Fantasy Football’s Biggest Disappointments So Far
Honorable Mention: Isiah Pacheco
After a year mostly lost to injury, Pacheco showed up to camp noticeably jacked, buzzing like he was about to unlock cheat codes. Instead, he’s been the fantasy equivalent of a flat beer at last call. Kansas City is running less than Taylor Swift’s security team after a Joe Alwyn sighting, and when they do, it’s an ineffective committee. The only reason Pacheco lands in “honorable mention” exile instead of the main list is because nobody spent a top-30 pick on him.
5. Ja’Marr Chase
This one hurts because Chase was the consensus WR1. Last season, he won the receiving “triple crown” — leading the NFL in catches (127), yards (1,708), and receiving TDs (17).People drafted him with champagne expectations, and he’s been serving lukewarm boxed wine. Through four weeks he’s averaging fewer than 60 receiving yards a game, and his lone touchdown looks lonelier than the last call patron ordering bottom-shelf whiskey. Joe Burrow’s calf injury has been the easy scapegoat, but Chase’s yards-per-route-run (under 2.0 so far) tells the story of a guy not making the plays you burned the No. 1 pick for. Besides, he’s supposed to be quarterback-proof, and has done it with Jake Browning at the helm before. He’s still likely salvage the year, but for now he’s the fantasy equivalent of waking up with a hangover and realizing you drunk-ordered a Peloton at 3 a.m.
4. Chase Brown
Brown’s hype train was fueled like a frat party jungle juice: cheap, loud, and way too much Kool-Aid. After last season’s breakout flashes, people thought he’d roll right into a feature role. Instead, he’s running like he’s got ankle weights on, logging just 2.8 yards per carry and barely cracking the top 30 in total rushing yards. Worse, he’s been a non-factor as a pass-catcher, with roughly as many receptions as Rashee Rice and Jordan Addison have suspensions. The Bengals offensive line hasn’t helped, but when your fantasy RB2 looks more like a designated driver, it stings. Drafting him in round three feels like splurging on top-shelf tequila only to find out someone swapped it with rubbing alcohol.
3. Brock Bowers
Tight ends are already a high-risk, low-reward position, and Bowers was supposed to be the exception — the golden ticket, the Fabergé egg of fantasy football. Instead, he’s produced like a tight end you streamed off waivers after forgetting to set your lineup. Through four games he’s averaging just over 35 yards a game, hasn’t found the end zone, and is blocking more often than he’s catching. Geno Smith’s scattershot accuracy hasn’t helped, but Bowers used to crush with Aidan O’Connell — so what’s the excuse now? Drafting him in round 2 or 3 was supposed to be like ordering a 21-year Macallan neat. Instead, you got served a lukewarm Kamchatka vodka in a Solo cup.
2. Nico Collins
This one’s the real head-scratcher. Collins has all the tools: size, speed, a quarterback who’s got a cannon and an offense that should be humming. Yet his fantasy stat lines look like the sad dregs at the bottom of a pint — a little foam, no buzz. He’s averaging under 50 yards per game after being drafted to be a rock-solid WR1 or 2, and his lone touchdown feels like it happened during the preseason. The Houston O-line was supposed to be fixed, which should’ve given CJ Stroud more time to pepper him with targets. Instead, it looks like someone fixed the line with duct tape and hope. Fantasy managers are staring at Collins like a shot glass full of Malört — “Why did I think this was a good idea?”
1. AJ Brown
The crown jewel of fantasy disappointment. Brown’s one explosion game keeps him from absolute rock-bottom status, but the other three duds are enough to make his managers want to drown their sorrows in a bathtub gin martini. He’s barely averaging double digit fantasy points in PPR and that includes his monster game, failing to break 50 yards in three separate weeks. Worse, he’s moody — the cryptic tweets, the sideline sulks, the “nobody respects me” energy. Philly is undefeated, but you don’t care about the Eagles being 4-0. You care about your fantasy team sitting at 1-3 because your WR1 is giving you WR4 production. Drafting Brown felt like investing in a bottle of fine for your shelf, only to find your roommate already cracked it and replaced half with tap water.
So What Do You Do?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You bench your hopes, you pour another drink, and you tell yourself it’ll all even out.
“Nothing you can do, son… nothing you can do,” he slurs, sipping from the half-empty bottle he just ashed his cigarette into. That’s fantasy football. One week you’re a genius. The next, you’re staring at drywall with a Nissan bumper sticking out of it.
But Not All Is Lost!!!
If you know nothing about us at 120 Proof yet, you at least know we ooze positivity, like how I ooze last night’s Bacardi and Coke from my pores on the treadmill every morning. We’ve given you the guys who have likely ruined your fantasy lives this season. Now, here’s a few more who haven’t helped as much as you’d hoped considering where you picked them, but are likely to step it up for your lineups.
Garrett Wilson
Still the best player in a passing offense that feels allergic to competence. He’s drawing elite target share (north of 25%), but the Jets’ QB play is dragging him down. If the offense stabilizes even slightly, Wilson can spike weeks that remind you why he went in round 2 or 3.
Terry McLaurin
He’s not a splash guy, but he’s too consistent to leave buried in mediocrity forever. His route-running still cooks corners like brisket left too long on the smoker, and all it takes is one stretch of steady volume to remind everyone he’s a WR2 with WR1 upside. A recent injury doesn’t help, but who else is Jayden Daniels, also recently dinged up, gonna throw to?
De’Von Achane
The health questions are real, but the speed and efficiency are cartoonish. Even in a committee, his ability to turn six touches into 100 yards and a score keeps him a home-run swing. If he strings together a couple healthy games, he’ll torch some poor soul’s defense.
Kyle Pitts
Yeah, I know. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me three years running, I’m the guy in the clown wig drafting him anyway. But he’s quietly leading all tight ends in air yards, and the usage is creeping up. If Atlanta ever decides to use him like an actual weapon instead of a blocking dummy, he can still be a difference-maker.
Kyren Williams
The injury specter is always lurking, but when he’s on the field he’s a legit workhorse. Volume is king in fantasy, and McVay feeds him like an overbearing grandma. If his body holds up, he’s still got top-10 RB potential locked in.
Here’s the take home for you. Fantasy football, like life, is rarely about perfection. It’s about survival, reinvention, and the occasional act of resurrection worthy of a mythological bird bursting into flames and clawing its way back into the sky.
Every year, somebody’s team looks dead by October. Every year, some of those teams crawl back, scarred but snarling, fueled by waiver-wire miracles and redemption arcs. Maybe Bowers’ knee tightens up and he rattles off a six-game streak of double-digit PPR. Maybe Nico Collins remembers he’s supposed to be a WR2 and not a missing person report. Maybe AJ Brown shakes off the sulking and starts body-slamming cornerbacks again. But even if that phoenix doesn’t rise from the ashes for you, bar still serves until 1:30. Bottoms up.
Torsten / 120 Proof Ball
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