We are at the quarter point of the NFL season, and some strong lines have already been drawn in the sand about which fantasy football players are starters, and which ones are stinking up the joint.
It’s time to stop letting these guys waste space on your fantasy roster — let alone keep starting them in your lineups.
Here are eight players it’s time to break up with.
Matthew Stafford, quarterback, Detroit Lions
The Lions aren’t the only ones losing with Stafford on their team.
Stafford currently ranks 26th in fantasy points, which has him sitting lower than some quarterbacks who haven’t even played in all four games.
It’s quite concerning to see other quarterbacks such as Jameis Winston, Blake Bortles and even Colin Kaepernick ranking higher than Stafford at this point in the season. With the way the Lions are playing, they’re just not staying on the field long enough to get within scoring range, which is why Stafford is tanking your fantasy team.
Stafford has no business being in anybody’s starting lineup, let alone sitting on the bench as a backup quarterback. Surely there are other options available on the waiver wire such as Ryan Fitzpatrick, or even Kirk Cousins, who sits eight ranks above Stafford.
Rid yourself of Stafford, because he is not miraculously going to become a top-10 fantasy quarterback in the foreseeable future. The issues run deep in Detroit.
T.Y. Hilton, wide receiver, Indianapolis Colts
Hilton is just not getting the love his fantasy owners are used to seeing this season.
Unfortunately, he has been playing with a turnover-prone and now injured Andrew Luck and an older backup quarterback in Matt Hasselbeck. At this point, Hilton has yet to score a touchdown or cross the 100-yard threshold in five games.
Hilton’s value has declined. He is averaging only 7.64 fantasy points (standard scoring) per game, and worse still is also catching only 54 percent of his targets. And, while Hilton is missing catches, the other Colts receivers are scoring all of the touchdowns. Donte Moncrief has three touchdowns, and suddenly the Colts remembered Andre Johnson is part of the team, and after Thursday night now has two scores.
Hilton is still a name brand receiver who could turn things around when Luck returns and gets with the program. However, the Colts face four teams that are currently undefeated in the next five weeks.
There is still trade potential for Hilton for someone who has the patience to wait.
DeMarco Murray, running back, Philadelphia Eagles
Murray is evolving into a very frustrating first or second overall draft pick, and it’s preposterous that we even have to contemplate starting or sitting him at this point.
Those who went the Murray route are lamenting the decision in a big way. We can cut him a break for the week he missed due to injury, but we simply cannot ignore how pathetically he has performed so far this season. The Eagles have the fourth-worst rushing offense in the NFL, featuring last season’s top rusher.
Nothing is adding up in this equation. Murray has only 47 rushing yards trekking around at a sluggish rate of 1.6 yards per attempt. The only thing saving him from being shipped off to waiver-wire land or in a trade are his two touchdowns. Additionally, Murray is stuck in a three-headed running back committee that might not change anytime soon.
If you’re in need of improvement at another position, somebody out there might be willing to take the troublesome running back off your hands, but don’t expect much in return.
San Francisco 49ers wide receivers
The San Francisco 49ers are the lowest scoring team in the NFL. Even worse is that since Week 1, the team has only scored 9.3 points per game.
This means your 49ers fantasy receivers are wasting away, hopefully on your bench by this point. Currently, Torrey Smith ranks 45th in fantasy points with only 185 yards and one touchdown, scored back in Week 2. To date, he only has nine catches resulting from 15 targets over four weeks.
Let’s just compare this to DeAndre Hopkins who has averaged 15 targets per game this season.
And, forget about Anquan Boldin, who has tallied only 124 yards and one touchdown, ranking 55th in wide receiver fantasy points.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick hasn’t thrown a touchdown in two games and the only one he did score since was on his feet. He isn’t going to magically transform into Aaron Rodgers any time this season.
Therefore, other than a rare spike in production here or there, it’s a major waste of space rostering any 49ers receiver with how poorly Kap is performing.
Jimmy Graham, tight end, Seattle Seahawks
As many speculated when Graham got shipped off to the Seattle Seahawks, his fantasy value has disappeared along the way.
Currently, Graham ranks 11th in tight end fantasy points and is awarding a depressing average of 7.35 points per week, according to standard scoring systems. Hopefully most who drafted Graham at least waited until a later round to grab him, assuming his value would decline in Seattle.
Unfortunately, it appears that Graham will have up and down weeks depending on how the Seahawks want to use him according to the team’s offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell:
“There’s times he’s the number one guy, times he’s the number three guy, times that we’ve got him on the far side, we don’t even want him involved in it. We’re moving the ball around. We’re not just going to sit here and throw him 5,000 balls. He’s in our thoughts.”
And, Graham is in our memories as a former stud fantasy football player. Sadly, the Seahawks don’t care if Graham is messing up your fantasy team.
Perhaps a trade could be struck if you have another tight end who’s putting up decent numbers.
Emmanuel Sanders, wide receiver, Denver Broncos
For the past three seasons, the Denver Broncos’ two top wide receivers have finished the year ranked within the top 10. Unfortunately, this is nowhere near the situation so far in 2015.
Since someone replaced Peyton Manning’s throwing arm with a piece of spaghetti, Emmanuel Sanders ranks 18th and Demaryius Thomas sits at 22nd in fantasy points. While Sanders has more fantasy points, he has less targets (41) than Thomas (50). Thomas has more catches also, making him more valuable in PPR scoring formats.
The bottom line is the Broncos are not scoring through the air nearly as much as in year’s past. Manning has thrown only six touchdowns this season which puts him on pace to finish the season with only 24 touchdowns if he remains on this course. Therefore, Sanders’ production has declined and the Broncos are winning games primarily due to their tremendous defense shutting down the competition.
Trade Sanders to a teammate who is a die-hard Broncos fan while the going is good.
Alfred Morris, running back, Washington Redskins
Morris has gotten lost in the abyss of a dreaded running back committee, and he has only one week where he posted over 100 rushing yards. Worse yet is that he has failed to score a touchdown.
Matt Jones and Chris Thompson are cramping Morris’ style and his fantasy owners are paying for it. In standard scoring leagues, Jones ranks 28th in fantasy points compared to Morris’ 34th ranking.
It’s a shame Morris ranks where he does considering Washington’s offense leads the league in rushing yards and has averaged 139.5 per game. Perhaps there is a taker out there for Morris to whom you can pimp this stat.
Kyle Rudolph, tight end, Minnesota Vikings
Rudolph has not posted squat in two weeks. For those duped into the idea that a healthy Rudolph would breakout with Teddy Bridgewater under center, you bought into the purple Kool Aid.
The Vikings rank 31st in passing and the team is plenty happy handing the ball off to running back Adrian Peterson, rather than attempting to beef up their passing stats. Thus far, Rudolph has only one lone touchdown and 104 receiving yards stemming from 14 catches. The Vikings have a smooth rhythm flowing, so for those waiting around for Rudolph to breakout, it’s not going to happen.
The only place Rudolph should be seen is on the waiver wire.