Every fantasy season, we’re all victim to a few players who dramatically underachieve and wind up torpedoing our fantasy seasons. If we’re lucky, our teams will only have one or two of these fantasy busts but sometimes fantasy owners are not that lucky. Hypothetically, if you happened to be the most unlucky fantasy player possible in 2015, what would your starting roster have looked like? I decided to conduct a one-team draft find the 2015 fantasy football bust team.
I took the Average Draft Position (ADP) of every player in fantasy football drafts according to MyFantasyLeague.com and selected a player from each of the first seven rounds to make a starting lineup of fantasy busts from the 2015 season. The starting lineup consists of one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, and one flex position. No bench players were drafted for purposes of this article. There is room for variation on the round selected because players might have a different ADP depending on the site, but all of the below selections were kept within a round of their ADP. In summary, one player per round for seven rounds were selected to arrive at the starting lineup for the 2015 fantasy football bust team.
So without further ado, let the 2015 fantasy football bust team draft begin!
2015 NFL Fantasy Football Bust Team
First-Round
Eddie Lacy, RB, Green Bay Packers
Eddie Lacy was highly touted as a top fantasy back after coming off of his sixth-place finish in standard scoring in 2014. By tallying 1,139 yards on the ground and another 427 through the air, Lacy displayed his ability to be heavily involved in one of the NFL’s highest powered offenses. In 2014, Lacy started off slow in weeks one through four, and didn’t break 100 total yards until Week five. In his last 12 games of the season however, the former Alabama Crimson Tide back was a force to be reckoned with as he broke the 100-yard mark in 10 of those games. Because of this impressive stretch at the end of 2014, Lacy’s stock was sky-high coming into 2015. His ADP was third overall, but he never came close to living up to the expectations that came with the third selection. Whether the cause of his downfall was due to extra weight, a poor offensive line, Jordy Nelson’s absence, or a lack of talent, Lacy rushed for only 758 yards and added only 188 yards through the air. A natural touchdown regression took place as well and Lacy scored only five touchdowns in 2015 after scoring 13 in 2014. If you selected Eddie Lacy with your first-round pick (like I did in one league), you were extremely disappointed. I’d expect Lacy to improve in 2016, but you won’t find him in my top 10 RB ranks for 2016.
Second-Round
Dez Bryant, WR, Dallas Cowboys
The title of “bust” is a little bit unfair for this selection because Dez Bryant’s lack of performance wasn’t really his fault. Bryant suffered a Jones fracture in his foot in Week one and battled the injury for the rest of the season. On top of that, quarterback Tony Romo broke his collarbone not once, but twice. Even if Bryant had been healthy, I doubt his production would’ve approached what it was the previous season. In 2014, the former Oklahoma State Cowboy finished fourth among wide receivers in standard scoring. He plucked a league-leading 16 touchdowns and gathered 1,320 receiving yards. It was reasonable to assume that Bryant’s ridiculous touchdown numbers would come down in 2015, but not as far as they did. Bryant had 401 yards and only three touchdowns in nine games in 2015, and saw only about a third of the targets he did in 2014. With a healthy foot and quarterback in 2016, I expect Dez Bryant to return to the top five at the wide receiver position.
Third-Round
Jimmy Graham, TE, Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks traded Max Unger and a first-round pick to the New Orleans Saints and acquired Jimmy Graham and a fourth rounder just before the 2015 NFL draft. At the time, this seemed like a move to improve the Seahawks passing game that lacked a star pass catcher. During his time with the Saints, fantasy owners had known Graham as one of the most reliable tight end options in the league. In fact, from 2011 to 2014, Graham’s worst fantasy finish was third, which came in 2014 when he caught 85 passes for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns. Given Graham’s track record in New Orleans, it was easy to think that his success would continue in Seattle. However, there were a few unforeseen hiccups. While Graham was on the field, he seemed to not fit into the offense at times. He continuously displayed that he lacked anything resembling blocking skills. Although he did come close to matching his previous season’s yardage total in just 11 games, tallying 605 yards, he caught only 2 touchdowns. I will admit that 11 games isn’t the ideal sample size to judge Graham’s fit in Seattle, but his season came to a close when he tore his patellar tendon in week 12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. This gruesome injury is a tough one to come back from. Just ask Victor Cruz. I don’t anticipate Graham playing early (or possibly not at all) in 2016, and certainly don’t see him cracking the top 10 at his position.
Fourth-Round
Peyton Manning, QB, Denver Broncos
Fantasy football fans may find it difficult to recall that Peyton Manning finished with a third overall ranking among quarterbacks in 2014, possibly due to the “dead arm” accusations that came up in the playoffs when Manning began to look like a shell of his former self. That trend continued on into the 2015 season. Manning actually had a stellar 2014 when he threw for 4,727 yards and 39 touchdowns, and an even better 2013 where he tossed 55 touchdowns and 5,477 yards (both single season records). But 2015 was an entirely different story. To say the former Tennessee Volunteer struggled this past season would be an incredible understatement. Manning tallied 2,249 yards and a mere nine touchdowns while throwing 17 interceptions, and the elder Manning brother was beaten up all season long. Manning did miss time when he tore his plantar fascia and was held out of action in Weeks 10 through 16. “The Sheriff” did return at the end of the week 17 game in San Diego before taking over the offense again full-time in the playoffs. Peyton finally got his second ring and I would fully expect him to retire at some point this offseason. Even if he decides to play another year, Manning will not be ownable in one-quarterback leagues in 2017 no matter what team he plays for.
Fifth-Round
Andre Johnson, WR, Indianapolis Colts
Remember Andre Johnson? Me either. Johnson was drafted in the fifth-round of fantasy drafts on average in 2015 and for some good reasons. He was joining the up-and-coming Indianapolis Colts, fresh off of an AFC Championship appearance. The Colts seemed to need a receiver opposite their only big receiving threat, T.Y. Hilton. The former Houston Texan was approaching the twilight of his career, but it seemed plausible that he had enough left in the tank to produce at a decent fantasy level. But it just wasn’t in the cards for Johnson or the Colts in 2015 as they struggled right out of the gate. The former Miami Hurricane totaled just 503 yards and four touchdowns on 31 catches in 2015. If the Colts return to their 2014 form in 2016, Johnson could possibly be useful in fantasy, but he probably isn’t worth more than a late-round pick in 2016.
Sixth-Round
Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay Packers
Davante Adams’ stock received a big hike when fellow Green Bay wideout, Jordy Nelson, tore his ACL in the preseason. Adams had flashed some skill in his rookie campaign with the Pack in 2014, and it was assumed he would be the logical beneficiary, at least number wise, of Nelson’s absence. Adams’ fantasy stock was plagued by drops and the worst season of quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ career. He toyed with fantasy owners’ hearts in that if the Packers’ offense began to break out, Adams would immediately become fantasy relevant. Because of this, it was difficult to drop him in deep leagues. Adams never did break out though, as he finished with only 50 catches in 13 games for 483 yards and one touchdown. I think you could probably take a late-flier on Adams in 2016 in case a Green Bay receiver goes down again, but temper your expectations.
Seventh-Round (and final pick)
C.J. Spiller, RB, Saints
While a member of the Buffalo Bills, C.J. Spiller displayed the skills it takes to succeed in the NFL. Spiller battled numerous injuries and couldn’t seem to catch a break and a change of scenery seemed imminent. The former Clemson Tiger signed with the Saints before the 2015 season, which seemed like a perfect fit. Spiller is a pass-catching back who finally found himself in an offense that loves to throw it to the running back out of the backfield. In fact, in 2014, Travaris Cadet and Pierre Thomas combined for 928 total yards in the Saints offense. It doesn’t take an NFL scout’s eye to identify that Spiller is clearly more talented than both Cadet and Thomas, so it was reasonable to think the former Buffalo Bill would have success in 2015. However, Spiller struggled in his limited touches and was phased out by the end of the season. Mark Ingram was more involved in the passing game than he had been in previous years, and even though Saints running backs kept getting injured, Spiller still didn’t see an increase in touches. Spiller never had more than 10 touches in a game, and only broke 100 total yards once. He had 109 yards against the Cowboys in a game that saw Spiller score on an 80 yard pass from Drew Brees on the second play of overtime. There are just too many running backs involved in New Orleans and the coaching staff had every opportunity to give Spiller more touches down the stretch of the season and still didn’t give him the rock. Spiller will probably be owned in fantasy leagues in 2016, just not by me.
That concludes the inaugural draft. Below is your 2015 fantasy football bust team:
QB- Peyton Manning; Round 4
RB- Eddie Lacy; Round 1
RB- C.J. Spiller; Round 7
WR- Dez Bryant; Round 2
WR- Andre Johnson; Round 5
TE- Jimmy Graham; Round 3
Flex- Davante Adams, WR; Round 6
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