There is nothing worse than a much-hyped fantasy breakout candidate who is underachieving and disappointing.
You all know what I'm talking about. It's the pre-season and you've done your research, you know all the sleepers, and you send smug comments in the group chat of your draft after you grab what you think is a hidden gem. At least, that was what I did when I picked Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd in the fifth round.
The logic was there: Floyd was coming off a sophomore season in which he emerged as the No. 1 target in Arizona's passing attack. He caught 65 balls on a sizable 112 targets for 1,041 yards and five touchdowns in 2013. He was a deep threat with a quarterback in Carson Palmer who enjoyed throwing deep to a fault. It was natural for me and the rest of the fantasy world to expect a leap from the 2012 first-rounder.
But that didn't happen. Yes, I know that the Cardinals had a lot of issues with their quarterbacks. But Floyd saw a drop in production across the board and eventually lost snaps to rookie John Brown. Floyd also proved that he needs a big target opposite him to draw attention elsewhere.
"With [Larry] Fitzgerald on the field, Floyd had 37 receptions for 628 yards and six touchdowns," ESPN Cardinals reporter Josh Weinfuss wrote. "When Fitzgerald wasn't playing, Floyd all but disappeared, catching six passes for 155 yards without a touchdown."
Fitzgerald's future with the Cardinals is still up in the air, but fantasy owners are wondering what the future holds for Floyd. Is he worth another shot next season?
"Everyone was all over Floyd at this time last year, and those who gave up a lot to acquire him might have soured on his future stock," wrote ESPN's Matt Williamson. "But his immense skills are still there, and now he's firmly in the buy-low category after catching just 47 passes in his third NFL season. Despite some very questionable quarterback play (Carson Palmer should return to form next year), Floyd still averaged 17.9 yards per reception, and we know that Bruce Arians' deep passing philosophy isn't going to change. Helping Floyd's fantasy potential even more is the fact that because of his enormous contract, Larry Fitzgerald could be playing elsewhere in 2015, which would mean more targets for Floyd as Arizona's true No. 1 receiver."
I'm not as confident as Williamson is about Palmer's return. This is the second ACL tear of his career, and the guy is 35. Plus, Palmer played in six games this season, and in those games Floyd averaged just 5.8 fantasy points in standard leagues. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice...
Let's put it this way, I wouldn't trust Floyd as anything more than a low end WR3 entering the season.
