The Dud Zone - Week 4

Let’s all just forget about Week 3 after so many players struggled to put up anything resembling a strong fantasy football showing. There were literally dozens of “duds” to choose from.

From quarterback Aaron Rodgers to running back Matt Forte, a number of high-profile players struggled to get anything going. However, none could compare to the absolutely horrid game that running back LeSean McCoy had for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Today we’ll break down McCoy’s performance and what it means for his future. We’ll also attempt to highlight some potential duds for Week 4 so you can steer clear of them in your leagues.

Dud of the Week, Week 3

LeSean McCoy, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

The first thing of note from McCoy’s dud of the game isn’t his statistics (don’t worry we’ll get to those in a bit). Instead, all one needs to look at is his overall grade from his game against the Washington Redskins.

His -4.4 grade is just treacherous. To put it in context, the worst-graded game McCoy had all of last year was a -1.3. In fact, if you added every negative game he posted last year together it’d only come to a -2.3.

Now with that baseline, let’s look at just how horrid McCoy’s stats were last Sunday. It all starts with his 19 carries for 22 yards. That’s an average of 1.2 yards per rush. Throw in the fact that McCoy forced zero missed tackles and had a fumble, and McCoy’s ground game continues to look worse and worse.

We also can’t forget about the fact that McCoy had zero receptions in Week 3. Even worse is the fact that he was only targeted once over the course of the entire game.

McCoy’s Week 3 performance is so confusing in many ways. The biggest issue for upcoming weeks is the fact that Darren Sproles has taken McCoy’s place as the top receiving back in Philadelphia. Sproles saw four targets in Week 3 with three receptions. We knew that Sproles would take away from McCoy, but no one could have guessed just how much the Eagles would use Sproles.

While it isn’t necessarily time to panic if you’re a McCoy owner, it’s definitely time to keep a careful eye on him. Another week of struggles and it’ll definitely be time to push the panic button in a major way.

Potential Week 4 Duds

Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots

Brady’s season has been far from a success through the first three weeks. Most of this is due to the lack of offensive weapons in the passing game, but some of his struggles can also be attached to his decline from an elite quarterback.

Brady’s current PFF quarterback rating is a 75.21, only better than Matt Cassel and Geno Smith. His 7.7 percent accuracy rating on deep balls is also the worst of any quarterback in the league.

Simply put, Brady can’t be trusted, and his matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs in primetime could turn ugly real quick.

Dez Bryant, WR, Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys play the New Orleans Saints this week. The Saints currently have the third-worst pass coverage grade in the league. This should be a walk in the park for Bryant, right?

Well, let’s hold on a second.

There’s no doubt that the Saints have been a major disappointment on defense this year. With players like Kenny Vaccaro, Jairus Byrd and Keenan Lewis in the secondary, this unit should be much better than it currently is.

Look for the Saints to finally put it together this week as defensive coordinator Rob Ryan coaches against his old team and for Bryant to be held in check.