The Fantasy Team You Wish You Never Drafted

There are countless fantasy owners who are dissapointed or distraught over the start of their 2014 fantasy season. If you’re 1–1 or 0–2 you’re probably upset and you probably own one of the guys I’m about to discuss.

Weeks 1 and 2 of the NFL season has thrown fantasy owners for a loop with injuries, poor performances and poor usage numbers for certain players.

As much as it sucks, this is a part of the fantasy world my friends. We’re all going to have ups and downs, highs and lows.

The truth of the matter is, this post won’t make you feel any better if you’ve started off poorly. In fact, it’ll probably feel like I’m pouring salt on the wound.

In advance, I’m not sorry. I feel your pain, having owned several of these players across different leagues.

The 2014 Fantasy Dream Disappointment Team

Before you get ready to tear my team of disappointments apart let me say that you could argue for other players in these spots, however based on their draft position I think these guys have earned their honors through week 2. There is next to a zero chance you owned all of these guys, however they are all hurting their respective fantasy owners.

QB: Drew Brees

You could make the argument that Tom Brady has been a huge let down, along with RGIII after that week 2 injury. However I believe no one other than Drew Brees deserves this title as of now. He has provided respectable, yet unimpressive starting QB fantasy numbers through two weeks. He ranks as the 13th best QB in standard leagues, according to NFL.com, with Jake Locker only 1 single point behind him.

For the price you paid for Drew Brees (likely a 2nd or 3rd round selection), you expected him to be near the top of the QB performances week in and week out. Now I didn’t expect this from him prior to the season, so I’m just as shocked as his owners are. But reality is what it is. Drew Brees has been a disappointment so far.

You can make the argument that he’s much better at home, to which I won’t disagree with. However, that doesn’t do you any good for the games that he is away. Based on his draft day price, I just think Drew Brees is the biggest let down when compared to who you could’ve gotten much, much later.

Do I think Brees bounces back? Absolutely. He could be a buy low if you really wanted him, but I’d imagine you still have other QB options to use that won’t require you to trade away a stud to get Brees.

RB: Jamaal Charles

In many leagues Jamaal Charles went with the first pick in 2014 fantasy drafts. Man does that look like a swing and a miss two weeks into the season.

Look, I’m a Chiefs fan. Have been for years. I didn’t see this coming. Sure I moved him down my board to #2 overall, but that was because of the offensive line issues. But this is a shock to even the most loyal of Chiefs fans.

In week 1 Charles had 7 touches for 19 yards and 4 catches for 15 yards. Seven freaking touches! Andy Reid dropped the ball and he acknowledged it. Not much solace for fantasy owners.

In week 2 Charles gets hurt early and leaves for the rest of the game. He left fantasy football owners again with a crushing performance from their first round pick. There hasn’t been a timetable put on his return which makes Charles owners who don’t own Knile Davis nervous. At least it should.

Knile Davis has looked good when given the chance and could perform nicely if Charles were to miss time. As a Chiefs fan, and Charles owner, I’m devastated (even more than just being a depressed Chiefs fan).

For Charles owners, you need to hope he returns to form. For now all you can do is wait. For his draft day price I don’t think anyone has crushed teams more than Jamaal Charles.

RB: Adrian Peterson

Adrian Peterson was in every conversation relating to the top pick in the Fantasy Football Draft. Between McCoy, Charles, Forte and Peterson it was argued (by myself included) that you could take Peterson #1 overall and feel good about it.

God damn were we all wrong. So far it’s been things out of our control.

Week 1 Peterson had 75 rushing yards and 18 receiving yards, which gave him 9.3 points in standard NFL.com leagues. Not quite the performance you wanted from a consensus top 3 pick.

Week 2 Peterson was suspended by the team after being indicted in Texas in a child injury case. This obvious sent fantasy owners into a scramble to replace Peterson and grab his backup.

Following the week 2 games we were informed that AP was going to be active and playing in week 3, however news broke Monday night (9/15) that he was being investigated for further allegations against another one of this children. We were already told that AP would be investigated under the new Domestic Violence Policy the NFL has implemented, which means we have no idea when a punishment may be handed down.

Adrian Peterson has left owners in a terrible position. One where they can’t count on their #1 pick and they simply don’t know what to do. Both him and Charles has let owners down and after the top of the draft was considered safe for fantasy owners, it looks like the opposite may be the case.

WR: Victor Cruz

I was onboard with Victor Cruz returning to form.

I was wrong. And that’s one of the biggest reasons he is on this list.

Eli has looked terrible and Cruz has looked equally as bad. Of course you could argue that it is a product of Eli Manning, however Cruz has dropped a ton of passes in weeks 1 and 2.

I’m officially off the Victor Cruz bandwagon and believe you should jump off while you still can.

Many fantasy footballers entered the season with Cruz as their #2 WR. I’d be extremely worried if he was still being used in your lineup as such.

I made a bad call and I don’t expect it to change soon. Eli certainly is a problem in NY. Except for defenses that is, defenses playing against Eli love the way he plays.

TE: Rob Gronkowski

He’s an injury machine, but so far for 2014 Rob Gronkowski has stayed healthy. It could be the limited snap count they have him on or it could be that he simply feels good and can take hits.

Either way, he’s been a disappointment based on his ADP of 32.4, according to fantasypros.com

Gronk has put up only 13.2 fantasy points through 2 weeks. That makes him the 13th most effective tight end in standard scoring leagues. For that price, ouch.

Do I expect this to continue? Absolutely not. I think Gronk continues to build steam and becomes a huge asset to your team. In fact, I’d buy low on the guy if I could. I still believe big things are coming.

Brady loves Gronk. As bad as Brady has looked I’ve got to believe they figure it out. New England always seems to somehow do that.

K: Matt Prater

I’m not here to call out any kickers in particular that are playing.

Listen, kickers miss kicks. It’s simply what they do.

What you don’t want is for your kicker to be suspended. That’s exactly what Matt Prater is.

I watched Prater be selected in countless drafts and he was quickly cut there after. Surprise, surprise.

If you drafted him, I’m sorry. Your season wasn’t won or lost on that pick. It’s a kicker. Although that Denver offense sure does know how to score points.

Anyway, just keep playing the kicker matchups.

DEF: Seattle Seahawks

You likely paid a high price to acquire the Seahawks. Like a 7th round pick according to Fantasypros.com. They’ve posted a total of 8 points via NFL.com standard leagues. That’s from a defense you likely reached on while passing on Michael Floyd, Joique Bell, TY Hilton, Emmanuel Sanders, Julian Edelman…you get the picture. Seattle is currently the 22nd ranked defense in our league.

As of now the #1 defense, the New England Patriots, were selected in the 11th round of drafts. Still early for my tastes in Defenses, but hey theres a better value for sure.

Look the Seahawks are going to bounce back and the Patriots aren’t always going to have incredible weeks like this. But so far, Seattle has not justified their draft day price.

I Love Fantasy Football

As much as fantasy football can drive me crazy. I hate it, but I love it.

The close games, the blowouts and everything we simply can’t control drives us to the edge of insanity.

Fantasy isn’t a game for the faint of heart. You need to be able to endure a rough start and fight back for glory.

I’m sorry if these guys have failed you so far in 2014. I promise you you’re not alone.

Let’s just hope they’ve figured things out and are ready to make things right.

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