{"id":251702,"date":"2025-10-22T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=251702"},"modified":"2025-10-21T19:41:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T23:41:33","slug":"fantasy-football-cut-candidates-week-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/10\/22\/fantasy-football-cut-candidates-week-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Football Cut Candidates: Week 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seven weeks in, it\u2019s time to churn the bench. The players below remain widely rostered, but their current roles point to \u201ccuttable\u201d in standard 10\u201312 team redraft leagues. If you free up a spot, make sure to check the Week 7 waiver wire targets<\/a> for immediate replacements.<\/p>\n

Fantasy Football Cut Candidates: Week 7<\/h2>\n

Kenneth Gainwell (64% rostered, RB) \u2014 Jaylen Warren is clearly in charge<\/h3>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> backfield has tilted to Jaylen Warren. In Week 7, Warren handled 16 carries for 127 yards and added 4 catches for 31 yards, while Gainwell logged just 3 carries for 14 yards with limited passing-game work. The snap split told the same story: roughly 65% for Warren vs. ~39% for Gainwell. That\u2019s a lead\/backup profile, and Gainwell\u2019s current role does not justify a bench spot in typical formats.<\/p>\n

Michael Carter (56% rostered, RB) \u2014 Low volume in an untrustworthy committee<\/h3>\n

The Arizona Cardinals<\/a> are down their top two backs (James Conner and Trey Benson), but the fill-in committee has not produced steady fantasy value. In Week 7, Zonovan \u201cBam\u201d Knight led the way (14 carries for 57 yards; 3 catches), while Carter finished with 7 carries for 11 yards and 2 grabs for 25 yards. With Benson still sidelined and Emari Demercado out in Week 7, Knight has the early-down edge \u2014 and this backfield is more headache than help in most leagues. Also, they have a bye in Week 8, and it should not be long until Benson is back from injury reserve and takes back the starting job.<\/p>\n

Kendrick Bourne (75% rostered, WR) \u2014 Role shrinks as the San Francisco 49ers<\/a> get healthier<\/h3>\n

Bourne thrived in Weeks 5\u20136 when the 49ers were short on pass catchers, but Week 7 started to show the correction. With George Kittle and Jauan Jennings now back and the offense running through Christian McCaffrey, Bourne saw just 2 targets (2\u201314) in a controlled, defense-driven win. Ricky Pearsall is expected to return soon, which tightens the target tree further. Bourne trends back toward \u201cboom-or-bench,\u201d not a weekly hold.<\/p>\n

Marquise \u201cHollywood\u201d Brown (53% rostered, WR) \u2014 Sub-40% snaps with Rashee Rice back<\/h3>\n

Rashee Rice\u2019s return reshaped the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> pecking order. Brown played roughly one-third of the offensive snaps in Week 7 and turned 4 targets into a modest line (2\u201314\u20131). On a depth chart that prioritizes Rice and Travis Kelce \u2014 with Xavier Worthy and others rotating \u2014 Brown profiles as the fifth or sixth option, considering their RBs also participate in the passing game. That usage does not merit a roster spot outside deeper formats.<\/p>\n

Jordan Love (79% rostered, QB) \u2014 Streamer, not a weekly starter<\/h3>\n

Through seven weeks, Love has produced a QB1 line just once (the Green Bay Packers<\/a> vs the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> shootout). Week 7 was more representative: 179 yards and 1 TD in a comeback win. In one-QB leagues, that is streamer territory. He belongs on waivers and can be added for spot starts based on byes and matchups.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

Roster spots win seasons. Gainwell looks like a handcuff behind Warren, Carter is stuck in a committee that is not paying off, Bourne\u2019s targets are fading as the 49ers reintegrate weapons, Brown\u2019s snap share cratered with Rice back, and Love fits best as a matchup streamer. Cut decisively and reallocate those spots to players with clearer weekly paths to volume.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seven weeks in, it\u2019s time to churn the bench. The players below remain widely rostered, but their current roles point to \u201ccuttable\u201d in standard 10\u201312 team redraft leagues. If you free up a spot, make sure to check the Week 7 waiver wire targets for immediate replacements. Fantasy Football Cut Candidates: Week 7 Kenneth Gainwell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5619,"featured_media":249860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[32683,32896,9408,2967,8133],"class_list":["post-251702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","tag-cut-candidate","tag-hollywood-brown","tag-jaylen-warren","tag-kendrick-bourne","tag-michael-carter"],"modified_by":"Mike Kashuba","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5619"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251702"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251943,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251702\/revisions\/251943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}