RADIO
Welcome to Disaster Recovery, where each week I'll examine why your studs played like duds. This isn't a place to find out why you should have benched a player for somebody on your bench. Disaster Recovery is to examine the guys who you didn't think twice about benching, and deciding if you should be panicking at all about their value moving forward.
The players covered in this column will usually have to be in the RotoBaller top-10 at their respective positions, but it may vary depending on the status of the players each week.
I'll admit it, I wouldn't classify one or two of our players this week as bonafide fantasy studs, especially our quarterback. But the odds of you not starting any of the guys on the list this week were incredibly low, whether it was due to matchup or due to riding a hot streak. Stud owners should be happy this week. Most of the great players were at least solid this week. Let's first take a look at the ones who weren't.
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Week 3 Duds
Jay Ajayi (RB, MIA) (#2 RB)
What Happened: Ajayi had the worst game of his career since his emergence last season, totaling 25 yards on 11 carries and two receptions.
How Did It Happen: Ajayi was bothered by a knee issue in practice all week, suffered a minor injury in this game and left briefly in the third quarter. The flow of the game also did him no favors, as the Dolphins entered the fourth quarter down 20-0 and weren't in a position to let Ajayi dominate the ball, especially with how poor he played prior.
Panic Meter: Low. This was one of those games that you might just have to throw out the window. The Dolphins looked uncharacteristically bad and the Jets looked uncharacteristically good. Ajayi had 122 yards in Week 1 against the Chargers. We'll have a better idea of how to feel about him after next week. It's not time to even contemplate removing Ajayi from your lineup.
Ty Montgomery (RB, Green Bay) (#5 RB)
What Happened: Montgomery struggled to get going against the Bengals, running 12 times for 35 yards and adding eight receptions for 15 yards.
How Did It Happen: The Bengals played well, and Aaron Rodgers played better. They didn't exactly need to feed Montgomery this week.
Panic Meter: Low. First off, shoutout to Montgomery for pushing his way to the #5 running back ranking this week and being considered a stud. There isn't much to be concerned about with the running back turned receiver. His biggest strength is his work out of the passing game, and despite a low yardage total this week he still managed to record eight receptions on a team high 12 targets. Full point PPR players may even be confused why he's in this article at all. 50 total yards without a score might be Montgomery's floor this season. And that's a pretty damn nice floor if you ask me.
Travis Kelce (TE, KC) (#1 TE)
What Happened: Travis Kelce had the worst game of his career, catching his only target for one yard.
How Did It Happen: The Chiefs obviously found their offense in other ways this week. Alex Smith only threw the ball 21 times, with Tyreke Hill leading the group with five receptions on eight targets. The Chiefs relied heavily yet again on rookie Kareem Hunt, who ran for more yards than Smith passed for this week.
Panic Meter: Medium. It's not time to bench Travis Kelce or even look for other options, as his dominant Week 2 performance showed us what we can expect when Kelce is cooking. There are legitimate concerns here though. Kelce has had two forgettable games this season, even though his Week 1 performance wasn't detrimental in PPR leagues. And it's truly bizarre that Kelce would experience his first one target game of his career now, in his prime and coming off an All-Pro season. Kareem Hunt's emergence will affect Kelce's usage. Hunt is just too good not to demand the ball when he's in the zone. We just have to wait and see how much it affects Kelce in the next game or two before we really panic.
Cam Newton (QB, CAR) (#7 QB)
What Happened: Newton followed up a bad Week 2 with an even worse Week 3, throwing for 167 yards and three interceptions while saving his day from total disaster with a rushing touchdown in a blowout loss to the Saints.
How Did It Happen: Not many people took the 2-0 Carolina Panthers seriously, and those people were justified this week. Cam Newton had one of the worst games of his career. Not a single interception he threw came under pressure. He didn't try to spread the wealth around to his receivers, with 21 of his 26 attempts going to either Devin Funchess or Christian McCaffrey. It should be noted that Newton was without TE Greg Olsen this week.
Panic Meter: High. Calling Newton a stud is a bit of a stretch, but most Newton owners in leagues with more than eight teams were unlikely to bench him in a great matchup against the Saints. Newton owners should be considering other options at quarterback next week. He's hasn't played great all year, he's missing his favorite target in Greg Olsen, and he has a tough matchup against the New England Patriots. Replace Newton with anybody on the waiver wire this week and hope that he can get back into his groove soon.
