10 Fantasy Players I Refuse to Draft

Every year the summer rolls around, I can’t stop thinking about how great my fantasy teams are going to be this year, and inevitably, the players who I absolutely won’t draft. We all have them, and we do our absolute best not to touch them. Unfortunately, they sometimes drop three rounds and we get them, anyway, but that’s just bargain shopping. Its hard to turn down a good sale. With that in mind, let’s peep my top-10 players I will avoid like the plague this fall.

Adrian Peterson

Dont get me wrong, I love this guy. He’s talented, vicious, and talented. Yeah, twice talented. But he’s now dealing with a history of injuries. With five NFL seasons under his belt, he’s played in all 16 games only twice. He has appeared to solve his fumbling problems, with only two over the last two seasons, but his ACL is now a much bigger problem. Granted, ACL tears aren’t career-enders like they used to be, but it still scares me. Also, did I mention he’s still going to be facing eight in the box on every play and he comes off the field on third downs? This guy has officially been dethroned from the top overall pick.

Michael Vick

I’m tired of hearing about Vick. I don’t care about the dog fighting, or the protesting, or any of it. He won a lot of people their leagues in 2010, but that was clearly an aberration. In 2011, he reverted right back to same ole Vick. He was poor from the pocket, ran too much, and got injured. He had a career-high 3,303 passing yards, but also threw a career-high 14 interceptions with only 18 passing touchdowns. Add in that he only scored one rushing TD, and yeah, I’m tired of hearing about him. Hes not going to win you anything but the ‘I Have the Most Frustrating QB’ award.

Shonn Greene

Like many, I was captivated by Greene’s aggressive and productive running style during the 2009 playoffs. Like many, I was sorely disappointed after I drafted him in 2010 and watched him flounder all season behind LT. However, like few others, I drafted him again in 2011, thinking it was surely time for him to blossom, and on the tails of Rex Ryan spouting ground and pound mantras. While he was actually fine, statistically, I will never drafted Greene again. Why? Hes so vanilla. If you’re looking for the all-boring team of the NFL, Greene is your starting tailback, hands down. In his three seasons, his longest run is only 33 yards. He averages a middle-of-the-road 4.3 yards per carry, and has only 10 career rushing TDs. Talk about a sleeper.

Jamaal Charles

Not only did he tear his ACL last season (see: Peterson, A.), but this guy is on a stupidly stacked offense. The Chiefs have got two receivers who have put up 1,000-yard seasons and another first-round pick from 2011. They just acquired Peyton Hillis from the Browns, another former thousand-yard rusher. Not to mention the always active Dexter McCluster. This offense is going places, and there’s not enough room for Charles to get the touches other top RB options will get.

DeSean Jackson

DeSean Jackson goes as Vick goes, and last year that wasn’t too well. In fact, it wasn’t that well in 2010, either, when he finished with just over 1,000 yards and six touchdowns. Jackson’s premier year was all the way back in 2009, when he recorded almost 1,200 yards receiving and 12 total touchdowns. Since then, hes become increasingly prima-donna and money-hungry. Now that hes got the big contract, will he Chris Johnson out and forget how to play football? I’m not about to use a valuable draft pick to find out.

Drew Brees

In 2011, this guy was lights out, setting a brand new record for NFL passing yards in a season. He also led the league in passing TDs with 46. This off-season, though, the New Orleans Saints have fallen apart. First the bounty program, then the weird GM listening to opposing sidelines story, and still Brees remains unsigned to a long-term deal. With Coach Sean Payton suspended for the entire season, will this offense run at the same level it did last season? I’m sure they will be okay, based on their personnel, but I have my doubts.

Matt Forte

About eight games into last season, the number one guy in my league was undefeated, rocking Forte and Fred Jackson at RB. I remember thinking, how could somebody get so lucky? A few weeks later, both backs sidelined for the season, I remember thinking exactly the opposite. I think Forte is going to suffer this year. He’s been in a huge contract struggle with the Bears, he’s coming off injury, and the Bears just signed big-money backup Michael Bush. Something tells me its going to be an off-year for the Bears’ star back.

Vincent Jackson

This guy is the ultimate boom-or-bust in fantasy football (excluding Michael Vick). He will show up one week and get you two catches for 17 yards. Then the next week he’ll throw down the gauntlet and snatch three touchdowns on 175 yards. And that was with Philip Rivers. This year, I expect it to be even worse. With Josh Freeman, his lows will be lower and his highs will be, sadly, lower. Freeman is no Rivers. Keep in mind that hel’l also be competing with Mike Williams for looks.

Dwayne Bowe

I hate good receivers with bad quarterbacks. Matt Cassel has a decent arm and a crazy array of weapons to work with, but his decision-making is lackluster at best. It never ceases to amaze me when I watch the Chiefs play, the guy is just confused out there. I have nothing bad to say about Bowe, other than he relies on such an abysmal passer to record his own stats. There’s nothing worse than watching your fantasy players fail because of their teammates mistakes. Its haunting.

Antonio Gates

While hes definitely fallen down some boards, hes fallen completely off of mine. His upside is limited, his injury risk is huge, and the Chargers offense suddenly doesn’t look all that great. Who is their No. 1 WR? Robert Meachem? Malcom Floyd? The point being, the running game is going to suffer, which means more guys in coverage. The commonly used reason that Philip Rivers had such a down year last season was exactly that: too many guys in coverage. With Vincent Jackson gone, its only going to get worse. And with Gates advanced age and injury history, he no longer has the athleticism to single-handedly take over a game. He is likely to struggle this season.