The Cut List - Time to Let Go? Who to Drop for Fantasy Football Week 5

Rob's fantasy football players to drop when making waiver wire moves for Week 5 (2025). He helps fantasy football managers decide on who to cut from rosters.

With every action comes an equal, but opposite reaction. Everyone remembers Newton's third law of motion, right? He must've anticipated the weekly burden of having to set our waiver claims, because if we want to add a new player, we must drop one. Generally, no one has a problem buying or acquiring something new. It's getting rid of something old that society tends to struggle with.

The goal of this article is to provide some guidance on those choices. Ultimately, it's still your roster and your decision, but no one likes to drop someone who ends up figuring things out and becoming a starter again. The more data we have, the greater our confidence in our decisions.

With four weeks in, we have a decent sample size, but there are still some questions about players and their roles. Be sure to also check out my waiver wire article for Week 5, because with almost every cut, there's a new addition we welcome to our team.

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Running Backs to Consider Cutting

Joe Mixon, Houston Texans - 64.6% Rostered

He was an elite fantasy producer just last season. He suffered a foot injury in the offseason, and at the time, the severity was significantly downplayed. However, as we inched closer to the season, the news started to turn sour. Eventually, Mixon was put on the reserve/non-football injury list and has missed the first four weeks of the season.

With his window now open to return, recent news indicates that Mixon is not even close.

#Texans coach DeMeco Ryans specifically indicated that Joe Mixon is not ready to return at this time. Per sources, it will be much longer, if at all, for Mixon to get back on the field this season @KPRC2

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) September 29, 2025

In fact, speculation was made that Mixon will likely not play this season. Once he started tumbling down drafts, I could understand why some fantasy managers threw a dart at Mixon in case he was able to return later in the season, even if it wasn't until midseason. If healthy, he possessed the ability to be a top-20 running back.

With the recent news, those holding Mixon can easily cut bait.

Kaleb Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers - 42.3% Rostered

Jaylen Warren missed Week 4, giving Johnson active gameday status. When Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, and Trey Sermon were healthy in Week 3, Johnson was a healthy inactive, a strong indication of just how far away from fantasy-relevancy the third-round rookie is.

Warren's injury opened the door, albeit very small, for Johnson to make a play and put himself back on fantasy radars. That did not happen. He finished with six carries for 22 yards, averaging less than four yards per carry. Meanwhile, Gainwell had 99 yards on 19 carries, along with two rushing scores.

There was no committee approach for the Steelers sans Warren, as Gainwell was an absolute workhorse. Last year, we saw Arthur Smith limit Bijan Robinson's snaps and touches to give them to Tyler Allgeier. Here, though, instead of going with a committee approach absent his primary starter, Smith chose to give Gainwell 25 touches instead of involving Johnson.

That speaks volumes. Johnson isn't one injury away; he may be two or three injuries away.

Other Running Backs to Consider Cutting: 

• Brian Robinson Jr., San Francisco 49ers - 42.0% Rostered
• Jerome Ford, Cleveland Browns - 38.4% Rostered
• Tank Bigsby, Philadelphia Eagles - 34.6% Rostered
• Braelon Allen, New York Jets - 28.2% Rostered

Wide Receivers to Consider Cutting

Calvin Ridley, Tennessee Titans - 85.6% Rostered

Ridley has been atrocious through four weeks. He has yet to score more than 7.5 half-PPR points in any game this season. He's scored below 5.0 half-PPR points in three out of four games. He has more than 30 yards in just one game this season. Rookie Elic Ayomanor has been far more productive than Ridley has been.

Head coach Brian Callahan indicated Ridley was dealing with an injury in Week 4, which is why his route share was below 50%.

Calvin Ridley Dealing With Undisclosed Injury https://t.co/taeKm3lXFu

— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) September 29, 2025

That led to Ridley finishing with just three targets, his lowest of the season. With the way the Tennessee offense is operating thus far, it's improbable it'll be able to support more than one fantasy-relevant receiver, if at all. Through four weeks, the closest pass-catcher to fantasy relevance has been Ayomanor. Ridley should be viewed as nothing more than a boom-or-bust WR5.

Given the state of the Titans' offense, there will be more busts than booms.

Tre Tucker, Las Vegas Raiders - 67.3% Rostered

This one is probably going to elicit some feelings for fantasy managers because of what he did in Week 3. In Weeks 2 and 3, Tucker had 11 catches on 17 targets. Eight of those catches came in Week 3, when he had 145 yards and three touchdowns. While those target totals look and sound good, it's important to note that superstar Brock Bowers was dealing with a knee sprain and has clearly not been himself.

In Weeks 1 and 4, he had just five targets. NFL offenses cannot support three pass-catchers. It's extremely rare for that to happen. It's even more rare, impossible even, when a quarterback is playing as poorly as Geno Smith is playing. Tucker is no higher than third on the target hierarchy behind Bowers and Jakobi Meyers, which doesn't even mention Ashton Jeanty.

If you can sell Tucker, that would be ideal, but I'd rather roster Luther Burden III, Jalen Coker, and Ayomanor.

Other Receivers to Consider Cutting:

• Cedric Tillman, Cleveland Browns - 38.6% Rostered
• Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers - 32.8% Rostered
• Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings - 21.1% Rostered
• Kayshon Boutte, New England Patriots - 15.2% Rostered

Tight Ends to Consider Cutting

Evan Engram, Denver Broncos - 58.5% Rostered

Engram has yet to finish any game with five targets. Or four catches. Or 25 yards. His route share for the season is now below 50%. He hasn't been healthy yet, so maybe once that happens, he'll have some fantasy value, but until that happens, fantasy managers shouldn't hang onto him. There are far, far better options at tight end available.

Other Tight Ends to Consider Cutting:

• Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears - 42.5% Rostered
• Jonnu Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers - 33.4% Rostered

Don't Even Think About It... Just No!

• A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles - 99.9% Rostered
• Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars - 98.8% Rostered
• Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers - 98.2% Rostered
• DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles - 92.7% Rostered

We're not even remotely close to having a realistic conversation about dropping any of these players. They are all far, far too talented even to be thinking about that with just four games played. We can certainly adjust our priors and revise our season-long expectations for these players. Brown is more of a boom-or-bust WR2.

Thomas, McConkey, and Smith should be valued as boom-or-bust WR3s. They aren't who we thought they were, and that's very unfortunate.

That doesn't mean you cut these kinds of players. If you have better options, by all means, start them. You're not obligated to start any of these guys, considering how they've played, but there are better days ahead. That doesn't mean we see them perform at the level we expected in the preseason, but it will get better. They're all just far too talented.

On The Hot Seat

Nick Chubb, Houston Texans - 79.0% Rostered

Rookie Woody Marks completely took over the Houston backfield this past weekend. He played more snaps. He ran more routes. He earned more targets, and he received more carries. If that wasn't bad enough for Chubb, Marks was noticeably more efficient than he's been. Marks finished with 17 carries and 69 yards with a score.

He also caught four of his five targets for 50 yards and another score.

Woody Marks Emerging as the RB1 in Houston? https://t.co/gV2hSz1Pfr

— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) September 29, 2025

Chubb hasn't rushed for more than 50 yards since Week 1, when he had 60. Through four games, Chubb has 46 total receiving yards. Chubb will likely continue to receive 6-10 carries per game to avoid overworking the rookie, but the touches he receives will be of low value. He'll likely be their short-yardage back, who handles the in-between-the-tackles running.

It'll be interesting to see who gets the goal-line touches.

However, even if that role involves a committee approach, Houston's offense isn't good enough for it to truly justify holding onto Chubb. Mark's breakout game was just one game, so I'm okay holding onto Chubb to see what happens in Week 5, but if there's someone you want to add and Chubb is the last man on your bench, don't let him stop you.

Chances are very high that Week 4 is the new normal for the Texans' offense.

Sell... High?

Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs - 85.0% Rostered

Pacheco was out-snapped and also received fewer carries than Kareem Hunt. He managed to catch a touchdown pass, which allowed him to finish with 11.8 half-PPR points. This was his first contest of the year where he scored 6.0 or more points. There was nothing about his utilization that says Pacheco's value is moving in the right direction.

If anything, it continues to move in the wrong direction.

#Chiefs Week 4 RB Usage

- Kareem Hunt: 44% snaps, 13 carries, 13 routes, 1 target (47 yds)
- Isiah Pacheco: 37% snaps, 7 carries, 15 routes, 3 targets (48 yds, TD)
- Brashard Smith: 26% snaps, 4 carries, 7 routes, 4 targets (36 yds)

— Michael F. Florio (@MichaelFFlorio) September 29, 2025

While we already touched on Hunt logging more snaps and receiving more carries than Pacheco, rookie Brashard Smith played the most snaps of his young career. He also ran more routes and was visibly more involved in the game planning. Considering how ineffective Pacheco and Hunt have been, fantasy managers should expect Smith's role only to grow.

Pacheco's touchdown may have provided fantasy managers a very small window to sell "high" on Pacheco. You won't actually be selling high, not really. Still, his touchdown may have increased his value enough to draw some interest, and given how he's played and his utilization trend, fantasy managers should almost take whatever they can get.

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