For the people that don’t know what fantasy football is, it’s a game where you draft a team out of real NFL players, and you score points based on how well your players perform. If you have already drafted your team, I know that you probably love your fantasy football team, and I hate to be a buzzkill, but if you have any of these 5 NFL players, then your team is …
Ja’Marr Chase
Chase is easily one of the best wide receivers in the game, but if you took him in the first round (which in almost every league that’s where he gets picked) then it’s just not worth it. Ja’Marr and Joe Burrow’s chemistry is amazing, but Ja’Marr Chase has to fight for receptions against the best wide receiver group in the NFL. Chase just doesn’t have the upside of being the clear No. 1 guy. I would much rather draft Stefon Diggs or Garrett Wilson. Not because they are better than Ja’Marr, but because they don’t have any real competition in their receiving group. Ja’Marr is getting picked 3rd overall in most leagues, but I just don’t see it working out.
Christian McCaffrey
Now anyone who has drafted McCaffrey before knows about his injury history. But let’s look beyond that. Christian McCaffrey is a dual-threat running back that can also be a wide receiver. On his team, there is a wide receiver who can also be a running back, Deebo Samuel. Not to mention, his team also has a pretty good back-up running back, Elijah Mitchell. Even though Christian McCaffrey is still the best offensive weapon that the 49ers have, they are still going to feed the ball to Deebo, and they are still going to feed the ball to Elijah Mitchell. So even though I think Christian will put up good numbers, there will be a running back stealing touchdowns from him, and a wide receiver stealing carries from him. CMC is getting picked 2nd overall in most leagues, but with the amount of weapons that will take plays away from him, and his injury history, i don’t know how much confidence drafters can have in him this year.
AJ Brown
AJ Brown is one of the best receivers in the league, and put up amazing numbers last year. However, alongside him, another breakout wide receiver started stealing targets, DeVonta Smith. The duo of DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown is a deadly one that shouldn’t be messed with. But how long will AJ Brown be the unquestioned number-one receiver? I don’t know. And if you drafted AJ Brown where he was expected to go, then that brings great questions to how much longer he can have that No. 1 receiver upside. Don’t make the mistake of drafting AJ Brown earlier in the fantasy draft, or you’ll regret it.
Lamar Jackson
I could bring up so many reasons not to draft Lamar. The injury history, the lack of weapons, there’s a lot that can go wrong. Lamar in 2019, was an MVP, put up amazing numbers, and averaged 27.7 fantasy points. However, since then, he has struggled with injuries, which is probably tied to his approach to playing the game. Quarterbacks who rush the ball a lot tend to get injured more thus making them a higher risk. I would label Lamar as a high-risk, low-reward draftee, so don’t draft him. And if you already have him on your Fantasy Football team, God bless.
Joe Mixon
I’m wondering how much Joe Mixon will actually play, considering injuries and off the field drama, but even if he does play, it’s no secret that the Bengals are going to have more of an aerial attack instead of a rushing attack. This means less carries for Mixon. In 2022, Joe Mixon rushed for 814 yards and 7 touchdowns. 153 of those yards and 4 of those touchdowns came from one game. That means that besides that one game, he averaged 50 yards and 0.2 touchdowns. Now he added a little bit on the receiving end, but don’t expect that to last very long considering the Bengals don’t need him to be able to catch the ball.
So if you drafted any of these people, consider trading them. Or don’t, it’s not up to me.
