While the NFL's regular season is 18 long weeks, the fantasy football season is by necessity shorter. Most fantasy leagues wrap their regular season after Week 14, meaning you are already halfway home if you're in the fantasy game, and it is time to make some hard choices if your squad is underwhelming.
While it is easy to preach patience in September, anyone who isn't delivering results for your fantasy squads needs to be considered for bench duty if your team needs a win. Let's take a look at some top fantasy performers who should be benched after Week 7, including a pair of Chiefs' pass catchers whose outlook changed dramatically with the return of Rashee Rice.
Fantasy Football Stars Who Should Be Benched After Week 7
Xavier Worthy And Hollywood Brown, WRs, Kansas City Chiefs
While it has certainly looked like the Chiefs' offense was back in recent weeks, we got to see the fully operational Death Star in Week 7 with the return of Rashee Rice to the lineup. Rice, who was Patrick Mahomes' favorite receiver last year before suffering a season-ending injury in Week 4, had to miss six games this season after violating the league's personal conduct policy relating to an arrest for his involvement in a multi-car crash in Dallas in March 2024.
The Chiefs won 31-0 as Mahomes looked Rice's way early and often, targeting him a game-high 12 times, and Rice caught seven of them for 42 yards with a pair of touchdowns. That production reduced the workload of Mahomes' existing weapons, with Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy turning a combined 8 targets into 5 catches for 49 yards with one touchdown (for Brown) on the day.
While Kansas City is thrilled to have Rice back in its mix, his presence means he is the clear No. 1 option for the passing game, turning Worthy and Brown back into flex options. Week 8 brings a more challenging matchup against Washington, which makes them more dice rolls for WR3 production that may be necessary to try given the six team bye that is upcoming, but managers with options should look elsewhere.
Justin Fields, QB, New York Jets
We warned last week in this space to bench all Jets, but it may have been tempting for some owners to roll the dice on Fields again given his rushing potential and garbage time exploits earlier in the season. Anyone bold enough to try Fields as their QB1 in Week 7 was burned as he delivered another stink bomb, completing just 3-of-6 passes for 46 yards before getting benched at halftime for Tyrod Taylor.
While the quarterback switch didn't lead to an offensive explosion for New York, the Jets at least showed some offensive competence under Taylor, which is important for a team looking to score its first offensive touchdown since the end of September. Head coach Aaron Glenn said he hadn't decided who his starter will be in Week 8, but context clues would suggest that Taylor will get an opportunity to provide a spark to the league's only winless team.
Even if Fields does draw a start against a bad Cincinnati team, he has already been benched once and has clearly lost the trust of his coaching staff. That risk is simply intolerable in a fantasy matchup, meaning Fields should be dropped, not just benched in a fantasy football context.
Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints
The way Week 7 played out appeared to be a perfect setup for Alvin Kamara to regain fantasy relevance. New Orleans played from behind all day, trailing Chicago pretty much wire-to-wire in a 26-14 loss, while Kendre Miller departed with an injury, leaving Kamara in a position to feast.
There was no feasting, unfortunately, as Kamara delivered yet another underwhelming line by carrying 11 times for 28 yards while adding one reception for three yards. It certainly looks as if Kamara has either lost a step or is simply biding his time until an eventual trade, but the days of viewing Kamara as a locked in fantasy starter are over.
The six-team bye in Week 8 certainly makes it plausible to start Kamara if you're thin on options but another underwhelming effort awaits with the Saints taking on the Buccaneers on Sunday. Perhaps it is worth a hold on Kamara because of the possibility a trade rejuvenates him but simply betting he can turn it on based on game situation and opportunity isn't wise.
Kimani Vidal, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
One of the most popular waiver claims after Week 6, Vidal laid a big goose egg against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. While it is fair to point out that the Colts' defense is far better than the Dolphins' unit that Vidal shredded for 124 yards in Week 6, seeing him follow that up with nine carries for 20 yards is massively disappointing.
Game flow certainly hurt Vidal as the Chargers fell into an early 20-3 hole, forcing the Chargers to abandon the run and try to make a comeback through the air. Vidal did offer some contributions in the passing game, catching four passes for 15 yards, but if the game script is negative, he is essentially unplayable for fantasy purposes.
The Chargers have another tough defense on tap in Week 8 with Minnesota coming to town on a short week, which could offer more tough sledding for Vidal and the running game to try and work through. With the trade deadline looming, there is a good chance Vidal struggles again and gets replaced by a new acquisition, making this a bench and observe situation if you invested your top waiver priority or hard-earned FAAB dollars into Vidal after his dominant showing a week ago.