Hot names don’t always lead to fantasy football championships.
For those waiting for the of the preseason to finish out before drafting in your fantasy football league, here are five guys bound to bring your team down this season.
Carlos Hyde, running back San Francisco 49ers
Hyde faces a legitimate threat to his fantasy production with pass-catching running back Reggie Bush in the picture. Additionally, the team has running backs Kendall Hunter, Mike Davis and Jarryd Hayne who could steal some of the carries the season.
Also not boding well for Hyde’s outlook is the fact that the 49ers are in transition after losing prominent offensive linemen right and left this the offseason. They’re a team who could also be playing from behind practically all season long which means they won’t have the luxury of handing off the ball to Hyde as much as his fantasy owners would like to see this season.
Steer clear of the hyped-up Hyde train because a wreck waits ahead.
Nick Foles, quarterback, St. Louis Rams
If you’re looking for a quarterback to target a quarterback late and think Foles may be a decent fantasy option, think again. Foles was traded from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Rams—a team that features a dark abyss of fantasy wide receivers that nobody even owned on their teams last year. The best of the bunch was Kenny Britt who ranked 51st in wide receiver fantasy points.
To top things off, Foles landed with a team that runs the ball more than it passes. When running back Todd Gurley returns to health, he’ll be a power house teamed up with Tre Mason to lead the Rams offense in fantasy scoring.
Foles, who had 10 interceptions and only 13 touchdowns in the 12 games he played last year, couldn’t even get it together last year when he had Philly’s awesome receivers in place. Imagine what is in store for this season.
Sammy Watkins, wide receiver, Buffalo Bills
Watkins would be a fabulous fantasy option if he had been drafted by a different team. Just imagine Watkins catching passes from Andrew Luck or Drew Brees. Now, come back to reality. Watkins is surrounded by quarterback doom once again this season.
He was fortunate enough to churn out some WR3 fantasy numbers last season playing under Kyle Orton who was better than then the best of any of the Bills current quarterback options in Tyrod Taylor, Matt Cassel and E.J. Manuel. Last season Watkins totaled 982 receiving yards and six touchdowns. He won’t get close to that this season.
I’ll bet if Watkins played fantasy football, and maybe he does, he wouldn’t even draft himself.
Kyle Rudolph, tight end, Minnesota Vikings
It’s been two seasons now that Rudolph has been talked up as a potential breakout player under offensive coordinator Norv Turner. And, what has Rudolph done since other than get injured? For the past two seasons Rudolph has only played in 17 games where he totaled 544 yards and five touchdowns. The math is awful along with the fantasy football points he produced.
This year won’t be any different. Drafting Rudolph will be like re-watching a bad re-run which ends the same way each time. Even though the tight end position doesn’t offer much depth after the top five or so guys go, don’t trust Rudolph to help your fantasy team.
Cam Newton, quarterback, Carolina Panthers
Any shred of fantasy hope that Newton had when out the window when the Panthers lost their second-year wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin for the season. Sure Newton has his trusty tight end Greg Olsen, but he can’t catch everything.
Newton was scary at times last year with his misfires that would seem to fly about 20 feet over the head of Benjamin, who stands 6-foot-5. This caused his pass percentage rate to plummet to 58.5 percent last season. The reason Benjamin produced decently under Newton was because he was able to catch some long passes and he scored nine touchdowns. However, Newton only connected with Benjamin on 73 of 145 attempts. That’s downright awful.
Newton will have his rookie Devin Funchess filling in for Benjamin. However, he is not nearly the caliber of player that Benjamin was last year. Funchess struggled in his final year at Michigan and only had four touchdowns.
None of the above information helps Newton’s fantasy outlook for this season.