan Arnold is going to miss 4-6 weeks, he is a player that could be seeing a lot of targets going forward.

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