RADIO
Although it is only Week 2 of the NFL season, it is never too early to begin trying to spot and diagnose concerning trends for your top fantasy players. With that being said, it is important to remember that it is way too early to panic on any one player. Although you will have to make room for some of the top wire adds each week, don’t forget to practice patience and give your draft picks some time to settle in.
This article will be based largely on player performance (or lack thereof) sans additional circumstances such as injuries or missed games due to trades or suspensions that would obviously cause their production to suffer. For example, David Johnson going down and missing upwards of two months is a tough blow that has decimated fantasy teams everywhere. However, the damage his injury does is clear and not much additional analysis is needed.
Instead, this segment will focus on healthy players that are underperforming, with the rule of thumb being that no player will appear on this list more than three times throughout the season.
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Heed the Warning Signs
Andy Dalton (QB, CIN)
Andy Dalton had a Sunday for the ages. With four interceptions, no touchdowns, and a fumble, no matter what scoring format you play in you more than likely lost points if you started him. In his defense, he was going up against a Baltimore team that routinely features a solid defense, and they look to be very good again this year. That still doesn’t excuse Dalton’s performance though, as he looked out of sorts from the opening drive and became a non-factor early in the first quarter.
Fortunately, many fantasy owners that did draft Dalton have him on their bench as a back-up for bye weeks and injuries. It won’t hurt you to keep him stashed for now to see if the outlook gets any better. However, if you drafted him to be your guy this year, you might want to play the wire to see if you can get a better long-term solution for the year at your quarterback position. AJ Green and Tyler Eifert owners will be the true losers if Dalton’s ineptitude continues. Green is elite, and even in this abomination he still drew 10 targets and netted 76 yards. He will be fine this year, but his ceiling will be severely capped if Dalton doesn’t improve quickly. Eifert owners should be a bit more concerned right now though, as he only had one target for four yards despite the fact that the Bengals were playing from behind the whole game.
Jordan Howard (RB, CHI)
While the hype around Tarik Cohen might be just slightly overblown, he is the real deal and has definitely shown that he will be a necessary part of the Chicago Bears game plan every week. Remember what happened last year in the Bears’ backfield? Jeremy Langford was named the starter by the coaching staff before he went down in Week 2, and Jordan Howard took a hold of the featured role and never looked back. Is Howard a couple of missed games away from losing his starting spot? Probably not. He is certainly more talented than Langford, whose fall from grace has landed him on the Baltimore Ravens practice squad. Thankfully, Howard did look good with the work he got, and was able to put points on the board.
With that being said though, Cohen did get a lot of work and could very well force a timeshare at the very least. The worse-case scenario would be Cohen potentially out-snapping Howard at some point down the line. Howard still has the edge here for now, seeing 38 Week 1 snaps, while Cohen was nipping at his heels with 28. Howard saw more touches as well with 16 to Cohen’s 13, but he wasn’t nearly as productive, as the rookie racked up 113 all-purpose yards while Howard only managed half that with 66 yards. The Bears’ receiving core has been left barren with the departure of Alshon Jeffrey and both Cameron Meredith and Kevin White being placed on IR, so there should be enough volume for both of these RBs to produce. If you drafted Howard with a first or second round pick though, you might struggle to get that kind of value back from him this season, as he is seemingly trending towards RB1/RB2 status.
TY Hilton (WR, IND)
Although everyone knew that TY Hilton would struggle until Andrew Luck returned to the field, there’s nothing quite like watching an affirmation of what you already know to be true unfold in front of your eyes. Before this summer’s fantasy football drafts, we knew that Luck would be missing at least the first few weeks of the season, and Hilton’s ADP more or less reflected that. However, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports noted just last week that Luck isn’t yet at the “intensive throwing” stage in his rehab program, and it could be well in to October before he sees his first game action. From there, it will be a couple of more weeks before he is able to knock the rust off and get back in-sync with his receivers. Add it all up, and you could be missing out on the type of production that Hilton only seems able to manage with Luck for half of your fantasy season.
It is unclear who will be under center for the Colts in Week 2. Scott Tolzien’s performance against the St. Louis Rams was so poor and the team was being blown out so badly that he was replaced by Jacoby Brissett, who hadn’t even been with the team for a week. Either way, Hilton’s numbers will sag under the lack of quality quarterback play, and he will mostly be boom or bust week to week. The ceiling for his booms will be out of this world, but those games will be few and far between for at least another month.
Eric Ebron (TE, DET)
For years now we have all been saying “this is for sure the year that Eric Ebron puts it all together.” He very well could, and his performance against the Arizona Cardinals who were among the top three in defending the tight end position last season shouldn’t necessarily lead to immediate panic. Still, a nine yard, two catch game doesn’t inspire much confidence in this being his year, and the volume that he has enjoyed over the past few years could be threatened.
When you look at the weapons that the Detroit Lions have all over the field, the concern about Ebron’s production becomes real. Theo Riddick was already going to vulture work from Ebron across the middle, but if Ameer Abdullah stays healthy, that could be 10 passes a game at least going to the backfield. The emergence of Kenny Golladay is also a situation that needs to be monitored. As of right now, Golladay’s rookie season could go either way, but at the very least he could eat away at a few of the red zone looks that could have gone to Ebron on a weekly basis. And if Golladay does take off, it will allow Golden Tate to play to his strength and line up in the slot a lot more. This too could put a cap on Ebron’s opportunities. Ebron will hopefully be able to bounce back against a Giants defense that gave up 59 yards and a touchdown to Jason Witten Sunday night, but owners will want to keep a close eye on the wire over the next couple of weeks.
