What's Wrong With Tank Dell, Keenan Allen, and Zamir White? Fantasy Football Outlook

John's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 9 of 2024. He looks at what's wrong with Tank Dell, Keenan Allen, Zamir White and if they can be trusted.

Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell, Chicago Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen, and Las Vegas Raiders running back Zamir White are three players who have disappointed in fantasy football in 2024. For a variety of reasons, none have lived up to the hype they received in the preseason.

It can be confusing and difficult to figure out why players who should do well aren't performing to expectation. However, usually, there are some underlying stats, situational issues, and game films that can give fantasy managers insight. These can help them decide to stick with their player, trade him away, or simply drop him.

So what's going on with these three players, and will they be able to turn it around this season?

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What's Wrong With Tank Dell?

It's just an unfortunate fact that No. 3 for the Texans is not the player he was last year. He's less explosive, less shifty, and struggles much more separating from coverage than he did in 2023. It's not entirely surprising that this is happening, considering how his 2023 season ended and what happened to him in the offseason.

PRAYERS: #Texans star rookie WR Tank Dell is being carted off the field with an injury

🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/nROiY8nk4y

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 3, 2023

Often, players returning to play give fantasy managers the impression that they're fully healed. This is probably not the case. He broke his leg in early December last year, and we often see players not return to their old selves until a year or more after their injuries. Tennessee Titans running back Tony Pollard is a perfect example.

To make matters worse, Dell was shot in the leg in an unfortunate incident in April this year. He didn't suffer life-threatening injuries and was quickly able to return to training, but this has likely affected his performance as well.

BREAKING: #Texans WR Tank Dell was shot in Florida at a nightclub as an innocent bystander.

It’s thankfully a minor wound and he will make a full recovery. pic.twitter.com/NnmM3N8IW2

— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) April 28, 2024

These seem like the most likely explanations for his downturn in production this season.

What's Wrong With Keenan Allen?

A few things are working against him this season. One of them was the heel injury he suffered earlier in the season -- he missed two games because of it. He described it as a "wear-and-tear" injury. That is a massive red flag. He's 32 years old. A lifetime of the body taking a beating always catches up to people at some point.

Keenan is literally just running such slow routes that Caleb is moving past him early. He comes wide open later in the play and Caleb is already pressured and moved off his spot pic.twitter.com/N0Et8lVOAD

— I🧸 (@ilannfl) October 30, 2024

He's just not looked the same on the field. He was a fantastic player in 2023, but that could've been his last great year. For some players, the wheels fall off quickly, and the elite level of competition NFL defenses provide are happy to feast on declining opposition.

His rookie quarterback, Caleb Williams, has also not been playing well, aside from a few big games against some of the league's worst defenses. It's important to adjust our thinking of QB play to the team around them. Williams has elite WR DJ Moore, speedster RB D'Andre Swift, top-10 NFL Draft pick Rome Odunze, and stud tight end Cole Kmet.

CALEB WILLIAMS WITH THE THROW OF THE YEAR. 🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/OLUlS9vwpa

— NFC North News (@NFCNorthNewss) October 27, 2024

He's had a ton of gaffes and a few dismal dud games. This is despite his elite offensive supporting cast and one of the best defenses in the NFL. Chicago's defense has forced the sixth-worst opponent third-down conversion rate and has forced the sixth-most turnovers by opposing teams. It is the biggest reason the Bears are winning games.

All of Chicago's receivers are underachieving, and the main culprit is the freshman signal-caller.

What's Wrong With Zamir White?

White looked like the surefire pick to take over the Raiders backfield after the departure of Josh Jacobs to greener pastures. Instead, he became this year's Alexander Mattison, losing his job to his backup (who happened to be Mattison) after being thought of as the guaranteed leader of his backfield.

I talked about Zamir White not fitting a zone scheme a lot on TDL.

Looks like mid zone here and he has the lane to bounce this especially with the leverage Mayer has on 40. He just runs forward and gets two. Not reading it well. pic.twitter.com/m8h6aSk13O

— Marcus Johnson (@TheMarcJohnNFL) September 16, 2024

Generally, you hope to see players have excellent efficiency over the course of a season, but sit in a backup role, in anticipation of a breakout the following season. Zeus was solid in a few games but needed massive volume to produce fantasy-relevant numbers, and this was with opposing defenses likely having prepared primarily to play against Jacobs.

Zamir White last 4 games

17 rush 69 yrds 1 TD vs LAC
22 rush 145 yrds vs KC
20 rush 71 yrds vs Indy
25 rush 112 yrds vs Den#Raiders #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/VT3LrnizJv

— Raiders History (@Oaklraiders1976) January 8, 2024

A full offseason of teams preparing to stop White paid off. He's also on one of the worst offenses in the league and lost his starting job to Mattison.

Will Tank Dell Turn It Around?

Dell has an excellent shot at improving his production as his health improves. He could be close to his 2023 form toward the end of this season. He should steadily improve over the coming weeks and more closely resemble the dynamite he was a year ago.

Tank Dell

Run & Drop pic.twitter.com/1WUKmpzdCB

— Mike Vannucci (@WRCoachVannucci) October 29, 2024

He's appeared to regain some of the suddenness he displayed last season, and his separation has been improving. He still doesn't quite look the same, but he should see increased opportunities now that fellow WR Stefon Diggs (knee) tore his ACL and won't play again this season. Houston QB C.J. Stroud may not have a choice.

Dell is a fine start in Week 9. He faces a tough defense, but he'll be the clear No. 1 WR with very little target competition since Nico Collins (hamstring) won't play.

Will Keenan Allen Turn It Around?

Allen inspires less optimism. No. 13 is clearly in the twilight of his career, and with the way he's played this season, he may be out of a job by this time next year. Teams are understandably happy to move on from players multiple years ahead of their 30th birthday who have shown clear signs of decline.

Keenan Allen got 'em pic.twitter.com/0s9xdHuv0o

— Dave (@dave_bfr) October 27, 2024

If it's mostly the injury that's bothering him, we could see him have at least one more decent season, though. The stat sheet probably makes him look worse than he is since he has so much target competition and an unproductive QB.

Will Zamir White Turn It Around?

White's situation is the worst of the three by far, and there probably isn't any hope. He's looked like a third-string running back most of the season, and on a team that has very little passing production outside of garbage time, he probably won't get much help moving forward.

The Bell Cow Report
[Week 8 Only]

Alexander Mattison continues to see a massive share of the Raiders' backfield, despite Zamir White coming back healthy.

However, he's been one of the least-efficient RBs in the league, averaging -6.7 fantasy points below expectation. pic.twitter.com/unTKbluHwk

— Fantasy Points Data (@FantasyPtsData) October 29, 2024

He's been droppable in fantasy leagues for weeks now. His job has been fully taken over, and the best time to give up on him was before your fantasy draft.

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