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 11:
SHALLOW FORMATS
*15-18 roster spots*
Why: In addition to dropping Alex Smith this week, Carr is the other obvious call for shallow and even moderate depth leagues. Carr has been stripped of all of his top pass catchers in recent weeks except for hot-and-cold Jared Cook. Oakland's schedule stinks for quarterbacks as well with Baltimore and Pittsburgh notably over the next three weeks. Add Carr's futility with five passing touchdowns over his last five games and not surpassing 250 yards over the span and things are unlikely to improve over the closing stretch.
Why: Despite being rostered in 100% of MFL leagues, Collins is a tenuous hold in shallow formats. Baltimore rode the hot hand in Gus Edwards in Week 11, leaving 7-18-1 rushing for Collins, who was lucky to score a touchdown to save a potential dud fantasy day. Add Lamar Jackson potentially seeing more starts and siphoning rushing production, and Collins is a risky start independent of his tepid results to-date (two games of better than 12 PPR points this season).
Why: Valdes-Scantling flashed midseason but has squandered his recent opportunity without Randall Cobb (7-52-0 in two games). Instead of a high-variance wide receiver in a shallow format, take a shot on a running back one-injury-away for a potential auto-start down the stretch.
James James
Why: As TE19 in roster rate on MFL, James is far removed from his 5-138-1 Week 2 effort. Vance McDonald and Pittsburgh's host of receivers leave little projectable production weekly for James, who has a single game of more than three targets since that Week 2 breakout.
MEDIUM DEPTH
*18-22 roster spots*
Why: The Jaguars are begrudgingly sticking with Bortles under center but two things are clear - the Jaguars are moving at quarterbacks sooner rather than later and in the meantime, the offensive approach will be run-first and run often. Bortles threw only 18 passes against Pittsburgh and with Leonard Fournette back, the Jaguars have a strong trio of running backs.
Why: Melvin Gordon has dominated snaps and touches for the Chargers, leaving little for Ekeler since the opening month of the season where Ekeler survived on random receiving touchdowns fantasy-wise. Ekeler also did not see overt usage even when Gordon missed time, making Ekeler a lower-level handcuff as well.
Why: With Josh Gordon and Julian Edelman clearly ahead of Hogan in the Patriots wide receiver pecking order, plus Rob Gronkowski set to return soon, Hogan is a strong cut consideration in moderate depth formats. Hogan has a single game of more than 12 PPR points this season, yet to eclipse 80 yards in a game, and only one game scoring a touchdown (Week 2).
Why: Davis has been appealing as one of the higher upside backup tight ends in the NFL. However, Davis has missed plenty of big-play opportunities this year with drops. Add Jordan Reed looking as healthy as any recent stretch and Washington shifting gears to Colt McCoy and GMs should not have a vice grip on Davis down their tight end depth chart down the stretch.
DEEP FORMATS
*25+ roster spots, more dynasty-focused*
Why: Anderson was waived by Carolina and yet to be picked up by another team. Plus, Anderson looked close to done physically in his limited touches this season. Rostered in 37% of MFL leagues, Anderson should be half that at best and reserved for only the deepest of running back-premium formats as a long shot.
Why: Grant has returned to a crowded Colts passing game the past two weeks with two viable tight ends and Zach Pascal emerging as a viable option behind T.Y. Hilton among others. Grant has 3-21-0 over the past two games on a mere four targets and is in full-on afterthought mode despite being rostered in 32% MFL leagues.
Why: LaFell was set for a golden opportunity down the stretch with Oakland injuries at wide receiver until LaFell tore his Achilles in Week 11. At 32 years old and a fringe NFL player already, LaFell will be lucky to recover and find any interest from teams in 2019. Dynasty GMs should not be patient with LaFell and hold a spot for him regardless of league depth.
Why: Dickson has two touchdowns over the past month, but those rogue plays have been the only real involvement within the Seattle passing game for the veteran tight end. Dickson has just five targets in four games and is only worth a spot in the deepest of 2TE formats.
