Fantasy football stats: The worst of Week 8
Oh, was that a negative-six score from a quarterback? Sorry, Jets fans.
Al Bello
As great as some performances were Sunday -- Ben Roethlisberger, Arian Foster, Rob Gronkowski -- there were some real duds, and not only from the Jets quarterbacks. We saw some zeroes from guys who were in a lot of starting lineups, and some ones and twos that hurt as well.
The big news in the worst of the week, though, was the first entry we’ll get to. The single worst quarterback performance of the season:
Worst quarterbacks in Week 8
Geno Smith, NYJ (5 passing yards, 3 interceptions, -6 fantasy points)
That big up there, where it says "5" for Smith's passing yards? That's not a typo. Dude completed two passes to Jets Sunday, but three passes to Bills. He was benched for Michael Vick, who was terrible in his own right (four fumbles, three turnovers, six fantasy points), but looks like an oasis in the desert compared to the miserableness that was Geno Smith.
Next game: The Jets travel to the Chiefs next week. Rex Ryan hasn't even said who the team's quarterback will be for that game. Does it matter for fantasy? Even in two-quarterback leagues? I don't think it does.
Joe Flacco, BAL (195 passing yards, 2 interceptions, 12 rushing yards, 4 fantasy points)
It's fairly amazing the Ravens were able to put up 24 points Sunday with that stat line from Flacco and only 107 rushing yards as a team. Justin Tucker's leg and a pair of short Lorenzo Taliaferro rushing scores kept them in the game. Flacco now has two enormous fantasy games, two miserable ones and a lot of middling games. The good ones are the outliers.
Next game: The Ravens travel to the Steelers next week. Flacco had been slowly creeping up fantasy rankings in recent weeks, and while the number of byes might make him a reasonable desperation start, he's going to be slipping back down.
Cam Newton, CAR (171 passing yards, 1 interception, 24 rushing yards, 1 fumble lost, 4 fantasy points)
More and more, it's looking like that enormous Week 6 out of Cam Newton, when he had 33 fantasy points, is the exception, not the new reality. He now has barely 12 fantasy points a game outside of that dominant performance, and while he's running the ball a lot (12 carries Sunday), he's not doing so nearly as successfully as he once did.
Worst running backs in Week 8
Doug Martin, TB (27 rushing yards, -1 receiving yard, 2 fantasy points)
This might have been the last hurrah for the disappointing Martin. He got 10 carries Sunday and two targets. Bobby Rainey, meanwhile, got eight carries, but six targets in the passing game. Neither has been great, but Rainey has undeniably been better. And yes, Martin left Sunday with an apparent ankle injury, but the simple truth is there's no reason to invest much in Martin's season to this point. We'll see what happens, but Martin's stock can't drop much lower.
Next game: The Buccaneers travel to Cleveland in Week 9. The previously porous Cleveland run defense did hold the Raiders at bay Sunday, but still, whichever running back starts for Tampa Bay Sunday could be promising. Still, I don't know how you start Martin.
Anthony Dixon, BUF (44 rushing yards, 4 fantasy points)
Bryce Brown, BUF (15 rushing yards, 1 fantasy point)
We spent so much time all week debating which Buffalo running back fantasy owners should target in the wake of the C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson injuries. Turns out the answer, at least so far, was "neither." Dixon gained his 44 yards on 22 carries (I'll let you do the math), while Brown had only seven, so the team did lean on Dixon more. And the Jets do have a stout run defense. But still, with a Week 9 bye and the possibility of a Fred Jackson return after that, maybe just avoid these guys.
Next game: Like I said, Week 9 bye. Then the Bills host the Chiefs in Week 10. It’s too early to know for sure whether Jackson actually will be back then. If he is, say no to these guys. If he’s out again, sure, maybe you take a flyer, but it’d have to be really deep.
Zac Stacy, STL (17 rushing yards, 20 receiving yards, 3 fantasy points)
Benny Cunningham, STL (27 rushing yards, 8 receiving yards, 2 fantasy points)
Tre Mason, STL (32 rushing yards, 1 receiving yard, 3 fantasy points)
Everyone wanted Stacy in the preseason. Then Cunningham had a few moments that made us interested in him. The last couple weeks, it’s been Mason who had everyone’s hearts aflutter. But for now, the answer in St. Louis is just “Oh God, stay away.” Mason had eight carries plus targets Sunday. Cunningham had five. Stacy had nine. Until something shakes out and someone starts performing, you can’t use any of these guys with anything remotely resembling confidence.
Worst wide receivers in Week 8
Michael Floyd, ARI (0 receiving yards, 0 fantasy points)
Well, Floyd was targeted four times Sunday, so if you're in a points-for-targets league, he ... still had an awful game. The Cardinals just looked to Larry Fitzgerald and John Brown Sunday, leaving Floyd out in the cold. (He was out for a few plays with an injury, but he wasn't getting anything outside of that.) It's like the Cardinals have a maximum number of receivers they can throw to each week, and this was Floyd's week off.
Next game: The Cardinals play the Cowboys in Week 9. Floyd's production bounces around enough that he'll still be a WR2 or a flex play, but this was deflating.
Torrey Smith, BAL (0 receiving yards, 0 fantasy points)
Unlike Floyd, who got four targets, Smith got only two. He did leave the game for a bit to be checked for a concussion, but ultimately, the team just didn’t go his way much. Fantasy owners who had invested in Smith after four touchdowns in the previous four games had to have really suffered through Sunday, but this is who Smith is at this point: high ceiling, but super-low floor, and little predictability as to which of those will show in a given game.
Next game: The Ravens play the Steelers in Week 9. If you invested in Smith before Sunday, keep investing, because part of that investment included games like that. Grin and bear it.
Wes Welker, DEN (5 receiving yards, 0 fantasy points)
This probably caps Welker’s eligibility for this column, as it’s reserved for bad performances from guys who actually might have done something, and it’s looking less and less like Welker has his previously strong performances still in his arsenal. He’s been targeted only six times in the last three games combined, and he has two games of fewer than 10 yards this season.
Next game: The Broncos travel to New England next Sunday. If there is any game in which Welker might be expected to produce, it would be that one, a reunion/revenge game. You'd have to buy into the soft factors to invest in Welker in Week 9, but I can see the argument.
Worst tight ends in Week 8
Charles Clay, MIA (1 receiving yard, 0 fantasy points)
People re-invested in Clay after his 11-point week 7, but he fell below even his previously bad standards Sunday, with one catch on three targets and only one yard Sunday. Just cut ties. There’s so little upside.
Greg Olsen, CAR (16 receiving yards, 1 fantasy point)
The Seahawks really amped up their defensive performance for Sunday, after a season of disappointments, and it worked wonders on Olsen. The Panthers' tight end had only put up fewer than seven fantasy points once all season before Sunday, averaging 11 points a game. But he couldn't get open Sunday, with only one catch and three targets.
Next game: The Panthers host the Saints in Week 9. Olsen will be right back near the top of the tight-end rankings.
Julius Thomas, DEN (23 receiving yards, 2 fantasy points)
That’s now consecutive bad games for Thomas, after his “It’s too easy” stretch to start the season. His targets have held basically steady -- he averaged just under six a game while he was hot, and has had six each in his last two -- and his yardage hasn’t fallen too far off, but he just isn’t scoring the touchdowns he had been early on. Thomas’ upside keeps him near the very top of the position rankings, but he’s no longer far and away the position’s best.
Next game: Broncos and Patriots in New England. If you have Thomas, you're using Thomas.
Worst defense/special teams in Week 8
Chicago Bears (51 points allowed, -9 fantasy points)
The Chicago defense had actually looked not-half-bad most of the year. The unit had averaged almost seven points a game, had three with double-digit production and only one game in the negatives. It wasn’t elite, but it was passable. And then the Bears ran into the Patriots Sunday, and everything that could have fallen apart did. Hard times in Chicago right now.
