Fantasy Football: The Biggest Disappointments of 2014

Sep 28, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles (9) with running back LeSean McCoy (25) before a play against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter at Levi

Before the season starts, we are all experts when it comes to fantasy football. We are pulling predictions and projections out of places we had no business looking for them in the first place. We pretend, for some reason, that the NFL is this predictable entity that just repeats itself each year like clockwork.

How’s that working out in 2014?

We all made some pretty big goofs this summer when trying to rank the players according to what we thought their value would be. Let us now take a look at how some of those goofs are turning out by naming the most disappointing players at each position so far in 2014.

QUARTERBACK

Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles — Foles was always going to be a risk/reward type of pick this season. That said, Chip Kelly’s offense alone was enough for us to think Foles could be a top ten quarterback in fantasy so long as everyone was healthy. That just hasn’t been the case this season. At the end of August, Foles had an average draft position of 8th among quarterbacks in all leagues. He was going ahead of Jay Cutler, Philip Rivers and Russell Wilson. Ouch.

RUNNING BACK 

LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles — Easy call here, as McCoy was the consensus top pick in most leagues right up to the start of the season. You probably got laughed at if you didn’t take him with the top pick in your league. The sad fact of the matter is, through the first third of the season, you would have been better off had you drafted Trent Richardson with the first pick.

WIDE RECEIVER

Vincent Jackson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Nobody expected Jackson to be the top guy at the position, but his ADP as the season began was 13th among receivers, meaning was all had him as a solid starter in most leagues. So far, Jackson has been anything but. We were blinded by the thought of Josh McCown tossing to ball to a bunch of oversized targets, not really taking into account the change in scheme and scenery for McCown. At this point, Devin Hester would have been a better pick.

TIGHT END

Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys —  The Cowboys are having a nice year, but Witten most certainly is not. Witten was being taken in fantasy drafts as the No. 6 tight end as the season began. Maybe it’s his age. Maybe it’s a change in offensive philosophy. Whatever the case, Witten is nowhere near the elite tight end he has been and we thought he would be. A better option would have been Daniel Fells, the No. 2 tight end on the Giants.

KICKER

Mason Crosby, Green Bay Packers — Crosby’s ADP to start the season was No. 4 among all kickers. Kickers aren’t a big deal, right? Well, think of it this way: Dan Bailey’s ADP was No. 5 to start the year. He has netted his owners four more points per outing than Crosby has for his owners. I don’t know about you, but I’d love four extra points on the scoreboard each week.

DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS

Seattle Seahawks — Seattle was the consensus first defense taken in terms of ADP. They were being drafted roughly 25 spots ahead of the next defense taken off the board. The Eagles, who are currently the best defense in traditional fantasy leagues, average three times as many points per game as the Seahawks in 2014. The Bears D/ST, who were taken on average 70 picks later, would have given you two more points per game each week.