We’ve all been there. Drafting in the first or second or third round with high hopes, but the football gods don’t’ have it written in the stars, so you’re the victim of a massive bust. It happens to the best of us. Maybe you took David Johnson third overall and now you’re 4-5 with the playoff hopes slowly dwindling away or maybe you’re like me and took Alvin Kamara fifth overall and have a 3-6 record… Well, misery loves company, so in my attempt to cheer up all the fantasy football bottom-dwellers, I’ve compiled a fantasy team of all the biggest busts of the season. You aren’t alone.
The team was made with a standard lineup.
Quarterback: Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Winston transcends fantasy busts. He’s a bust on the field for the Bucs and has behaved like one off the field, as well. It’s no wonder his fantasy situation is putrid. He did miss the first three games of the season while FitzMagic was revitalizing the team. When the magic died down and Winston got to start again, he was terrible. It’s a small wonder that a player who missed three games and had a positional ADP of 21.4 can be in the running for the bust team. Winston’s current ranking is 33. I hope no one had to start Winston during his four-game, 6 touchdowns: 10 interceptions performance and subsequent benching for FitzMagic round 2.
Running back 1: David Johnson, Arizona Cardinals
His being listed on the bust team isn’t an indictment of his talents or abilities. It has more to do with a hapless Cardinals team. The offensive line, which has been terrible for the past several years, doesn’t give Johnson a lot of help. The team also has a first-year head coach in Steve Wilkes; sometimes they have a hard time getting a foothold in their first seasons. Johnson was drafted very high across most fantasy sites and had an overall ADP of 3.2. He hasn’t quite lived up to that billing and considering the gaudy numbers we’ve seen from him in the past, this year could be labeled as a bust for Johnson. Comparing his ADP to his average ranking, there’s somewhat of a disparity. His ADP is 3.2 and his high: low positional ranking is 7 and 17 with his average ranking position of 10.6. That’s not optimal production for a high first round pick; it’s more indicative of an early second rounder.
Running back 2: Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers
OK, this one is easy. Bell has an overall ADP of 2.2 and it’s hard to fault people for drafting him that high. He’s just that good, even when he’s surrounded by “holdout” uncertainty. We’re a little halfway through the season and Bell still not shown up yet. He hasn’t played a single snap, which obviously results in a big goose egg in fantasy. That’s as big as busts can come. It all came down to the handling of Bell’s franchise tag situation; he felt that is was in his best interest to sit out the year to preserve his body while on a one-year contract, essentially. I’m not saying that it was right or wrong, but with fantasy implications, many Bell drafters are likely feeling burned. There are some reports (per Adam Schefter) that Bell could return the week of November 12, some maybe there’s still hope to salvage a few points this season.
Wide receiver 1: Amari Cooper, Dallas Cowboys
Cooper has been a strange case this season and even part of last season. He’s seen waning production and seemed sluggish this season under new head coach Jon Gruden. Maybe he didn’t want to play in Oakland? Who knows? Regardless, he was still viewed favorably in drafting scenarios; he had an overall ADP of 35.4, which placed him in the third or fourth round. His production was somewhat affected when he was traded to Dallas, but his ranking stats did not live up to his draft position before that. He has a current positional ranking of 30 and that’s pretty standard for him this season because he has an average ranking position of 29.5. He did post 5 catches for 58 yards and a touchdown in his first game with the Cowboys. Those numbers are encouraging, so maybe he can start pulling it together now that he’s gotten a change of scenery. When he was drafted as the WR14 during fantasy draft season, there were expectations of being him a team’s number 1 WR, but he has fallen short of that so far.
Wide Receiver 2: Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears
Robinson was one of the big-ticket names in 2018’s free agency. The Bears signed him and believed he could be the X receiver for their sophomore quarterback, Mitch Trubisky. Robinson was drafted typically in the bottom of the second or in the fourth or fifth round but has failed to live up to it. He has a positional ADP of 23.0 and an overall ADP of 54.2 His position ranking, as it stands, is 51. That’s not great; he’s currently ranked in with the all the other receivers what he was drafted in the overall draft picture. That might shock you that much, so let me put it to you this way. You know all the grief DeVante Parker has caught this year with the Miami Dolphins? Parker has ranked one spot ahead of Robinson. Robinson has played every game too; it’s hard to not include him on the bust team.
Tight end: Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots
It’s hard to imagine that Gronk could be on the bust team, I get it. He just hasn’t been himself. The injuries might be mounting. Gronkowski was drafted as TE1 with good reason. He is very much the best active tight end in the league; unfortunately, he might be on the downhill of his career. He had an overall ADP of 21.6 and was consistently the first tight end taken across the board. He has a current positional ranking of 14 and an average of 11.2. So the highest-drafted tight end is not even currently in the top 10 fantasy tight ends. It’s a tough pill to swallow for a player that’s been a mainstay in lineups since around 2010, but he’s just not the same guy this year. Here’s hoping he regains some steam in the second half of this season.
Defense/Special teams: Jacksonville Jaguars
This is another easy one. When a team’s defense was as highly touted as the Jaguars, and people are drafting them first in their position in every site that has leagues, then you got to deliver. That has not been the case. Their defense has been underwhelming, to say the least. You can actually say that about the entire team, but I’ll save it. I already mentioned they were drafted first across the board. Well, they’re now 14th out of all the D/STs. Of course, when you’re up there at the top, there’s only one direction to go, but I didn’t imagine that the Jags defense would have dropped that low.
Kicker: Justin Tucker, Baltimore Ravens
Yeah, you’re probably wondering why Tucker is my pick. It pains me to put him on here…He missed an extra point. He missed the first extra point of his career. You can look down the XP% column and see all the 100s, but then, BAM, “95.5%”. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. For a kicker that has been a gold standard of the position for the 2010s, anything less than perfect isn’t acceptable.
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