You were confident.
You really were.
George Kittle is gonna bounce back in a major way! Julio Jones is gonna take double-teams away from A.J. Brown!
But you know, then, football happened. And football – even though we love it – can be such a pain in the ass sometimes. Injuries. Poor performance. Maddening inconsistency. Let’s take a look at some of fantasy football’s biggest busts thus far:
For further fantasy breakdown listen to John's NFL podcast, "Pickin' Pigskin Winners" above
Jonathan Taylor, RB
He finished last year so damn strong. Just what we want coming into this fantasy season – a sophomore running back with the full confidence of his organization and coaching staff. Jonathan Taylor is “our guy,” they say.
But then, well, Carson Wentz. Does anything ever go smoothly with this guy on the team? Wentz’s injuries and inconsistency have made a mess of Indy’s overall offense. Sure, Frank Reich is a good, solid head coach, but you can only do so much when Wentz is missing Michael Pittman Jr. wide open in the endzone.
And of course, this hurts “JT” in the end. Indy has no offensive balance right now. Defensive boxes are stacked up against them. And I don’t see anything changing unless Philip Rivers comes out of retirement and sends Wentz permanently to the pine.
Outlook ROS (Rest of Season): I’m happy to buy-low for the right price, but otherwise I’m staying away from JT. I have no faith in Wentz, and thus, this offense. Things are just too tough on Taylor, right now.
Saquon Barkley, RB
I called Saquon and Zeke before the season. Anyone can say we should have known after the fact, but you get the big-time calls before the fact here at Aaron Torres Online.
Look, we’ve seen some flashes from Saquon early this season. But isn’t that what it always ends up being? Just… flashes.
Ultimately, I’m always a big believer in Marketing – Saquon Barkley is a cool-sounding name. He was selected insanely high in the draft. He makes some dramatic, athletic plays. Add those three things together, and you end up with a perennially overrated fantasy pick.
As I’ve said all along, the Giants still have Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton and Evan Engram to feed. They also have enigmatic Daniel Jones under center. This was never an ideal fantasy situation for Saquon, to anyone looking closely enough. Not to even mention the injuries.
Outlook ROS: Same old, same old. A touchdown here or there. One strong game out of every five or six. I’m not buying.
A.J. Brown, WR
Left game 3 with a hamstring injury, and he didn’t do much in the first two games, anyway.
Obviously, this one will come down to his long-term outlook from a health perspective. I like this as a buy-low opportunity because some fantasy coaches are gonna want to jump ship real quick. You can’t spend much – because hamstring injuries do tend to linger – but I’d at least put a couple feelers out there.
“AJB” can do well down the line because Derrick Henry and Julio Jones give you that balance. As I joked in the opener, these guys do ultimately take double-teams away from AJB. He has a real chance to bounce back if the hamstring injury is on the minor side.
George Kittle, TE
My podcast partner – Pickin’ Pigskin Winners with Wes Easley – is heavily-invested in George Kittle this fantasy season. And well, that’s not going particularly well.
I didn’t really understand it from the get-go. You have a tricky quarterback situation with both Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance. Heading into the year, you are thinking you have a strong rushing attack with both Raheem Mostert and Trey Sermon. At WR, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk remain exciting youngsters with a ton of upside.
Why go as early as the late first round for George Kittle?
Normally he was going in the second in most of my drafts, but I did see some reaches for the first. I just don’t get it.
Ultimately, you can’t trade for him because his name value is too high. Fantasy coaches continue to overvalue him. Keep in mind – just two seasons ago – Pro Football Focus ranked George Kittle as the best overall player in the game. These things linger. People remember the hype.
So, because you can’t get the right price, you gotta lay off George Kittle. An ugly start to the fantasy season, indeed.
John Frascella is a best-selling author and now fantasy contributor at Aaron Torres Online. Make sure to follow him on Twitter @LegendSports7.
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