About two weeks ago, children all around the world participated in the annual Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating. The more generous neighbors will be dishing out king-sized candy bars; the more stingy neighbors might be handing out fruit or dental floss.
At this point in the fantasy football season, there are many highly drafted players that have handed you more dental floss than than Snickers. You know they can be better. Their talent compares to the biggest house on the block that you know could easily drop a full sized Hershey’s bar in your bucket, but they continue to disappoint you week after week to the point where your going to remember to avoid them at all costs next year.
Which players this year have handed out more floss than goodies to their fantasy owners?
1) Terrelle Pryor
ADP: WR15(non-PPR), WR18(PPR)
Current Rank: WR71 (PPR)
Pryor has gone from a high-upside WR2 to completely irrelevant both in actual and fantasy production. Eleven targets in Week 1 seemed to signal a prominent role in Washington’s offense this season. Alas, since then, he has yet to be targeted more than five times in a game since then, bottoming out at an unimaginable low of just one target and zero receptions in Week 8 against a division rival in the Dallas Cowboys.
Let’s put a bow on this bust. Combining Weeks 8 and 9, Pryor played fewer snaps than fellow Redskins receivers Jamison Crowder, Josh Doctson, and Ryan Grant. Oh, and Chris Thompson, Washington’s receiving back, has 9 more targets and 15 more receptions than him this season.
A strong case can be made the Pryor is not the fifth (!) option in the Redskins passing game. He should have been cut in fantasy leagues with 12 teams or less and should be waivering on rosters in 14+ team leagues as well.
2) Martavis Bryant
ADP: WR19, WR25
Current Rank: WR67
Bryant’s role in the Steelers organization has been anything but clear over the past few weeks. Many signs pointed to Bryant wanting out of Pittsburgh but the organization has said that they have no plans to trade him. In Week 8 Bryant was relegated to the scout team and was inactive for the Steelers game against the Lions.
Head coach Mike Tomlin said that Bryant will be on the field in Week 10 against the Colts, but that is a sad proclamation to make for a player many fantasy owners were drafting to be a solid WR2. His role going forward is firmly in question with the rookie Juju Smith-Schuster playing an ever increasing part in the Pittsburgh offense.
Bryant’s talent justifies him as a stash in leagues with 12+ teams, especially with the Steelers facing uninspiring defenses the next three weeks. But he could be the first guy you cut if Smith-Schuster continues is emergence.
3) Amari Cooper
ADP: WR8, WR8
Current Rank: WR22
Maybe Cooper heard about these rankings when they were posted after Week 6, because Cooper subsequently exploded for 44 PPR fantasy points in Week 7 in a 31-30 Raiders win over the Chiefs. That game is largely why is current fantasy rank among wide receivers is in the 20s.
The shine from that win, though, quickly wore off. Since then, Cooper put up receiving totals of 48 and 58 yards in Weeks 9 and 10 without scoring a touchdown. For the season, he has had just two weeks were he was at least a WR2 in 12 team leagues.
If you want to continue to hang your hat on Cooper, cite the fact that he has been targeted a whopping 38 times in his last three games. If his catch rate positively regresses to his career average (49.4% this season compared to 59.1% in his first two seasons combined), he will be off this list in a hurry. The matchups are there for him to do so, too, with him set to face anemic pass defense in the Patriots, Giants, Chiefs, and Cowboys over the next four weeks.
4) DeMarco Murray
ADP: RB10,RB7
Current Rank: RB25
While Murray has played in every game for the Titans this year, he has been dealing with knee and hamstring injuries from the start of the season. He has been getting 12 carries per game on average, but his efficiency with those carries has taken a turn for the worst: in his last three games, he is averaging just 3 yards per carry.
In addition to the injuries, Murray’s counterpart in the backfield, Derrick Henry, has been getting a significant amount of work. Henry has only 12 less rushing attempts than Murray with one more touchdown. One of the worst words to hear about a supposedly featured running back as a fantasy owner is “timeshare”. With Murray known to be limited by injuries, we have one in Tennessee.
5) Isaiah Crowell
ADP: RB12, RB11
Current Rank: RB26
What has been helping Crowell recently is his activity as a pass catching back, contributing eight catches and 90 yards over his last two games. Otherwise, his performance as a runner has left much to be desired. He has yet to break 65 rushing yards in a game this season.
Crowell did have 118 scrimmage yards and one touchdown against a stout Minnesota Vikings defense in Week 8 was a nice… but how many fantasy owners kept him on their benches due to his lackluster performances to date? While he has gotten 10+ carries in all but one game this year, a 3.4. yards per carry averaged has stymied any hope of him being a breakout candidate this season.
6) Matt Ryan
ADP: QB4
Current Rank: QB21
Super Bowl hangover? Change in offensive coordinator? Regression to the mean? Those are the common narratives that have been used to explain Ryan’s fall after his career year in 2016.
While Ryan has cracked the top 14 in every week since this column last came out after Week 6, that is not the bar fantasy owners set for him at the start of the season.
7) Jay Ajayi
ADP: RB7, RB8
Current Rank: RB26
A change in scenery already paid dividends for Ajayi, rumbling for 77 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries in his Eagles debut. It is tough for fantasy owners to ignore, though, his ineptitude during his time with the Dolphins this season. His Eagles performance was his first RB1 effort of the year and, again, he received just 8 carries!
Ajayi does have two 100+ yard games this season, so fantasy owners know his potential. He will compete for carries with LeGarrette Blount, Corey Clement, and Wendell Smallwood, but if his first week with the Eagles is the any indication, he should be able to breakout from his early season struggles.
8) Ty Montgomery
ADP: RB18,RB17
Current Rank: RB29
At first glance, an 11-12 rank difference form the beginning of the season would not normally qualify as a bust. His only two RB2 level weeks (16 team or less leagues), though, came in in the first two weeks. Since then, injuries and the emergence of rookie Aaron Jones have relegated him back to being just the primary passing down back.
Perhaps the silver lining for Montgomery will be negative game scripts resulting from the play of Brett Hundley, the Packers replacement for Aaron Rodgers, that could result in more passing opportunities for Montgomery.
9) Demaryius Thomas
ADP: WR14, WR13
Current Rank: WR27
Thomas could be looked at differently than many of the players in these rankings because his classification as a fantasy bust may be no fault of his own. He has been targeted at least five times in every game this season, but with the likes of Trevor Siemian for Brock Osweiler throwing him the ball, his upside becomes severely limited.
What has really killed Thomas is his lack of touchdowns, with his first and only one of the season coming just this past week. He has given fantasy owners at least 65 yards in 6 of 8 games this year, so touchdowns are the only thing keeping him from reclaiming his spot as borderline WR1/WR2. Time will tell whether Osweiler can have enough success to give Thomas the fantasy accolades we know he deserves.
10) Keenan Allen
ADP: WR16, WR15
Current Rank: WR24
Allen has been uncharacteristically healthy through this entire season. Unfortunately, his health has not really mattered through the first half of the season.
Fantasy football scoring is driven by touchdowns, especially in non-PPR formats, and Allen has just one of those this season. He has also seen a decrease in targets over the past four weeks from 12 (Week 5) to only 5 targets in Week 8. In only 3 out of 9 Chargers games this season Allen produced to his preseason projection of a WR2 or higher (12 team leagues).
Knocking On The Door
Quarterbacks
Marcus Mariota
Jameis Winston
Running Backs
Joe Mixon
Devonta Freeman
Wide Receivers
Sammy Watkins
Jamison Crowder
Dez Bryant
Emmanuel Sanders
Devante Parker
Tight Ends
Kyle Rudolph
Defense/Special Teams
Denver D/ST