X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

Biggest Busts of 2019: Wide Receivers

Aaron Schillinger looks at the biggest fantasy football busts at the wide receiver position in 2019 and whether these WR can be expected to bounce back in 2020.

After a very interesting season of fantasy football action, many owners were left with a bitter taste in their mouth from a few of the “elite” NFL wide receivers.

While Michael Thomas dominated and Julio Jones was his usual reliable self, not all was good if you played it safe by taking a receiver early. Who would’ve thought that guys like D.J. Chark, Devante Parker, and Chris Godwin would finish ahead of studs like Odell Beckham Jr., Antonio Brown, and JuJu Smith-Schuster?

Either way, after a very fun and interesting season of fantasy football, here are some of the biggest names who busted this year at the wide receiver position.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:

 

Odell Beckham Jr., Cleveland Browns

After heading to Cleveland in one of the biggest transactions of this past offseason, hopes were extremely high for Odell Beckham and the entire Cleveland Browns offense. After being selected as a WR1 in fantasy drafts, Beckham ended the season as the WR25 in PPR scoring leagues and as the WR31 in standard-scoring leagues. Baker Mayfield and that entire Browns offense ended up disappointing fantasy owners, and while Beckham did have a few nice games here and there, he was overall a bust.

After scoring in Week 2 against the Jets, Beckham didn’t find the end zone until Week 12 against the Dolphins and he finished the season with just two games of 100+ receiving yards. It got to the point at the end of the season where fantasy owners were questioning whether Beckham should even be started, or if he should just be left on the bench. The excuse for Beckham can’t even be contributed to an injury to him or his quarterback, but Beckham staying healthy all season long makes him even more of a bust. A new head coach could improve the team's discipline but it remains to be seen whether we should really trust any Cleveland players outside of Nick Chubb.

 

JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers

After a breakout season in 2018 where he finished as the WR8 in PPR scoring leagues, expectations were extremely high for JuJu Smith-Schuster this year. Not only were fantasy owners expecting big things out of Smith-Schuster, but some owners legitimately had him as a candidate for the No. 1 wide receiver in all of fantasy football this year. Unfortunately for Smith-Schuster, an elbow injury to Ben Roethlisberger ended the quarterback’s season, and ultimately put a major damper on the entire Steelers offense.

Smith-Schuster ended the season as the WR65 in PPR scoring leagues, after being drafted as a high-end WR1. The disappointing season can be chalked up largely to the injury to Roethlisberger, but overall Smith-Schuster was simply not good and even teammates James Washington and rookie Diontae Johnson showed some signs of promise at times throughout the season. Not only did the injury to Roethlisberger hurt Smith-Schuster, but it brought the entire Pittsburgh offense down.

 

Antonio Brown, Free Agent

After an extremely weird year all around from Antonio Brown (Ed. note: this was written even before AB's latest Instagram outburtst), he ended up with just 56 receiving yards and one touchdown. Between the odd off-field storylines and spending the season watching the NFL from the couch, Brown finished as the WR151 in PPR scoring. If you were one of the unfortunate owners who ended up drafting Brown on your fantasy teams, there’s a chance you stuck with him on your bench, hoping he ended up getting signed.

When it comes to ‘busts’ in fantasy football, it typically means the player was underwhelming or just did not live up to expectations. Brown, however, was really just a waste of a pick in fantasy leagues, appearing in just one game all year with the New England Patriots. It will be fun to watch what happens with Brown during this offseason. Depending on if he plays in the 2020 season, we’ll see if he returns to fantasy relevance.

 

Brandin Cooks, Los Angeles Rams

The Rams offense has recently been one of the more high-powered passing offenses in the league. Between Brandin Cooks, Cooper Kupp, and Robert Woods, it’s hard to deny the fantasy upside that this offense brings. Since 2014, Cooks has been the WR13, WR10, WR15, and WR13 in PPR scoring since 2014. This year, Cooks was basically irrelevant in fantasy football, finishing as the WR61 in PPR and finishing the year with just two receiving touchdowns and one game over 100 receiving yards.

Cooks is likely going to be someone that doesn’t get much respect going into 2020, considering the fact that he gets overlooked year-in and year-out. For that reason, look for Cooks to be someone who is a value next year in fantasy football and bounces back. The speed and talent that Cooks brings to an offense cannot be ignored, and despite a poor season this year I’d look for Cooks to be someone that will be sneaky good for fantasy purposes with a bounce-back season. Cooks is signed with the Rams through 2024, but with the money that he is owed and the direction that offense is going, I wouldn’t be totally shocked if he ends up getting traded over this offseason. Even if he does end up back in Los Angeles, I’d definitely expect the Rams to get him going. As someone who is clearly an offensive weapon and has been heavily utilized in the past, I’d expect Cooks to return to fantasy-relevance in 2020.

 

T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts

Heading into the 2019 season, the entire Colts offense saw a major drop in value thanks to Andrew Luck's sudden retirement. T.Y. Hilton has been a fairly underrated wide receiver for fantasy purposes in recent years and once again was drafted as a low-end WR1 or high-end WR2 even with Jacoby Brissett taking over. After dealing with some injuries throughout the season and not seeing the field for his normal workload since Week 8 against the Broncos, Hilton ended up missing six total games this year and finished as the WR57 in PPR scoring.

After his first three games of the season, it looked like Hilton was going to be productive once again, scoring four times over that span. It was later revealed that Hilton had been apparently playing through a calf injury all season, which ended up being a nasty injury where he actually had a two-centimeter tear in his calf. After starting off the season with five touchdowns in the first five weeks, it’s clear that Hilton just wasn’t himself after his injury. Heading into 2020, Hilton will likely be undervalued. Regardless of who is at quarterback, I’d expect Hilton to be the top receiving option for the Colts, and despite being 30 years old, he’ll look to bounce back strong.

 

Honorable Mention

A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals

Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings

Will Fuller, Houston Texans

More Fantasy Football Analysis




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Reynaldo López10 mins ago

Reynaldo Lopez To Undergo Right-Shoulder Surgery
Brett de Geus49 mins ago

Phillies Claim Brett de Geus Off Waivers From Marlins
Nick Mears57 mins ago

Beginning Rehab Assignment At Triple-A
Aaron Civale1 hour ago

Plays Catch On Tuesday
Masataka Yoshida1 hour ago

Resumes Swinging
Liam Hendriks1 hour ago

Resumes Throwing
Kutter Crawford1 hour ago

Hasn't Faced Hitters
Lucas Giolito2 hours ago

To Make A Rehab Start On Wednesday
Brayan Bello2 hours ago

To Make Rehab Start On Tuesday
Alexis Díaz2 hours ago

Alexis Diaz Throws Live BP On Tuesday
Max Scherzer2 hours ago

Day-To-Day After Getting Cortisone Shot
Freddie Freeman2 hours ago

Likely Out Until Friday
Willson Contreras2 hours ago

Taking First Day Off
Edouard Julien3 hours ago

Making First Start Of The Season
Dylan Crews3 hours ago

Not Starting Against Blue Jays
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.3 hours ago

Sitting Out In New York
Paul Goldschmidt3 hours ago

Hitting Leadoff Again
Jonathan Aranda3 hours ago

Christopher Morel Sitting Against Pirates
Jose Siri3 hours ago

Making Another Start In Center Field
Brett Baty4 hours ago

Sitting Against A Right-Hander
Kyle Higashioka4 hours ago

Back In The Lineup, Jonah Heim Takes A Seat
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP
10
9
11
10
12
19
13
22
14
24
15
25
16
33
17
39
18
40
19
41

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
Tyreek Hill - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Three Aging Fantasy Football Players To Sell In Dynasty Leagues

It's hard to always know when to sell off your aging fantasy football players. Often, it's also difficult to accept that it's better to move on from a player when he's coming off a productive season and still has a lot left in the tank. But I believe it's better to be a year early […]


J.J. McCarthy - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Draft Sleepers

Five Fantasy Football Superflex Quarterback Breakouts, Draft Targets (2025)

If you’ve ever played in a Superflex fantasy football league, then you know how important quarterbacks are in this format. The ability to start multiple stud quarterbacks can carry you to a Superflex title. Unfortunately, finding two such players isn’t so easy. All the top signal-callers come off draft boards first, and that makes it […]


Omarion Hampton - College Football Rankings, NCAA CFB DFS Lineup Picks - NFL Draft

Ideal Landing Spots For The Top 12 Fantasy Football Rookies - 2025 NFL Draft

Then, the NFL Draft continues to inch closer and closer. This is a very interesting class, with a handful of players who could be stars in the NFL and reshape fantasy football leagues going forward. Here are the ideal landing spots for the top 12 fantasy football rookies. These picks exist in conversation with each […]


Jalen Coker - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Eight Best Ball Late Round Value Fantasy Football Players To Target For 2025

Fantasy football is the most popular game in all of sports. It has gone from a paper-and-pen game to a multi-million dollar-a-year one. While redraft leagues are the most popular form of fantasy football, best ball leagues are quickly gaining steam. The best part of best ball leagues is the ability to draft thousands of […]


Abdul Carter - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

2025 NFL Draft Rankings: Top 10 Fantasy Football Edge Rusher Prospects

Edge rusher is the most important, most coveted, and most highly-paid position on defense in the NFL. It stands to reason that the most important position in the entire game being quarterback, and by a wide margin, means the most important position on defense are the players that are tasked with disrupting opposing QBs as […]


Brock Purdy - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Picks

Brock Purdy Dynasty Fantasy Football Outlook and Trade Value

Despite becoming the all-time leading passer for the Iowa State Cyclones, Brock Purdy wasn't a highly touted prospect due to his perceived lack of athleticism. The 49ers picked him with the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, but Mr. Irrelevant quickly proved everyone wrong. In his first two years, he started in back-to-back NFC […]


Michael Florio's Football Show - Podcast RotoBaller Network

Florio's Football Show: Scouting NFL Draft Prospects!

Michael F Florio goes over some of the top prospects from this years NFL Draft. Florio talks about what he looks for when watching prospect tape and explains what traits translate best to the NFL level. Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (SiriusXM channel 87) on Sundays from 6-7 am. You can […]


Najee Harris - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Dynasty Fantasy Football Buy or Sell: Najee Harris, Rico Dowdle, Jordan Mason

One year ago, we discussed the futures of Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, and Aaron Jones as those free agents found new homes. This year's headliners are Najee Harris, Rico Dowdle, and Jordan Mason. Not quite the same. Still, with every transaction come implications for dynasty fantasy football rosters across the globe. Below, we […]


Romeo Doubs - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Early 2025 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Undervalued NFC Draft Targets

While the 2025 fantasy football redraft season is still several months away, there is no such thing as being too prepared for your fantasy draft. Fantasy football is year-round, even for those who only play in redraft leagues. The landscape of fantasy football will change between today and the start of redraft season, with the […]


Detroit Lions Defense, Aidan Hutchinson - Fantasy Football DST Rankings, Streamers, IDP Sleepers

2025 Fantasy Football IDP Sleepers: Five Draft Targets

It's notably difficult to identify sleepers in fantasy football IDP leagues. The skill of the players in question is very important, but situation also plays a large factor, as does a recent history of injuries. Rather than bucketing them into groups, it's better to analyze each one individually, look at where they are in terms […]


Ashton Jeanty - College Football Rankings, NCAA CFB DFS Lineup Picks

Ashton Jeanty's Top Potential Landing Spots For 2025: Fantasy Football NFL Draft Outlook

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty will enter the 2025 NFL Draft as one of the best prospects in the class. Jeanty just ran for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns across 14 games this past college season. Those 2,601 rush yards were the second-most of all-time in FBS history, only behind Barry Sanders's 2,628 rush yards […]


Bhaysul Tuten - NFL Draft Prospects, Rookie Rankings

2025 Fantasy Football Rookie Mock Draft: 12-Team, Single QB

The 2025 NFL Combine has now been completed, so it's worth doing another mock draft to see where everyone stands after the league's pre-draft testing event. Overall, there were a few surprises, but the order of many players will remain the same. The mental domain of the original rankings, which have been fairly set in […]


Rashid Shaheed - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

2025 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Later-Career Breakout Candidates

Typically, most NFL players break out in the early parts of their careers. Between the ages of 20 and 25 is when you expect to see the majority of players have their first big season. Some waste no time and put together excellent years while they're rookies, while some need more time to develop. These […]