We all tend to rationalize our picks and stick with poor performers way too long until they eventually tank our Fantasy season. We get that the players play to win and don’t really care about Fantasy stats, but we do. Quick decisions, picking up players that are doing well, and leaving players behind that had good Fantasy seasons in 2017 but no longer perform, win Fantasy leagues.
Good fantasy players are easy to identify. They have many Fantasy points. Bad players could come in various shapes and sizes. Maybe they are scoring points, but not at a first-round level, maybe not at that RB1 or WR1 level that we expect, or performing consistent what you paid in the auction.
With that criterion, here are the 5 Worst Fantasy Players of the season so far.
Matthew Stafford
Just on principle, I really wanted to pick Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady as the worst fantasy quarterback of the year so far. However, the numbers are what the numbers are. Rodgers has 81.02 points, Brady has 93.38, but Matthew Stafford has 65.74. Stafford is the QB24 right now and, with the high flying Rams offense, that was not what anybody expected.
Stafford is behind Justin Fields, Tua (who has been out for almost three games), Jimmy Garoppolo (who didn’t start the first two games), Jacoby Brissett, Matt Ryan, Jared Goff (Goff must have a smile a mile wide about that), Marcus Mariota, Carson Wentz (whose own coach doesn’t really like him), Trevor Lawrence, and Geno Smith. Basically, any quarterback that has played six games has been better and many quarterbacks that haven’t played six games have been better.
Blame the running game, Allen Robinson, or whoever you want to blame, but Stafford has two games under 10 points, 2 games at 10 points, and his season high is 18.98. I rode Stafford in my NFL Playoffs fantasy league last year so I know what he can do.
It is not without hope. Stafford is seventh in passing yards, but the six touchdowns has him, well, very low in the league and the eight interception leads the league.
Najee Harris
Harris was definitely a first-round pick in many leagues. Sure, he wasn’t that efficient last year either, but he got the rock a lot. He had almost five receptions every game and totaled 74 receptions (he is on pace for about 33 receptions this year) for the season. And this year, he is RB22 in a season where he has played every game and is basically the full-time back. Kareem Hunt (who plays behind Nick Chubb), Khalil Herbert (who only started two games), and Jamaal Williams (who had a bye week) are all ahead of Harris.
Harris has two games under 10 points (really around 6 and 7 points) and a high of 13.9 points. Good matchup or bad matchup, Harris has been bad. He has a high of 74 yards and is averaging around 2 receptions a game, with a high of 5 and a low of 0.
Many Fantasy managers are down on their running backs, especially James Robinson, David Montgomery, Cordarrelle Patterson, Alvin Kamara, anybody on the Rams, Deandre Swift, and James Connor. But none more so than Harris.
Ja’Marr Chase
On the surface, you have to ask how Ja’Marr Chase would wind up on a list like this. After all, he is the RB6. However, most Fantasy Managers probably selected Chase in the first or, at the most, second round. If you have Chase on your team, you know why he is on this list. In Week 1, he scored 28.9 points. In Week 6, he scored 32.2 points. In between, he bounced between 10 and 12 points. Definitely what you expect from Corey Davis, Christian Kirk, Gabe Davis, and Brandon Aiyuk. All good players, but they aren’t Jamaar Chase.
I am huge Chase fan, but this is about expectations and his floor is just too low for this season. That could all change in the upcoming weeks.
George Kittle
It isn’t easy to blame tight ends for good or bad performances because expectations start so low. Except for Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews we don’t expect much from anyone else. Except for George Kittle and TJ Hockenson. We counted on these guys to produce. Probably more so for Kittle than Hockenson. We drafted Kittle in line with some top receivers. Yes, he was hurt for a couple of games and we don’t blame him. Kittle sits at TE24 with one game below 8, one game below 7, and one game below 5. He had a solid performance against Atlanta last week so hopefully things are turning around, but we aren’t used to seeing George Kittle in Week 7 with no touchdowns.
James Connor
The Fantasy running back space is littered with players performing under expectations and Connor is one of them. Last year, Connor finished with 18 total touchdowns. This year, he is on track for a little more than 4. In fact, he hasn’t scored since Week 1. Since Week 1, he has had only one 10-point game, one game under 9, and two games under 8. Connor probably wasn’t a first round pick this year, but he definitely wasn’t thought of as the RB39, even with a sitting a game due to injury.
