Last week, I led with positivity, doling out hardware to Raheem Mostert, Sam LaPorta, and others during my fantasy football award show, but this week, I turned to the negative while people were celebrating Christmas and a New Year.
Of course. What a Grinch.
Without further ado, here are my fantasy football busts of the 2023 season by position.
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Quarterback
Biggest Bust: Deshaun Watson
Runner-Up: Kenny Pickett
Major Injuries: Aaron Rodgers, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Kirk Cousins and Anthony Richardson
People actually thought Deshaun Watson would bounce back, huh? I wasn’t on that bandwagon. Nonetheless, a lot of fantasy pundits had Watson as a potential high-upside play this season.
Instead, it was more of the same in Cleveland for Watson: underwhelming performances, nagging injuries, and a total lack of leadership for his franchise. Watson was an absolute disaster from start to finish, so much so that Joe Flacco outproduced his entire season in about three games. Yet and still, credit head coach Kevin Stefanski for pushing through and leading the Browns to an impressive 10-5 record, regardless.
As for Pickett, well… he was supposed to be a solid play in Superflex, wasn’t he? Instead, Pickett was just plain awful throughout, letting former OC Matt Canada take the fall while he played high school-level ball at the quarterback position.
Similar to Flacco in Cleveland, Mason Rudolph came in for Mike Tomlin’s squad and basically outshined Pickett’s entire season in one game. I do NOT think Pickett has the processing ability to be a starter in this league going forward.
Running Back
Biggest Bust: Austin Ekeler
Runner-Up: Miles Sanders
We felt very comfortable about Ekeler and Christian McCaffrey heading into the season, but obviously, only one of those top options worked out. And it wasn’t Ekeler. We expected dump-downs galore from Justin Herbert. Instead, it was Keenan Allen working as maybe the busiest man alive. To make matters worse, Ekeler clearly lost a step in his pure rushing attack. He was plodding around in slow motion, forcing former head coach Brandon Staley to take looks at Josh Kelley and Isaiah Spiller at times. Ekeler looks pretty washed in the end.
As for Sanders, Philly made all the difference in the world, didn’t it? Sanders goes to the disaster in Carolina with Frank Reich and Bryce Young, and suddenly, he doesn’t even know how to play football. Sure, we expected a drop-off in production due to the change of scenery, but nothing THIS bad. Sanders got played out of his own backfield by Chuba Hubbard, who isn’t a particularly good football player. Ekeler and Sanders were team killers at ADP.
Wide Receiver
Biggest Bust: Christian Watson
Runner-Up: Jerry Jeudy
Sure, we can blame injuries some with Watson, but didn’t we expect that going in, anyway? I was shocked to see Watson consistently going at the top of tier 2 wide receivers, coming into uncertainty with Jordan Love and questions about his own durability and dependability. Not surprisingly, Watson was a total flop, finishing behind no-names and afterthoughts like KJ Osborn, Josh Reynolds and Tutu Atwell.
As for Jeudy, well, what did Rachel McAdams say in Mean Girls? Just stop trying to make FETCH happen! It’s never going to happen! And that certainly seems to be the case with Jeudy, a guy who checks all the boxes of The Eye Test but simply cannot make production happen, no matter who the coach or quarterback is. Maybe a change of scenery will help him in the future, but I think it’s more likely that he’ll puzzle and frustrate people no matter where he goes.
Tight End
Biggest Bust: Darren Waller
Runner-Up: Mike Gesicki
People thought the change of scenery would spark Waller’s fading career. Instead it was more of the same: Injuries and fleeting production, at best. Waller looked banged up and a step slow awfully early in the year and never turned the corner in health or production. The Giants have had to deal with Daniel Jones, Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito at quarterback, and none of those options have worked out particularly well for Waller’s fantasy shareholders.
They tried to sell us on Gesicki again, didn’t they! Well, some people got duped, thinking Bill Belichick could ‘unlock’ something in the naturally talented tight end. Instead, Hunter Henry outproduced him early and often, relegating Gesicki to the background he’s apparently comfortable in. He wouldn’t be a leading man in Hollywood, maybe a stuntman at best.
I’ll see ya right back here next week!
