8 Potential Bust Candidates for 2019

Nothing is worse than a fantasy football bust and they can come in many forms. Ask fantasy owners who drafted Le'Veon Bell or David Johnson in the first round last year. Fantasy football busts are players who simply do not live up to expectations. Some are bound to be drafted on name recognition even though they're at the end of their careers. Here are 8 potential bust candidates for this season.

Jason Witten (TE) After a one-year hiatus away from the playing field, Jason Witten has returned to the Cowboys for the 2019 season. He spent 2018 in the broadcast booth for Monday Night Football, but Witten should return as the Dallas starting tight end. When we last saw him on the field in 2017, Witten had six games with at least 11 PPR points. He also had nine games with at least eight points, along with five games with three points or fewer. At 36, it will be hard for him to produce at a high level again, especially since Dallas has a crowded receiving corps, including Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, Randall Cobb and Ezekiel Elliott. Consider Witten a late-round flier at best in deeper leagues on Draft Day, or he can be a bye-week or injury replacement during the season.

Jason Witten's Rankings Among All TE's

Alshon Jeffery (WR) Alshon Jeffery is the No. 1 receiver in a very good offense, with a creative head coach and a borderline great quarterback. But due to his inconsistency and the focus of the offense, you shouldn't draft him before the sixth round. For one thing, Zach Ertz is going to lead the team in targets, and if past history is any indication, the rest of the targets will be spread around. Jeffery has averaged just 7.3 targets per game as an Eagle. With his career efficiency that makes 1,000 yards a long shot even if he plays 16 games, which he's only done once since 2014. Jeffery is a fine No. 3 receiver who should score touchdowns.

Alshon Jeffery's Rankings Among All WR's

Calvin Ridley (WR) Calvin Ridley will be a polarizing pick between Rounds 4 and 5 because of his risk-reward potential. He's in a great spot as a quality second receiver in a strong passing offense opposite a stud in Julio Jones, and last year he used his 10 touchdowns to push him to a top-20 finish regardless of format. But he'll need as many targets as possible to improve on his consistency (37.5 percent last year in non-PPR, 31.3% in PPR). With the defense and Devonta Freeman healthy, that might be asking for a little too much. Ridley and the Falcons should be exciting, but figure him as a low-end No. 2 option for Fantasy.

Calvin Ridley's Rankings Among All WR's

Kyle Rudolph (TE) For three consecutive years, Rudolph has produced just enough stats to finish in the top-10 among tight ends in all formats. And for three years, he's done it in an inconsistent, frustrating way. Rudolph has recorded seven-plus Fantasy points (non-PPR) in 18 of his last 47 games. He's typically needed a touchdown to come through for Fantasy managers; he has just two games in his eight-year career with over 70 yards and no scores. He's among the handful of tight ends who will play a bunch but still not warrant a start every single week. His early-season matchups against the Falcons, Packers and Raiders aren't horrible, so if you're strictly looking for a tight end to press into rosters to stream, go ahead. But with a fat new contract extension in his back pocket and rookie tight end Irv Smith Jr. joining him on the field, don't expect Rudolph's production to rise.

Kyle Rudolph's Rankings Among All TE's

Jimmy Graham (TE) It's hard to imagine Jimmy Graham becoming a top-flight Fantasy tight end again. He's exceeded 700 yards once in his last four years and scored just two touchdowns twice in his last four seasons -- and 2018 was not kind to him in either category. He also had just 89 targets last year (the lowest total in any season he played 16 games) and had just five targets inside the opponents' 10-yard line. All that could be evidence that the Packers didn't trust him enough, but the addition of rookie tight end Jace Sternberger probably doesn't bode well for Graham's 2019. The bottom line is that Graham needs touchdowns to succeed in Fantasy since he's exceeded 70 yards in a game three times in his past two seasons. That makes him hard to trust on a weekly basis, and he's an undesirable streamer to begin the year as the Packers host the vaunted Bears defense in Week 1. Don't bet on him being productive enough, or consistently available, to help you win your league. You're probably better off letting someone else take him.

Jimmy Graham's Rankings Among All TE's

LeSean McCoy (RB) Someone's gotta draft LeSean McCoy, and it'll probably be around the midway point of the draft. But whoever does it won't be happy about grabbing a 31-year-old back coming off a lousy season that saw him rack up just 752 yards from scrimmage. In 14 games. Sure, the surrounding cast was dreadful, but it doesn't figure to be much better in 2019, and there's more competition for touches with Frank Gore, T.J. Yeldon and rookie Devin Singletary. If you're desperate for a body at running back, McCoy still figures to lead the team in touches. But he's more of a bench back with the chance for a bounce back at this point.

LeSean McCoy's Rankings Among All RB's

Corey Davis (WR) If a disappointing season sees Corey Davis finish with nearly 900 yards as a sophomore, it's not hard to see what the upside is here. Davis wasn't quite the breakout star we hoped for, but the upside still makes him worth targeting in the Round 8 range on Draft Day. The Titans threw the ball just 437 times in 2018, and at least some of that was due to Marcus Mariota's recurring elbow injuries. If Mariota is healthy, you must assume they'll throw more, meaning more opportunities for Davis. If your league mates have given up on him, there's still a chance for Davis to provide plenty of value; however, we wouldn't bet the farm on it.

Corey Davis's Rankings Among All WR's

Ben Roethlisberger (QB) For the first time since 2011, Ben Roethlisberger will take to the field without Antonio Brown on his team - and the Fantasy ramifications figure to be huge. Before Brown boomed in the Steel City, Roethlisberger had one year with over 26 touchdowns and one with over 4,000 yards - and that was when he had guys like Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes! When Roethlisberger walks on the field in 2019, he won't have Brown (or Le'Veon Bell), but he'll still have JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner and a number of quality role players (Vance McDonald, Donte Moncrief) and even a breakout candidate (James Washington). Still, replacing a receiver who was responsible for a minimum of 25 percent of Roethlisberger's yards and 31 percent of his passing touchdowns every year since 2014 is impossible. If you're going to draft Roethlisberger, you shouldn't do it until the very late rounds, you shouldn't have high expectations and you better have another quarterback on your Fantasy roster to begin the season.

Ben Roethlisberger's Rankings Among All QB's

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