November 8, 2017

Fantasy football busts and disappointments from Week 9 of the 2017 NFL season. Steve Rebeiro reviews which stud players turned duds and how concerned we should be.

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.

Week 9 was a light week for duds, with most of the high ranked quarterbacks, wide receivers, and tight ends performing fairly well. This weeks column will focus heavy on a few high profile running backs that earned the dud title this week.

Week 9 Duds

AJ Green (WR, CIN) (#8 WR)

What Happened: Green caught just one pass for six yards in a loss to the Jaguars.

How Did It Happen: Well.... this happened. Green was ejected from the game before half time for going full Randy Orton on Jalen Ramsey.

Panic Meter: Non-existent. Somehow, AJ Green avoided a suspension and will be locked and loaded for Week 10. Is it concerning that he had just one reception for six yards before halftime? Not really. Jacksonville gives up the fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers and Green just happened to be another one of Jalen Ramsey's victims... only he decided to fight back. Antonio Brown is the only receiver to record over 70 yards against the Jacksonville secondary this season. Expect more of the same from Green moving forward.

LeSean McCoy (RB, BUF) (#3 RB)

What Happened: McCory ran 12 times for 25 yards and failed to catch his only target in a loss to the Jets.

How Did It Happen: As we all expected, the Week 9 New York Jets cruised to their fourth win of the year, riding their thunder and lightning duo of Bilal Powell and Matt Forte to victory in a game they never trailed. Gameflow did McCoy no favors in the blowout. He received just one carry on the final five drives for Buffalo.

Panic Meter: Low. In the two weeks before this game, McCoy ran the ball 50 times for 242 yards and three touchdowns. The Bills are better when McCoy goes to work. They're 1-3 in games where McCoy receives less than 20 carries, and 4-0 in games where he receives more. Expect Buffalo to continue to feed McCoy even with the addition of Kelvin Benjamin.

Kareem Hunt (RB, KC) (#1 RB)

What Happened: The number one overall fantasy option ran just nine times for 37 yards and added four catches for 24 yards.

How Did It Happen: Andy Reid has always had this strange fascination for trying to win games by not giving his best player the ball. He's done it with Jamaal Charles and other running backs in the past and is starting to do it with Hunt in recent weeks. This is the second time in four games that Hunt failed to receive double digit carries. Hunt's final carry of the game came with 9:51 remaining in the third, on the Chief's final scoring drive of the game and the last drive where they led in the matchup.

Panic Meter: Medium. Under no circumstances should anyone be benching Kareem Hunt unless they play in a four man league and just happen to own three of the other top five running backs. That being said, here are some scary facts about Kareem Hunt:

• He hasn't scored since Week 3.
• He hasn't ran for 100 yards since Week 5.
• He hasn't totaled 100 yards since Week 7.
• He's had less than 10 carries twice in the last four games.
• In half-point PPR leagues, Kareem Hunt is averaging the 21st most fantasy points per game among running backs over the past four games, behind guys such as Derrick Henry, Matt Forte, TJ Yeldon, and Isaiah Crowell.
• In the same statistic category, Hunt doesn't even crack the top 50 FLEX options.

 
Should you be giving up on Hunt? Of course not. He plays for a great coach in a talented system and has proven that he can be an elite NFL running back. But his usage and production over the past four weeks compared to the first five weeks of the year is freighting. If you own Hunt, he has to remain in your lineup due to his ridiculously high upside and his high floor in PPR formats. That being said, if people are still willing to offer up top tier guys for Hunt, it may be a good time to sell high.

Doug Martin (RB, TB) (#9 RB)

What Happened: Doug Martin ran eight times for seven yards and didn't receive a target on his 19 snaps in an embarrassing loss to the New Orleans Saints.

How Did It Happen: Tampa Bay collapsed like a house of cards in a tornado 0n Sunday. Dirk Cotter decided to bench most of the starters in the second half, and Martin didn't see a carry after the first drive of the third quarter. It wasn't like he was helping the team win or anything.

Panic Meter: High. The Buccaneers are in shambles. Dirk Cotter has lost the locker room, Jameis Winston has been shut down indefinitely, and now Martin is stuck playing with Ryan Fitzpatrick in an offense where nobody gives a damn anymore. Martin hasn't ran for over 75 yards in a game since returning, hasn't scored a touchdown in three weeks, hasn't been a consistent part of the passing game, and doesn't really seem committed to proving that he should be a part of the long term plan in Tampa Bay. Its time to abandon this pirate ship. I can't imagine Martin being anything more than a low-end FLEX option moving forward.

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