Fantasy Fumbles, Part III

There are always those receivers who change teams over the offseason, are on a team who signs a big-time free agent quarterback, or has a breakout campaign the season before. You know the story: some of them live up to their expectations and go on to bigger and better things, and then there’s that other handful of guys that don’t do much of anything the rest of their careers. Flukes. They happen every year, and when a “nobody” has that big season, people always question whether he’s a fluke, or whether maybe he’s actually the real deal. Here are some of those guys who just haven’t lived up to the hype so far during the 2005 season.

Andre Johnson - WR, Hou

The question with Andre Johnson was never whether or not he had the talent to play with the best of them. The question has been: will he ever have a quarterback who will let him show off his true potential. David Carr has been everything except what people expected him to be. The Texans’ first-round draft pick of just four years ago hasn’t lived up to what people expect out of the first overall pick in the draft. Carr has never thrown more then 16 touchdowns and has never thrown less then 13 interceptions in a full season. So far this year through seven starts, Carr has barely managed over 900 passing yards. In four starts this season, Johnson only has 10 receptions for an abysmal 76 yards and has failed to get into the end zone. Last year Johnson showed signs of greatness, catching passes for over 1,100 yards with six touchdowns in 16 starts. It will be interesting to see if Johnson and Carr will be able to get anything going during the second half of the season.

Michael Clayton - WR, TB

Clayton had a phenomenal rookie season for the Buccaneers, but his sophomore season has pretty much gone as far south as Florida. Last year as a rookie, Clayton caught 80 passes for 1,193 yards and seven touchdowns; this year in seven games, he hasn’t even been able to reach the end zone. He also is averaging less then three receptions per game. Veteran Joey Galloway has pretty much stolen the show in Tampa Bay. Galloway has started all seven games for the Bucs, and in those games he racked up almost 40 receptions for just under 650 yards and five touchdowns. The last time he posted numbers better than that over a whole season was in 2002 when he played with the Cowboys. The going won’t get much easier for Clayton this season: starting quarterback Brian Griese is out for the year, and his replacement, Chris Simms, still has to prove that he can play better then he did last week in San Francisco.

Nate Burleson - WR, Min

Burleson was supposed to replace Randy Moss, but injuries have delayed the process, and we’ll have to wait to find out whether the Vikings made a good call in shipping Moss to Oakland. Burleson had an excellent 2004 season, catching more then 65 passes for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns. He showed flashes of becoming the next big wide receiver to go through the Vikings system, but hasn’t been able to build on that success so far this season. Burleson has only played in four games in 2005, starting them all. He has only managed 136 yards receiving, and just like Johnson and Clayton, has failed to celebrate in the end zone. Similar to Clayton, Burleson’s road will not get any easier, especially with starting quarterback Daunte Culpepper is out for the season.

Honorable Mention: Jerry Porter (Oak), Ashley Lelie (Den), Marvin Harrison (Ind)

 
Corey Chamberlain is commissioner of the Vince Lombardi League. You’ll find him posting in the Cafe’s Forums as PackerAttack84.