It has been a very unique and interesting NFL season so far with high-profile players across the board not living up to their lofty expectations. We might only be heading into Week 4, but if you are 0-3 or 1-2 in your league at this point, some of the names listed below are probably the reason why.
Let’s start with the quarterback position as Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford and Tom Brady all had lackluster performances last weekend. Rodgers and Stafford squared off in a division game between the Lions and Packers and the two combined for 13 fantasy points in standard scoring leagues. As a result, Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb’s numbers suffered as well. It hasn’t helped any that tailback Eddie Lacy only has 113 yards rushing on the season after facing three of better run defenses in the league.
Rodgers and Stafford are ultra-talented signal callers with some of the game’s best weapons in the passing game, so owners shouldn’t be too worried about either guy. Both players had played fairly well the first two games and last week was just a blip on the radar.
Now Brady on the other hand has now had three consecutive weeks of pedestrian performances and this could be why he dropped so low on some draft boards. The first ballot Hall of Famer hasn’t topped 250 yards passing in a game yet and has a lone touchdown pass in each of the contests so far. Fantasy owners who use him as their starter need to be worried because his only two viable passing targets are Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski.
Brady has publicly said that he will only retire when he ‘sucks’ and although he ‘doesn’t plan on sucking for a long time’, if Edelman or Gronk go down with injury, his lack of options to throw to will speed up that clock.
Let’s move on to running backs that have hampered your fantasy team.
LeSean McCoy was a top-3 pick in almost every draft this year and the All-Pro finished with a measly 22 yards on 19 carries and no catches last week against Washington. He took a big hit to the head in the first quarter but did not suffer a concussion.
Fantasy owners are worried for good reason as his backup, Darren Sproles, has scored 40 points in standard leagues to McCoy’s 28. With that said, McCoy is an elusive runner and an amazing pass-catching back and a rebound performance is to be expected this week against San Francisco.
Speaking of Sproles, who had 178 total yards (152 receiving) and a touchdown in Week 2, most of his owners started him last week thinking he would do something similar. Well, that wasn’t the case as the speedster only had 50 total yards and also lost a fumble to be one of the most disappointing players in Week 3. His owners can only hope that he doesn’t become a boom or bust player every week because that is more frustrating than owning any Raven or Buccaneer running back at the moment.
As we continue the tour of the biggest fantasy woes, we have to make a stop in San Diego and Arizona as Keenan Allen and Larry Fitzgerald have nine and eight points in standard leagues, respectively. Allen and quarterback Philip Rivers haven’t been in sync like they were last year and the wideout hasn’t registered more than 55 yards receiving in any game yet. With the Chargers’ next three opponents being the Jags, the Jets and the Raiders, fantasy owners can expect him to put up some nice numbers very soon.
Fitzgerald on the flipside has been a downright sham in fantasy football this year. He was taken in the third/fourth round in most drafts and he and Ted Ginn currently have the same amount of fantasy points in standard leagues. That’s ridiculous!
Larry is being outperformed fantasy-wise by rookie teammate, John Brown, and second-year pro Michael Floyd, who is becoming a fantasy stud himself. As the third-leading receiver on his own team, Fitzgerald has to get the ball more to be fantasy relevant. The former No. 3 overall pick in 2004 hasn’t recorded a 1,000 yard season since 2011 and won’t likely do it this year either. Fantasy owners have to feel like they wasted a draft pick on Fitzgerald at this juncture.
The other predominant pass-catcher we need to discuss is Denver’s Demaryius Thomas. The former Georgia Tech standout has just 13 receptions (27 targets) for 141 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion. He was outstanding in 2013 with 92 catches for 1,430 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Losing Eric Decker to free agency has certainly drawn more coverage to Thomas, but tight end Julius Thomas and the newest free agent signing, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, have produced well. Demaryius’ value could be limited this season and things don’t get a whole lot easier with the Broncos’ as they matchup with cornerback Patrick Peterson and the Cardinals in Week 5 after their bye this week.
Before we end this somber tale of fantasy hardship, we need to take a gander at the lack of depth at the tight end position. Before the season started, there were rumblings that the position was fairly deep with talent and that you could get a good player later in the draft if you missed on the high-profile guys.
Outside of the aforementioned Julius Thomas and Jimmy Graham, the other big names are far down the line in terms of fantasy points. Jordan Cameron, Vernon Davis and Jordan Reed have been limited due to injuries while Kyle Rudolph will miss the next six week at least after having groin surgery. Dennis Pitta is done for the rest of 2014 with a dislocated hip.
As a matter of fact, Antonio Gates has been a pleasant surprise to fantasy owners after he scored three times in Week 2 and I joked last week that he most likely did that on your bench. So like Sproles, Gates was probably in your starting lineup last week only to have his worst game of the year, finishing with just one grab for eight yards.
Even though bye weeks start in Week 4, there will be plenty for us to go over next week as the fantasy football season keeps rolling along. Make sure to sign up for our VIP Waiver Wire Mailing List and watch the weekly fantasy football videos so you can avoid as many #FantasyWoes and #FantasyProblems as you can.
