DLF’s Dynasty Predictions: Bust of the Year

Another off-season is drawing to a close, and real-deal football is almost here. To say a lot has changed since the Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV back in February would be like saying Patrick Mahomes signed a good contract. The dude just signed an extension worth half a billion dollars. But all the ups and downs of 2020 won’t stop us from rolling out DLF’s 2020 Fantasy Predictions.

As we do every year, we have several different articles for you in the following categories:

• Fantasy Comeback Player of the Year
• Best Dynasty Sell
• Best Dynasty Buy
• Fantasy Sleeper
• Bust of the Year
• Sleeper Rookie of the Year (outside our top 24)
• Fantasy Rookie of the Year
• Fantasy MVP

In our next set of predictions, we’ll make our picks for the Bust of the Year.

Mike Evans, WR TB

The pairing with Tom Brady is not going to go well for Evans. He’s a run deep, catch a bomb and fall down type of guy, and Brady is not that type of quarterback. In the one place Evans could succeed, the end zone, the team already has a plethora of weapons at tight end and out of the backfield. – John Di Bari

Keenan Allen, WR LAC

The average market share in his five healthy seasons is 23.8%. The average passing attempts for Tyrod Taylor in his past three seasons as a starter is 449.5 over a 16-game pace. He created 1.492 points per target. In his age-28 season, it is simple math to see that Allen is going to disappoint. – Scott Connor

Melvin Gordon, RB DEN

He didn’t do well last year, and then he changed teams. He’s having a hard time with the altitude already, and the style of offense isn’t a style that he’s familiar with. Phillip Lindsay will eat into his playtime, if not take over the starting role altogether. Gordon might end up as a backup running back in this system. – Mike Havens

Kenyan Drake, RB ARI

The offense is going to be exciting, but I’m not convinced he holds the full workload through the season. He reminds me of Damien Williams headed into last year – and not in a good way. – Jeremy Schwob

Christian McCaffrey, RB CAR

Unless McCaffrey is the literal greatest running back of all time, his fantasy production is going to regress. There’s no shame in that. It happened to Todd Gurley, Le’Veon Bell, David Johnson and a host of running backs we thought were generational at the time. – Shane Manila

Miles Sanders, RB PHI

It’s tough to trust Doug Pederson to do the right thing with his running backs. Last season we saw an increase of usage from Boston Scott and that negatively impacted Sanders’s playing time. Now, Sanders still has Scott nipping at his heels and also just lost his starting left tackle Andre Dillard for the season. Sanders is being drafted at his absolute ceiling in the late first/early second round of drafts. It’s too much risk for me that early. – James Koutoulas

Josh Jacobs, RB LV

Jacobs is being taken as a first-round talent. Based on last year, the coaching staff has shown they don’t really want to use him on third down. I highly doubt he returns first-round value. – Bobby Koch

David Johnson, RB HOU

We are multiple seasons removed from DJ being the fantasy force that won people championships. Granted, his draft stock has declined some, but he still represents a third-round pick in redraft leagues and a fifth-round pick in dynasty start-ups. I have a hard time paying that kind of price for Johnson right now. – John Hesterman

Josh Jacobs, RB LV

If I’m spending a first-round dynasty startup pick on a running back, give me a true three-down back. The Raiders drafting Lynn Bowden Jr and retaining Jalen Richard tells me Jacobs will find himself on the sidelines in obvious passing downs, limiting his upside. – Josh Brickner

Amari Cooper, WR DAL

The Cowboys offense has the pieces to be one of the most electric in the league with Dak Prescott slinging the rock and Ezekiel Elliot running it. With a wide receiver group consisting of Cooper, Michael Gallup and rookie CeeDee Lamb it may prove difficult for Cooper to deliver on his WR10 ADP. All three wide receivers are “best ball studs” but this could be a weekly headache for leagues requiring set lineups. This feels like a situation where he struggles to meet expectations. – Eric Olinger

Devin Singletary, RB BUF

Singletary was a fun surprise in 2019, and was used as a workhorse in the second half of the season. However, the Bills showed their hand drafting a bigger version of Singletary in Zack Moss. Neither back impresses on the track, but both win with nuance and elusiveness that belies their athleticism. I don’t believe Singletary is a 20-touch back in the NFL and Buffalo hinted that they don’t either. I predict touches will be evenly split between the two running backs and Josh Allen will do his thing near the goal line. This leaves whatever volume Singletary gets as empty for fantasy purposes. At an ADP inside the top 24 running backs, count me out on Singletary. – Alfred Fernandez

Austin Ekeler, RB LAC

Ekeler is being drafted like he will be a weekly RB1, but there is a very high probability he will be a bust. When he was the lead dog for the Chargers, his rushing numbers were paltry and many are expecting similar receiving numbers when there aren’t others to clear the box for him. I don’t doubt his value as much in full PPR leagues, but in standard leagues, he’s an avoid for me. – Adam Tzikas

Kenyan Drake, RB ARI

The biggest busts normally come from the running back position and they are almost always the players who look like they don’t belong. Drake is the 2020 version of this. Drake has been a mediocre to poor producer since he entered the NFL, but once he was handed the reins in the Arizona backfield, he seized control, and he had a difference-making final stretch to the season. Unfortunately, his advanced metrics while doing so show a player who was propped up by situation and was highly replaceable. The bad news for Drake owners is that there is a very capable back waiting in the shadows – Chase Edmonds. I would in no way be shocked if Edmonds steals a sizable chunk of the opportunity or possibly even yanks away the lead role by season’s end. – Drew Osinchuk

Melvin Gordon, RB DEN

Gordon is a name of fantasy glory gone bye for me and I see him drafted way too high in my opinion. Phillip Lindsay has back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons and his ADP is nearly 80 spots later. I don’t see Gordon returning his value and he is a huge avoid for me. – Dwight Peebles

Kenyan Drake, RB ARI

He’s never shouldered the load for a full year and has competition for touches along with a young QB. – Jeff Smith

Cooper Kupp, WR LAR

Kupp has become an enigma for fantasy owners over his career, being as hot and cold for streaks of games as Amari Cooper at times. It’s frustrating. I’m labeling Kupp as a bust because of my belief in the Rams holding on to their success in 12 personnel at the end of 2019. Yes, Kupp was still good for fantasy over that stretch, but that was largely on the back of touchdowns that saved some weeks. This offense can flow through a number of weapons besides Kupp, which makes him a candidate for a fantasy bust. – Addison Hayes

Aaron Jones, RB GB

I don’t think Jones will be horrible per se, however, I believe given his ADP he will underperform expectations. The primary reason for this is the addition of AJ Dillon to the Packers roster. Look for Dillon to completely evaporate any fantasy value that Jamaal Williams still has while simultaneously eroding Jones’ value as well. – The FFGhost

Hayden Hurst, TE ATL

It took Austin Hooper four years in Atlanta to earn the career year he had this past season. Now for some reason, people think they can slot in Hurst with his 24 receptions as the TE3 on his team last year and give him the same market share Hooper had. I don’t see it happening. – Adam Wilde

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB KC

Ok, don’t freak out here. I don’t dislike CEH. In fact, I like him quite a bit. What I don’t like is how high he’s going in drafts right now. The first pick in rookie drafts I get, the fifth pick in startups? Not so much. I get the hype, but can we at least wait to see how his skills translate to the NFL? The price here is so high that if he only finishes as a top 15 RB, it’ll look bad. – Ryan Finley

There you have it. Who do you think will be this year’s biggest bust? Comment below!