Fantasy football flops and surprises

By Matt Smith

There are a lot of people like me, people who wake up on Sunday morning and are either watching or tracking every game in the NFL for anywhere from six to 10 hours.
The reason we do this, is because we are fantasy football geeks and we root as hard for certain players on certain teams almost as hard as we root for our favorite teams. I know there are plenty of people that would not watch as adamantly if they weren’t in a fantasy football league and others wouldn’t watch at all.
The reason is, fantasy football gives us a stake in the game. There is no other reason that I would cheer a Joe Nedney field goal with the 49ers losing 24-0 unless he was on my fantasy team. It can also break your heart, like when Mike Holmgren opted to go for it on fourth down, trailing the Saints by 11 points instead of kicking the field goal to make it a one score game and attempting an onside kick. Because he didn’t kick there, I lost a fantasy game by two points.
But that’s what makes it great. What makes it even better, is how we sit around just before the season starts and we all act like experts as we breakdown which players are going to have breakout years, which are on the decline and which will continue to put up numbers.
Without fail, every year, several players fail us as we watch guys we could have drafted performing at a high level for other teams. Some people with Rudi Johnson are watching a guy like Willie Parker go off, and thinking to themselves that they could have had him.
Some people are patting themselves on the back for taking a chance on Brett Favre and staying away from a youngster like Alex Smith.
There are plenty of fantasy busts, but for the biggest one, let’s start in the city by the bay.

Frank Gore
The guy came off a year where he rushed for 1,700 yards and said he was going after the single season rushing record. Now, he’s going to need about 1,800 yards in nine games for that to happen. Gore is averaging four yards a carry, but he isn’t breaking any big plays in piling up 435 yards through seven games.

Cedric Benson
He is high on the list of busts. The Bears traded away Thomas Jones to make Benson the top back, and not only has he not answered the call, but he can’t even hear the phone ringing. He has scored just two touchdowns, he is averaging just over three yards a carry and is on pace to rush for just over 900 yards.

Shaun Alexander
A lot of people took him high in hopes of him regaining his 2005 form, which hasn’t come close to happening. He has two scores, he’s averaging 3.4 yards per carry and barely on pace for 1,000 yards.

Dolphins, Falcons, Jets
If you drafted Trent Green, Ronnie Brown, Joey Harrington, Warrick Dunn, Chad Pennington or Thomas Jones things haven’t worked out for you. Why? Because these three teams are a combined 2-21.

Clinton Portis
He’s not on pace for a 1,000 yards and he is averaging less than four yards a carry. He does have five touchdowns, so he has produced a bit.

Tatum Bell
What were you thinking if you drafted this guy? You learned that he can’t even take the job from Kevin Jones, a classic underachiever.

Larry Johnson
Ya, so he has over 500 yards but he has just two touchdowns and is averaging just 3.6 yards per carry.

Laurence Maroney
I know a lot of people probably drafted him high, but he has been battling injuries and has not scored a touchdown yet.

Chester Taylor
See Adrian Peterson later on.

The Rams
What was once a high scoring team has seen Stephen Jackson (274 yards, one TD) and Marc Bulger (3 TD, 8 INT) deal with injuries and has seen a steady decline in Tory Holt’s numbers (46-576-4).

Chad Johnson
I know he is second in the NFL in yards, but he has just three touchdowns and has just a single hundred yard game in his last four.

Jerry Porter
Remember how this guy was supposed to be rededicated and was supposed to be the top receiver in Oakland? He has 15 catches.

Deion Branch
He’s been battling injury and inconsistency and has 22 catches and a touchdown.

Alex Smith
He’s been hurt, but still he is ranked 30th in passer rating.

Matt Leinert
Even before getting hurt, the only quarterback with a worse rating was Tarvaris Jackson, who can’t be a bust because he wasn’t good to begin with.

Vince Young
Three passing touchdowns and a passer rating of 66.

J.P. Losman
After a breakout year last year, a lot of people were high on him. He got injured and missed two games and couldn’t even win his job back from Trent Edwards.

With all these busts, there have to be some surprises, right? We know the Vikings drafted Adrian Peterson that high for a reason, but did anyone expect this right away? He leads the league in rushing!! He has made Chester's 1,200 yard season a distant memory.

Marshawn Lynch
I knew he would be good, but I didn’t know he would be on pace to rush for 1,200 yards in his first year.

LenDale White
Apparently you can eat as much as you want, resemble a refrigerator with feet and still have a good season.

Derek Anderson
What? 17 touchdowns and over eight yards per attempt?

Wes Welker
Here’s a tip to any slightly above average receiver. Sign with the Patriots for less money.

Braylon Edwards
It’s hard to call someone with his talent, who was as high a draft pick a surprise but he is going off and making big plays every week. I expected him to be solid, but he is a legit playmaker in this league.