Ranking the 15 Biggest Fantasy Football Duds of 2014

By Sean Cordy

Biggest Fantasy Football Duds of 2014

ReggieBush — Every year, there are players we think are worth paying top dollar for only to have them sit on the bench because of their lack of production.

For the most part, I will stay clear of players who were sidelined for the season, and look more toward players who played poorly throughout the season. But there are some players with limited play time who can't be ignored.

15. RB Chris Johnson

Jets

15. RB Chris Johnson

Jets — For the first time in his career, Johnson was unable to top 1,000 yards rushing. In fact, he barely scraped 800 yards from scrimmage and only scored twice -- a career low. He was only worth starting three times this season and was definitely a disappointment, even considering the fact he was playing in a new system. He was a top-75 player coming into the season, but fell outside the top 125 by season's end.

14. RB Bishop Sankey

Bishop Sankey, Tennessee Titans, Fantasy Football

14. RB Bishop Sankey

Bishop Sankey-Getty Images — Sankey was supposed to fill in for Johnson right away as a rookie, like Johnson did during his rookie season. I projected Sankey as a top-15 RB, immediately rushing for 1,000 yards as the Titans' feature back. But it took awhile for him to adjust to the NFL atmosphere, falling out of the top-150 players overall this season -- hardly the Rookie of the Year I anticipated.

13. RB Maurice Jones-Drew

NFL: Oakland Raiders-Minicamp

13. RB Maurice Jones-Drew

NFL: Oakland Raiders-Minicamp — It's time we start to bury the memories of a once-dominant Jones-Drew, who was a league-leading RB at one time and made three-straight Pro Bowls. I thought his new home in Oakland would give him a burst, but he was never worth starting at any time this season. He only rushed for 96 yards in 11 games and failed to score in any form.

12. WR Vincent Jackson

Buffalo Bills v Tampa Bay Buccaneers

12. WR Vincent Jackson

Buffalo Bills v Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Jackson was a top-100 player, but like years past with him, he's very inconsistent. He would have great games, and then fade into mediocrity week in and week out. Definitely a player you wanted to start every week because of his potential, but he would only disappoint.

11. TE Vernon Davis

vernon davis 49ers te

11. TE Vernon Davis

vernon davis 49ers te — At the beginning of the season, it appeared Davis was a great value pick for fantasy GMs -- posting 18 points in Week 1. However, that was the only week he found the end zone and never topped 40 yards receiving the rest of the season. Once again, great potential, but failed to consistently capitalize, making for frustrating weeks if you had him on your roster.

10. WR Andre Johnson

Houston Texans v Denver Broncos

10. WR Andre Johnson

Houston Texans v Denver Broncos — Johnson is much like Jones-Drew, but as a wide receiver. He's had great historical success and we like to think of him as an elite receiver still, and he might be. But in his 12 seasons, Johnson posted a career low in touchdowns and failed to meet his projection as a top-40 option by over 60 slots.

9. WR Brandon Marshall

Brandon Marshall

9. WR Brandon Marshall

Brandon Marshall — Much like Johnson, Marshall, a Pro Bowl-caliber receiver, was a giant letdown for owners. He wasn't just disappointing at the tail end of the year when he was placed on IR, but he might as well have been sitting out anyways. Marshall's production was supposed to be that of a top-25 player, but he barely broke the top 100 and only had a few productive games that inflated his true value.

8. RB Doug Martin

Arizona Cardinals v Tampa Bay Buccaneers

8. RB Doug Martin

Arizona Cardinals v Tampa Bay Buccaneers — I think it's becoming clear to people that Martin's rookie year was his peak. He's progressively declined the last two seasons and is starting to become a legitimate health liability. Even when he was playing healthy, he was only worthy of starting three times this season. Somehow, he was able to crack the top 250, though.

7. RB Ben Tate

Ben Tate, Fantasy Football, Minnesota Vikings

7. RB Ben Tate

Ben Tate — Tate was supposed to emerge from Arian Foster's shadow in Cleveland this year. But after some time on the bench, and emerging rookies taking his place, Tate was eventually waived from the Browns. Cleveland didn't want him after less than one season, much like many of his fantasy owners thought of him after a few weeks of little production.

6. WR Cordarrelle Patterson

Detroit Lions v Minnesota Vikings

6. WR Cordarrelle Patterson

Detroit Lions v Minnesota Vikings — What's most disappointing about Patterson is that he gave a glimmer of gratification to fantasy owners early in the season. In the first three weeks, he was averaging 10 points a game. Soon after, he was churning out a low, single-digit performance weekly. He was supposed to be a top-40 player, but was hardly a top-250 performer.

5. RB Montee Ball

MonteeBall1

5. RB Montee Ball

MonteeBall — It's not completely fair to say Ball was a dud, because he did miss a majority of the season on the IR. But he wasn't a very satisfying start to begin with, not at the top-10 price GMs were paying for him. Regardless of injury or not, people couldn't have been happy that their first-round selection would be sitting out the rest of the season.

4. RB Zac Stacy

Tennessee Titans v St. Louis Rams

4. RB Zac Stacy

Tennessee Titans v St. Louis Rams — After an explosive rookie campaign, Stacy was taking the fantasy community by storm this preseason. People were hyping up his stock to the extent of a top-10 player -- which he surely was not. But even considering he landed on the injury list throughout the season, Stacy averaged only five points a game.

3. RB Reggie Bush

Green Bay Packers v Detroit Lions

3. RB Reggie Bush

Green Bay Packers v Detroit Lions — I predicted before the season started that Joique Bell would score more fantasy points than Bush. Bell did so in the wake of Bush's lingering injuries and overall ineffectiveness. Bush averaged a career low 3.9 yards per carry, contributing to his atrocious 509 yards from scrimmage. Bush is an electric player who you couldn't bring yourself to bench, and in turn hurt your team.

2. RB Toby Gerhart

Toby Gerhart Jaguars

2. RB Toby Gerhart

Toby Gerhart Jaguars — Like Tate, Gerhart was supposed to make his mark this season after escaping the shadow of his Pro Bowl counterpart in Adrian Peterson. After Peterson's fall out, Gerhart would have fared better staying in Minnesota. But he fled to Jacksonville only to rank as the 52nd best RB, and lost his starting job during the season.

1. Suspended Star RBs

Chicago Bears v Minnesota Vikings

1. Suspended Star RBs

Chicago Bears v Minnesota Vikings — These would include Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice. Peterson at least played a game, whereas Rice missed the entire season. They would likely have been great additions to teams had they played, but it's disappointing regardless that GMs wasted a pick on someone who would only sit on the bench, praying they'd somehow return. As we know, that didn't happen.

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