The Top 10 Most Frustrating Fantasy Football Players
October 29, 2010 by Tony Andracki
Filed under Featured, Football
The unofficial halfway point is upon us, as most fantasy football regular seasons last 13 weeks. But what does that mean for you as a fantasy owner?
Well, likely at this point, you’re either ready to pull your hair out over your team or you’re rejoicing because you’re 6-1 after letting the computer autodraft for you and not realizing that you can pick up free agents until Week 4. Or, maybe that’s just you, Seegz.
But, for the most of us, we’re royally frustrated with at least one of the players on our teams. If you’re lucky, it’s only one player. If you’re not so lucky and you look down and find tufts of hair in your hand, you probably own at least two or more of the following players and have lost many a close matchup throughout the season.
So without any further ado (‘cause I know you’re just dying for this list, though if that were the case, you’ve probably already read on and skimmed the bold parts because you don’t want to hear me babble anymore, which is exactly what this is in the parenthesis here, I guess), here are the Top 10 Most Frustrating Fantasy Football Players from the 2010 season, ranked in order by frustratingness (?).
Honorable Mentions: Reggie Bush and Knowshon Moreno
Sorry, 10 just wasn’t enough. I’m ambitious, sue me. Chances are, if you own either of these two, you may need to sue somebody to get the money back you lost on your league entry fee. Moreno hasn’t been bad, it’s just he’s been hurt. A lot. With a variety of injuries. And even if he could play, his team trades for Mr. 1.1 Yards Per Carry Laurence Maroney. Or they just sling it 57 times a game. Bush, on the other hand, has been out since the second week of the season after breaking his leg. But, even when healthy, when do you play this guy?! In PPR leagues, he’s more valuable, sure. But how do you know when he will be the Reggie Bush we saw in college and flashes of in the NFL, or the Reggie Bush that averaged just 3.7 yards per carry in his first three pro seasons. So, even when he does return from injury, he’s one of the biggest question marks in all of fantasy football.
Honorable Mention for Honorable Mention: Brett Favre
He’s 41. Did you really think his 33 TD/7 INT ’09 season would last? It was the best season of his career. At age 40. You’re insane if you thought he’d do it again, so he can’t really be categorized as a frustrating player because he suddenly realized he sucked again. But, I felt I had to include him on here because he’s Brett Favre and people are obviously frustrated by his ’10 performance, as well they should be.
10. Roy Williams WR, Cowboys
Alright, now we’re getting into the good stuff. Coming in at No. 10 on this list is Roy Williams (man, I feel like the host of TRL saying that). With the arrival of Dez Bryant, it was a common opinion among experts and just regular ol’ fantasy football players that Williams would see a downtick in value. But, he’s been anything but…in some weeks. The enigmatic receiver managed just 7 catches and 5 fantasy points in the first two weeks, but then exploded on a three-game tear, totaling 232 yards and 5 touchdowns on 14 catches, good for 51 fantasy points (a 17-per-week average). But, then he follows that up with a goose egg Monday night. Yes, Tony Romo got hurt, but he didn’t even look Williams’ way before he went down. And though Kitna did dial Williams’ number several times, including in the endzone for both tuddies and 2-point conversions, Williams couldn’t even haul one of those in. So, now that Romo is out, what do you get from the 7th year wideout? Probably nothing. Drop him. Those three weeks were an aberration.
9. Larry Fitzgerald WR, Cardinals
Let’s keep the WR train rolling. At the start of the season, it was a real question mark whether Fitzy would have any fantasy impact. The verdict? No. He’s had just two touchdowns and but one double digit fantasy day. Is it Max Hall’s fault? Is it Derek Anderson’s fault? Is it the Cardinals’ coaching staff? Is it all because Kurt Warner retired? Yes. To all. Sorry guys, it just doesn’t look like he’ll be anywhere near as dynamic this year. He’ll have some good games as the season wears on, but he won’t be a No. 1 receiver until Arizona gets someone who can pass the damn ball to him with regularity.8. Maurice Jones-Drew RB, Jaguars
Sigh. He is a frustrating one, isn’t he? He has 73 fantasy points, 10.4 per week, numbers that aren’t really all that bad. But when you wasted a Top 5 pick on him, that’s not exactly what you were expecting was it? But, he’s still getting more than 21 touches a game on average and is just a fireball of energy. He may have had a few poor games so far this year and is up and down (as many games below 5 fantasy points as above 20), but he will right the ship and level it out. It’s not like you could sit him and risk out on losing the 30 points he’s capable of putting up each and every week. Ride it out. He’ll be OK.
7. Marques Colston WR, Saints
Colston has just one double digit game so far this year. And just one score. And only two games above 70 yards. Why? You could blame it on the Madden Curse, or whatever is plaguing Drew Brees. And you’d be rightful in doing so. That’s gotta be the main reason. But, the Saints have always been tough fantasy plays to pick from. One week, it could be Lance Moore. The next, it could be Robert Meachem. Or Reggie Bush, or Pierre Thomas, or Devery Henderson, or Colston, or Jeremy Shockey. You just never know what you’re going to get. Brees is really the only consistent fantasy option from N’orleans. Colston will have his good games, but he will also have those poor outings like he’s shown a propensity for thus far this season.
6. Mike Sims-Walker WR, Jaguars
He has been as inconsistent as they come. Zero points in Week 1 followed by 14 in Week 2 really set the tone for the season. He went from 0 receptions for 0 yards and 0 TDs to 10 catches for 105 yards and a TD. If only he hadn’t lost that fumble. You can’t get more inconsistent than that. The rest of his weeks (3, 0, 10, 1, 9) leave more than a little to be desired. Let’s face it—you have a better chance of winning the lottery than predicting which week he’ll be a good fantasy play and which week he won’t be. Throw in the fact that the Jaguars have never been much of a throwing team (David Garrard did throw 3 TDs in Week 1, but of course, none were to Sims-Walker) and Garrard is still a question mark to play consistently because of injury, and you have yourself a certifiable frustrating fantasy player. Want good news? The Jags still have the worst-ranked Houston Texans pass defense left on their schedule—twice, in fact. But, of course, one of those is in Week 17, when fantasy stats are obsolete.
5. Chris Johnson RB, Titans
Oh, Christopher. When will you learn? You can’t announce that you’re going to be a 2,500-yard rusher in 2010 and then not expect defenses to key on you. He hasn’t had a bad season overall (on pace for almost 1,700 total yards and 16 TDs), but he isn’t a sure play in fantasy from week to week. His weekly point totals prove it (26, 2, 24, 4, 25, 19, 6). If you take away that garbage time 35-yard TD against the Jags two weeks ago, his numbers are less impressive. But, as it stands, last year’s king has been nothing if not inconsistent. I’d rather a guy like Steven Jackson who scores 10-15 points every week than a guy who either scores 4 or 24. That’s just not my style. Yeah, his 20-something point weeks are a big boost in helping your team win your week, but his 4 point weeks are just as detrimental to your team. It’s frustrating, though I guess that’s why he’s No. 5 on this list.
4. DeAngelo Williams/Jonathan Stewart RBs, Panthers
Here’s the most telling stat: they have just 3 TDs combined through six games. Last year, they had 7 scores. Last year through six games: 735 rushing yards. This year: 509. Needless to say, neither is worth a crap in fantasy. The two have just 71 combined fantasy points, an average of 11.8 per week. Not so bad if it’s one player, but since the Panthers are committed to this two-headed monster, both players are losing out. The anemic passing offense (that is, until last week’s breakout by Matt Moore and David Gettis) is hurting this team, but it’s really more of the defense that’s the killer. Teams are able to jump on Carolina early and often, thus forcing the offense to abandon the running game. That, and the offensive line must not be opening up holes or the defenses are stacking the box. Let me throw some more stats at you: the tandem had a combined 162 carries for 5.15 yards per carry last year through the first seven weeks. This year: 137 rushes for just 3.72 ypc. Either way you match it up, the NFL’s best RB duo has been sucked dry this year. Until they turn it around, only Williams is worthy of a start, and even then, that’s not every week.
3. Shonn Greene RB, Jets
Everybody heralded Greene as the next coming of Curtis Martin or something in New York after his 304 yards and 2 TDs in the Jets’ three playoff games. And I understand the thinking. If he could do that in the most pressure-packed of situations with the season on the line, imagine what he’d do in the regular season with a full slate of carries. He has the same team around him, including a change-of-pace back he can learn from in LaDainian Tomlinson. Mark Sanchez is another year older and more mature, so opposing defenses wouldn’t key on the run as much. Heck, this is a team that ran the ball 607 times last year. Even if they threw it 100 more times this year and LT took 200 carries, Greene should get at least 250 carries. If he only averaged a pedestrian 4.0 yards per carry, he’d have 1,000 yards to go along with probably 6 TDs or more. And those were my low-scale preseason predictions. But, alas, ‘twas not meant to be. Luckily, I wasn’t able to grab him in any of my four leagues because it has worked out that LT is the main back and Gang Green wants Gang Greene as the change-of-pace back. With an average draft position of 22.8 (which means he was selected by the end of the 2nd round of most leagues), 34 fantasy points is proving that the carpet does not match the drapes. Considering Greene turned in a grand total of -1 points in his first game, he has actually been more detrimental to your team than beneficial. He’ll likely be a star someday, but right now, it’s LT’s show in NY.
2. Ryan Mathews RB, Chargers
All you need to know about this guy, I wrote Wednesday as I broke up with him as a fantasy owner. Mr. Mathews has been a major bust. ESPN says Mathews was selected 25th overall, but everything else I’ve found suggests Mathews was drafted in the Top 15 of all players on average. I took him in three leagues, all before the 25th pick, and I’ve heard countless stories of people actually drafting him in the first round. And with all the hype he had in the preseason, it’s easy to see why. But, this season has been anything but good for the heir apparent to LT in SD. Heck, even Sports Science profiled him and found he had all the physical tools to be better than Tomlinson for the Chargers. Not quite so. Maybe he’ll rebound, but if you drafted Mathews at all, it’s likely you aren’t doing so hot in your league. Bench him until he gets his act together.
1. Michael Turner RB, Falcons
In nearly every draft I’ve seen or heard about, Turner was selected with a Top 5 pick. His return this year has been worthy of anything but. He does have 80 fantasy points and three 100-yard games, but he’s averaging just 11.4 fantasy points per week. And that number is even inflated because of his 26-point outburst this past Sunday. Before that, he was averaging just 9 points per week. From a No. 5 overall pick or higher. Not good. Something is clearly wrong. Last year, his weekly totals were 6, 14, 9, 27, 10, 11, 21, 29 and 11 before he suffered an injury in Week 11 and was never the same since, leading into this season. As you can see, his lowest weekly output was 6 last year pre-injury, the only time he scored below 9 in any week. He’s already done that four times this year, including two games at 4 points. So yeah, it’s been frustrating thus far. But, Turner owners, don’t fret just yet (hey, that rhymes). He has a fairly easy schedule the rest of the way, facing the 31st ranked Tampa Bay rush defense twice in the remaining fantasy season, in addition to Carolina’s 24th ranked and Green Bay’s 23rd ranked rush D. And Week 7 was likely his breakout of things to come, so hang tight with Turner. He’ll be OK. When the season comes to a close, he may not be a Top 5 pick, but he will be close enough. Stay the course.