This is what kills your team; that top-ranked consensus player that has a fantasy faceplant. A fantasy faceplant is a player who finishes at least 15 spots lower than expected on a given week. Everyone knows Fantasy Football has so much variance week-to-week, so the faceplants might be just a blip. But as we go through the season we can see if the players show a trend. I will use FantasyPros each week to get the initial rankings. The players highlighted are from the TNF game and the Sunday day games. These do not include the SNF or MNF games. You can view last week’s faceplants here.
Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
Started – QB2
Sunday Finish – QB20
San Francisco has a top-10 total defense, and for much of the day, they bottled Murray up. Murray had his lowest rushing and passing total of the season. He only passed for one touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Moving Forward: If you have Murray you probably need him to put up big numbers each week; so this was disappointing. If his floor is 13 fantasy points it’s not horrible, as long as it does not occur often. I have no worries about Murray. The Cardinals defense is improved, so the offense does not have to put up huge scoring numbers to win this season.
D.J. Moore, Carolina Panthers
Started – WR5
Sunday Finish – WR43
Moore has been Sam Darnold’s favorite target this season. That continued in Week 5, but Darnold had his worst game as a Panther. With three interceptions, the Panther’s offense never really got going, but Moore did have five catches on seven targets for 42 yards.
Moving Forward: Moore has been a top-5 WR so far this year, but I think he more is in line with a fringe WR1/WR2 (WR10-16). He is still the Panthers target leader, but the bigger question if this performance from Darnold was a blip, or will he continue to struggle.
Terry McLaurin, Washington Football Team
Started – WR10
Sunday Finish – WR44
This has been the trend for McLaurin this season; one good game and then one bad. QB play is so inconsistent with the team, but he does get a ton of targets (60 through five games). 11 targets in Week 5 were turned into four catches for 46 yards; definitely a disappointing performance with his opportunity.
Moving Forward: I still think the end result for Mclaurin will be a WR1, but there are going to be ups and downs week-to-week. These up and downs has more to do with QB play than McLaurin’s actual talent and consistency.
A.J. Brown, Tennessee Titans
Started – WR19
Sunday Finish – WR55
AJ Brown’s projection ranking should have been higher with this appetizing matchup against the Jaguars, but coming off an injury the expectations were low. Brown had the most targets, but only ended up with three receptions and 38 yards.
Moving Forward: There definitely will be better days ahead but I don’t think Brown can be considered a WR1 at this juncture. The way the Titans run the ball, Brown’s nagging injuries, and the arrival of Julio Jones caps his potential. He is a WR2 weekly with upside certain weeks to be a top-12 WR in fantasy football.
Make sure to check in on the Fantasy Faceplant each week on Monday. You can find me on Twitter @hayeb3 and all my fantasy football work done on TheLeagueWinners here.
Brandon Haye
Brandon grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and works as a health insurance data analyst. He has no children, but two fur babies - Squirt and Brownie. He and his wife, Katie, spend their time playing poker and enjoying time with their pups. Brandon is a huge Michigan Wolverine and Jacksonville Jaguars fan. He at one time was in 77 fantasy leagues and loves the game of football. Brandon started writing for The Leauge Winners in 2021.