Fantasy Busts Through Week 6

We're through six weeks of NFL and fantasy football and we are starting to get an idea of the booms and busts of the fantasy season. Instead of talking about the booms, like Christian McCaffrey, Chris Godwin, or the Patriots Defense (!?!) in this blog post, I'm going to focus on the players who have shown to be the biggest busts and their chances of turning it around.

Baker Mayfield has led the Browns to a 2-4 start with his league-leading 11 picks.

Baker Mayfield (QB Browns) - I'm not a Baker Mayfield fan at all. Leading into the season, the Browns were among the most hyped teams in football and supposedly "ready to make a championship run" and Baker Mayfield was at the forefront of the hype. All of that talk has come screeching halt as the 2-4 Browns look completely outmatched by the stronger teams and much of the blame rests of Baker Mayfield's shoulders. Right now, he has a mere 5 touchdowns to 11 interceptions (tops in the league) and a sub 56.6% completion percentage. From a fantasy standpoint, I'm not sure the season could be going any worse. The good news is that the Browns have all the offensive weapons needed to succeed, with stud receivers in OBJ and Jarvis Landry and a wildly underrated, top-5 running back in Nick Chubb. However, a lot of changes will need to be made during the bye week.

Damien Williams has been a letdown this season, seeing only two touches last week.

Damien Williams (RB Chiefs) - The Chiefs offense has cooled down after a blazing start to the season led by Patrick Mahomes, but they have received almost zero production from their presumed pre-season starter Damien Williams. When considering his fantasy bonanza at the end of last season, it comes as a shocker to hear that he has less that 30 fantasy points this whole season. Yes, he's been hurt for a few games, but that was one of his biggest risks coming into this season after never handling a close to workhorse role in his career. He still has an elite offense and quarterback tied to him, but with Darrell Williams and LeSean McCoy taking valuable touches in the backfield, I can't see Damien Williams returning close to his third round ADP this season.

JuJu Smith-Schuster was the biggest victim of the Big Ben injury and has struggled to produce with backup QBs.

JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR Steelers) - First and foremost, JuJu's talent is not to blame for his dud season thus far. As far as talent is concerned, JuJu one of the best wideouts in the league. However, Big Ben's injury hurt JuJu more than anyone on his team, as the star receiver has failed to build chemistry with his new quarterbacks. People also forget to mention that the Steelers are throwing the ball way less than last year with their second and third string quarterbacks, contributing to the wideouts' poor season and James Conner's recent tear. With Big Ben out for the rest of the season, expect occasional big plays from the stud receiver, but JuJu will come nowhere near his last year total and WR1 status.

Behind one of the league's worst offensive lines, Joe Mixon has been a bust on his second round ADP.

Joe Mixon (RB Bengals) - Like JuJu, Joe Mixon is a talented football player in a bad situation. But in Mixon's case, the situation is very, very bad. Up to this point, the Bengal's offensive line has looked among the worst in the league and despite a decent receiving corps, Andy Dalton has struggled to put points on the board for the winless Bengals. Right now, Mixon is averaging a putrid 3.4 yards per carry and has scored a total of 40.9 fantasy points this season. He can't be treated as anything more than a borderline flex from this point out unless some big changes are made.

After a slow start to the season, there are rumors of an imminent OJ Howard trade.

OJ Howard (TE Buccaneers) - The offense isn't the problem here. The Bucs have boasted one of the most potent aerial attacks in the league despite Jameis Winston's continued interception woes. Chris Godwin is an elite WR1 right now and Mike Evans is doing Mike Evans things. The only surprise has been the near invisibility of OJ Howard, who has a total of 176 yards on the season. The more troublesome stat, however, is his laughable 18 targets through six games. OJ Howard is too talented to not use, so I think that Bruce Arians will start to find ways to get OJ Howard the ball. Just don't expect immediate results.