Fantasy Football 2023: Fantasy Panic, Part 1

The NFL season is already a quarter of the way through! And each week fantasy football players are met with difficult decisions on who to start, sit, drop, and trade. There have been some monster games from players and outrageous scores from certain teams. Then, there is the flip side of fantasy; those who are not living up to their draft capital. Is it time to have a fantasy panic attack on the underperforming players?

So who are the two players we’re actively panicking about? And are they worthy of a fantasy panic going into Week 5?

Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals

At this point in the season, Joe Burrow is a top pick for a fantasy panic. He is sitting at QB31 through four weeks. If you have watched the Bengals “play” football this season, you’d know Burrow doesn’t look like himself. His training camp injury is obviously still affecting him. But so far, he has played nearly 100% of snaps – aside from being benched at the end of the first game against the Browns. And those snaps haven’t looked good at all.

Fantasy PPR totals in 2023:

• Week 1 – 3.2
• Week 2 – 16.4
• Week 3 – 9.2
• Week 4 – 4.7

Burrow has completed only 57% of his passes, which is 40th among all QBs who have played a snap this season. He has 151 total passing attempts, which is 4th, only behind Matthew Stafford, Kirk Cousins, and CJ Stroud. And while Burrow is at QB31, the rest are in the top 20 in fantasy football. He’s throwing the ball a ton, missing wide receivers, and only throwing for two touchdowns once.

One of Burrow’s best assets is his ability to run. Through four weeks in 2022, he had 79 total rushing yards. So far this season, he has three rushing yards. Just three. For someone who was drafted to be a top 5 QB for fantasy football, Burrow is essentially failing.

Is it time to panic?

Yes. The Cincinnati Bengals haven’t looked like the same Super Bowl-caliber team. Burrow looks injured and playing scared, unable to use his legs to the best of his ability. The entire offense has looked stagnant and broken. Until Burrow is healthy and the offense starts to right the ship, Burrow is definitely riding the bench in most fantasy leagues.

Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers

Aaron Jones is an interesting case. He has been a staple for fantasy managers over the past several years, especially since he was attached to Aaron Rodgers and a great Green Bay offense. He is now tied to Jordan Love, who has looked decent for fantasy through four weeks so far.

Fantasy PPR totals in 2023:

• Week 1 – 26.7
• Week 2 – 0 (injury)
• Week 3 – 0 (injury)
• Week 4 – 2.4

Jones came out in Week 1 full of life, and scored a bunch of fantasy points in everyone’s starting lineups. Then he suffered a hamstring injury at the end of the game, and missed Weeks 2 and 3. Once he came back for Week 4, he was on a snap count and did not look like himself.

If we take out the two games because of an injury that he missed, Jones still hasn’t had the best fantasy output. What catapulted Jones to RB1 in Week 1 were his two touchdowns and massive yardage on 2 receptions. On the ground though, he went 9/41. Then, in Week 4, he played 35% of snaps, with only 5 attempts for 18 yards.

Now, how much of this is because of the injury? And how much of this is because of the new offensive scheme? And how much is this because of Jones’ age?

Is it time to panic?

Not quite. Jones has a nice upcoming matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders and then has a bye. During that time he should be able to get healthy and come back to play Denver. The Broncos, who have one of the worst-rated running defenses currently in the NFL after their Week 3 loss to the Dolphins. Jones is still the RB1 on the team, with very little pressure from his backup, AJ Dillon. Hold onto him to see how he fares after the bye week.

Next week we will check in on two more players that have us pushing our panic buttons.

Erika Brown

Erika Brown is a fantasy football writer for The League Winners. A journalism graduate from Oklahoma State University, she enjoys watching OkState football games and writing about college football.