BY A.J. KURZMAN
Three weeks into the football season and the sports world has already been turned upside-down. Red is blue, up is down, and the Kansas City Chiefs are 3-0. It must be the apocalypse or something. In the fantasy world, big name players are becoming big name busts, and sleepers are awakening from their great slumber. People are going crazy trying to trade away their team for people who have had two good weeks. But here’s a newsflash: It’s only week three! There is still so much football to play. We’re not even out of September yet. Managers shouldn’t be abandoning their draft picks just based off of a 3 week tryout. It’s unfair to the players to keep changing teams every week. Stick with what you have for now, and if things stay tough down the road, then it may be time for a change. However, up to this point, some players have proved their worth, and others have let down. Here’s the Best/Worst performances up to this point:
BEST
QB- Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos- Those who drafted Peyton certainly did not expect this much this quickly. He’s far and away the best quarterback in the NFL right now numbers wise. His receivers are explosive and running game is solid. Manning is, and will continue to be the best in business until he retires.
RB- LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles- Shady has excelled in this Chip Kelly offense. As he had an average draft position of about 9 in most ESPN leagues, he’s been the best running back in the NFL up to this point. It has been a lackluster year for running backs around the NFL, but he may be the one bright spot in the black hole of fantasy running backs.
WR- Eddie Royal, San Diego Chargers- I could easily go with Calvin Johnson, or DeSean Jackson who are both having monster years, but Royal was undrafted in most leagues and apparently that was a mistake. Due to injuries, he is now the Chargers #1 receiver and despite a week 3 letdown, he still has 5 touchdowns on the season, which is easily enough to catch the eyes of most fantasy managers.
TE- Julius Thomas, Denver Broncos- Former College basketball player turned tight end is the starter for Peyton Manning’s offense. Is there any real surprise here? He was undrafted in almost every league because people didn’t know he was the starting TE.
Worst
QB- Collin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers- After a phenomenal week 1, expectations were through the roof. However, week two against the big bag Seattle defense he put up a measly 5 points. Then this week against a Colts defense that Ryan Tannehill put up 14 points against, Kaepernick only managed 4 points. His receiving core is weak and defenses are keying in on him. I don’t think he will return to his week one form.
RB- Stevan Ridley, New England Patriots- There are many let downs at running back this season, but Ridley is the biggest. The Patriots have injuries to all their running backs except Ridley so they are forced to keep using him, yet they’re coming up empty. Ridley had an average draft position in the third round and has only managed to put up 9 points all season. It doesn’t take Rain Man to realize that that is not a good ratio.
WR- Vincent Jackson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Jackson started off the year well catching 7 passes for 154 yards, but that’s basically been it for his whole season. There’s no denying the Bucs as a whole are struggling, and Jackson is a casualty because of it. This will keep up as long as the Bucs keep losing to teams like the Jets.
TE- Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta Falcons- Gonzalez was one of the first TE’s taken in most drafts due to his history. However, what most people forget is that he is maybe a year away from retiring. His legs are wearing out, and it’s showing by the lackluster numbers he’s been posting.
All that’s left to say is that if you really feel you must trade, try to refrain from trading away your stars. The best trade target is Cecil Shorts because he is so undervalued by managers. He may be on Jacksonville, but they find a way to get him the ball. You could probably get Shorts for a steal. And also Trent Richardson is going to excel on the Colts, so he may also be an interesting pickup.
