Draft-day duds abound in Week 5

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By Jason Lauren | Friday, October 7, 2005 12:57 AM CDT | () comments

YOUR draft is over. You take a look at your final roster and like what you see.

At quarterback: Daunte Culpepper. At running back: Jamal Lewis and Ahman Green. At wide receiver: Reggie Wayne and Andre Johnson. At tight end: Tony Gonzalez.

Congratulations! You drafted the all-underachieving fantasy football team.

Don’t hit the panic button just yet, however. Let’s take a look at some players that are failing to live up to preseason expectations and whether you should panic if you own them.

Don’t panic

Trent Green, Kansas City: The Chief that was the No. 4-ranked quarterback on many fantasy owners’ preseason draft list has just 879 passing yards and three touchdowns in four games this season, including two games without a TD pass. Green is just doing what he normally does — start slowly.

Last season, he had just 810 yards and four touchdowns after four games. In 2003, he had only 674 yards and five TDs through four contests. Green finished 2004 with 4,591 yards and 27 touchdowns and 2003 with 4,039 yards and 24 TDs.

Others: Culpepper, Minnesota; Gonzalez, Kansas City; Wayne, Indianapolis; Lewis, Baltimore; Kevin Jones, Detroit; Tatum Bell, Denver (hang on to him for the second half).

Panic

Curtis Martin, N.Y. Jets: With Chad Pennington out and Vinny Testaverde in, you should have Martin on ... the trading block.

In 2003, when Testaverde was the starting quarterback with the Jets for six games, Martin averaged just 60 yards rushing per game with no touchdowns. And that was two years ago when Testaverde was a “young” 40 years old. With the only football Testaverde has played since January being on his PlayStation, look for opposing defenses to focus on stopping Martin.

Others: David Carr, Houston; Joey Harrington, Detroit; Green, Green Bay; Chris Brown, Tennessee; Johnson, Houston; Roy Williams, Detroit; Michael Clayton, Tampa Bay; Ashley Lelie, Denver; Eric Moulds, Buffalo.

Broken play(er)

J.J. Arrington, Arizona: The rookie running back many considered a sleeper before the season is snoring so loud he’s being dropped by many of his fantasy owners. The second-round pick has just 27 yards on 20 carries for a pathetic 1.4 average per carry. As horrible as Arrington has been playing, hang on to him if you can absorb the dead weight on your roster.

Hot read

Michael Pittman, Tampa Bay: The wheels finally fell off Carnell “Cadillac” Williams in Week 4. Williams, who entered the season with concerns if he could be durable enough to be a featured back in the NFL, gained just 13 yards on 11 carries and sustained a hamstring injury to go along with an ankle injury he already had entering the game.

Pittman filled in nicely for Williams, collecting 126 total yards and a TD catch. If Pittman still is available, pick him up while you can.

Off the bench

Brandon Stokley, Indianapolis: Don’t let Stokley’s zero-catch effort last week scare you off from starting him this week. Stokley will be on the positive side of one of the biggest mismatches of the season. The Peyton Manning-led Colts face San Francisco and its horrendous pass defense that is ranked last in the league with 368.2 passing yards allowed per game and 11 touchdowns.

Safe bet

Ronnie Brown, Miami: The rookie running back will record his second straight 100-yard rushing day when he faces Buffalo this week. Look for the Dolphins to lean on Brown, because the Bills have allowed the second-most rushing yards per game (172.2) and, oddly, have the top passing defense (121.2 yards per game) in the league. It’s also Brown’s last opportunity to shine before Ricky Williams returns from his four-game suspension.

Extra point

Fantasy owners of San Francisco wide receiver Brandon Lloyd should consider trading him while his value is as high as it could be for the season. Lloyd has had great chemistry with Tim Rattay, recording 326 yards and three touchdowns this season. However, with rookie Alex Smith now the starter, Lloyd’s numbers likely will take a hit as Smith goes through his first-year growing pains.

Jason Lauren writes for the Green Bay Press-Gazette.