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.
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Started – QB1
Sunday Finish – QB20
This was a very disappointing game for the Chiefs and Mahomes as the Titans are 23rd against the pass and giving up over 23 points a game. Mahomes left this game but played the majority and had 2 turnovers with no TDs.
Moving Forward: You cannot bench Patrick Mahomes, obviously, but the expectations may need to be lowered now. He is still a top-5 QB, but not putting up the numbers to be top 1 or 2 in fantasy football each week. This game was concerning, in that the Chiefs have struggled defensively, but been able to put up points.
Darrell Henderson, LA Rams
Started – RB4
Sunday Finish – RB30
This should have been a good matchup for the Rams to run the ball. The Lions are 21st against the run but the Rams did most of their work through the passing game. Darrell Henderson only was able to only gain 64 total yards with no TDs.
Moving Forward: The positive even with the mediocre game is that Henderson had 15 carries and 3 receptions. Henderson is the clear number one back when healthy, and this was the 1st game he played where he was held under 14 fantasy points.
D.J. Moore, Carolina Panthers
Started – WR5
Sunday Finish – WR22
The Giants are giving up 243 passing yards a game and Moore has been the Panther’s favorite target, so there was reason that he would have a big game. While 6 catches for 73 yards is not horrible, you were expecting much more from the offense and Moore this week.
Moving Forward: The bigger issue here is that Sam Darnold has struggled the last three games; throwing for under 210 yards in each game and only 2 TDs compared to 5 INTs. If the QB position continues to struggle in Carolina, it limits the ceiling of Moore week to week.
Brandin Cooks, Houston Texans
Started – WR15
Sunday Finish – WR44
On a day where the Texans were losing most of the game, it was disappointing that Brandin Cooks did not see more production or targets. Cooks saw 7 targets and only produced 5 catches for 21 yards.
Moving Forward: Cooks led the team in targets this week which is a good sign, but Davis Mills completed 23 passes for only 135 yards. Mills has not favored Cooks like Tyrod Taylor has and Cooks has under 50 yards in three of the last four games. If you are depending on Cooks you are hoping Tyrod will come back and start at some point this season.
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.