Fantasy Fiascoes: Week 5

Every week we set our fantasy lineups, and we expect the guys we invested highly in to produce accordingly. Every week someone lets us down. It’s rare to find that perfect week, in which all your starters are lights out and you win by 50 points. It’s infuriating to lose because your stud players just don’t show up. For purposes of this article, I will avoid listing players who had bad weeks due to injury. With that said, let’s vent about the fiascoes from this week.

Quarterbacks

Matt Ryan

This was supposed to be a high scoring game, and it was for the Steelers. For some reason, the Falcons didn’t get the memo. Here’s a list of Falcons players who disappointed:

• Matt Ryan
• Devonta Freeman
• Tevin Coleman
• Julio Jones
• Calvin Ridley

You don’t need to an expert to understand that list covers the most important players on the team.  Ryan looked terrible this week, and the Steelers were all over him. He just couldn’t get anything going, and he brought everyone down with him. This was supposed to be a fantasy gold rush, and instead it was just more failure for the Falcons. And for the love of god, when is Julio going to score a freaking touchdown!?

Patrick Mahomes

It’s kinda hard to be mad at the guy who is the QB1 so far this season, but this week was tough. I just wanted to point out that Mahomes, like most QBs, is not completely matchup proof. There are times when he might not give you elite numbers, and that’s fine. The Jags defense is legit, and they simply do not allow many fantasy points to opposing QBs. It’s really that simple.

Running Backs

Alvin Kamara

I know this one stings. Kamara has been single-handedly carrying fantasy teams so far this year. He has been an absolute monster, and maybe even MVP of the entire league. Then Mark Ingram comes back. Then Ingram got nine more touches than Kamara. Then Ingram scored two touchdowns. What that equates to is 6.9 fantasy points for Kamara, who had scored at least 34 points in three of four games. That’s a helluva lot of production to take out of a lineup. I believe both Kamara and Ingram will be good options, and they finished 2017 as RB3 and RB6 respectively, but this is worrisome. If you own Kamara, you have to be scared to death that he loses production to Ingram. Don’t do anything crazy, because Sean Peyton has to know Kamara is too damn talented to only get nine touches. Right?

Devonta Freeman

Not sure what to say about this one. He was a high draft pick, and now he’s in a time share. 10 touches is just not going to cut it for him. Maybe moving forward he will recapture the lead back role, but until that time, he might need to be on the bench. His disappointing season has been in part due to an injury, so it’s not all on him, but through 5 weeks he has 14 fantasy points and three missed games. That just really sucks. Investing an early pick on a RB that does not produce at all is not a great formula for success. The Falcons upcoming schedule is not all that difficult, so it’s now or never for Freeman.

Wide Receivers

Doug Baldwin

He finished as WR117 this week. One-Hundred and Seventeen. I honest to god would not have thought 117 different WRs scored points in a given week. And that’s not counting the RBs and TEs who are catching passes. If you included them, Baldwin was probably like the 170th best pass catching option this week. He caught one pass for one yard. GTFO of here with that. I saw a blurb that said “Baldwin should have better games moving forward.” Uhh, yea I sure hope so. If he starts catching zero balls for negative yards I’m really going to be worried. If you drafted him, like I did, you probably hate yourself a little.

Alshon Jeffrey

Last week Jeffrey returned from his injury and put up a monster game. This dude was back. He had an immediate connection with Wentz and he looked great in the process. This week? Not so much. He probably tricked you into starting him, which is maddening. The good news is he saw eight targets. The bad news is he only caught two of them. If he continues to get that target share, he will be fine in the long run. No need to panic, but it’s OK to be a little pissed.

Tight Ends

Jordan Reed

This performance is inexcusable. I don’t even think this was Reed’s fault, as the entire Redskins offense was a nightmare, but good lord. One catch for 21 yards. Against a Saints’ defense that has been getting destroyed all year. It looked like the Skins were playing the ’85 Bears last night. Reed has to be the focal point of this offense. They do not consistently target receivers down the field, so if they also decide to not target one of the league’s best TEs, it’s going to be a long ass year. He has double digit fantasy points in the team’s two wins, and single digit fantasy points in the two loses. Throw him the damn ball.

Jared Cook

Coming into Week 5, Cook was the TE1 on the season. He proceeded to catch four passes for twenty yards. The Raiders are pretty much a train wreck, but Cook was one of the guys you could count on. Wrong. He’s apparently a boom or bust option. He will win you some and lose you some. If you don’t have one of the top TEs, you’re probably going to be forced to start Cook week in and week out. Honestly, you could do much worse, but it’s going to get frustrating at times.

Who let you down this week?