Urban Meyer was gloomy for Jacksonville

By Chinmay Kulkarni

There are a thousand storylines written during every fantasy football season strictly about the best players in the league or the specific teams with the greatest quality players. But we never give shine to the bottom feeder teams, the Mr. Irrelevants. See, it takes power just to be invited to the fantasy football party, and some teams are simply happy to be seated at the table with the contenders. They’re quite a few teams that have young rosters, unsurmountable injuries, or just plain incompetence at the helm that make the cut for this list.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been a complete dumpster fire this entire season ”“ setting a clear bad example of how to run a sports franchise into the ground. Furthermore, the Jags seemingly inventing ways to upstage their own off-field problems by creating new ones It starts at the top with the owners, Shahid Khan and his son Tony Khan, a family more interested in their own business and running knockoff (but successful) versions of WWE, in AEW wrestling. The hiring of Urban Meyer symbolizes the impending doom on their season, even before the season had begun.

Fast-forward to week 15 of the NFL season – the Jaguars are on a course to ruin Trevor Lawrence’s career even before it started, have won 2 games (somehow beating the Bills by only kicking field goals), and have a HC who leads with a sense of chaos while fostering a culture of mismanagement. Sure, in the words of RG3, it may take pressure to make diamonds, but it’s impossible to make diamonds when a foundation doesn’t even exist.

James Robinson and Marvin Jones Jr were the only fantasy-relevant players in Jacksonville. Unfortunately, Urban Meyer is bricked into thinking this is 2016 and continues to run Carlos Hyde as if Robinson doesn’t exist on the roster. Surrounding Trevor Lawrence with talent at the WR/TE spot has largely been a failure, though Marvin Janes Jr does hang around as a flex play in deeper leagues.

Also, I was reminded recently that Tavon Austin is still in the league. I think Urban Meyer really does think it’s 2016.

(Update: Urban Meyer has been fired)

Chicago Bears

There’s a slight trend to the teams on this list – they have to do with the uninspiring coaching staff. Matt Nagy and the Chicago Bears are no different, standing at 4-9 and third in the NFC North. This division always seems to be a hotbed for coaches perpetually on the hot seat, bad, or have a terrible roster. Unfortunately, Matt Nagy is hands down the worst coach in the NFC North, but Mike Zimmer takes a small runner up in the category.

Regardless, the main purpose of the Chicago Bears should be to grow talent on offense and defense, especially to allow Justin Fields to acclimate to the NFL. However, instead of doing what Fields is good at -running with the football – Nagy consistently wants to throw the ball and run the ball behind a weak offensive line.

David Montgomery is the most fantasy relevant player on the Bears, being the bell cow back, and having two games with 20+ points. The problem – durability and consistency. Montgomery missed 4-games in the middle of the season and returned to provide decent RB2 status. The Bears are a relatively predictable team, so playing defense against them is reasonably easy combined with the suspect playcalling from Matt Nagy.

The greatest surprise of the season comes from the WR core, especially with the success of Darnell Mooney and surpassing Allen Robinson. The receiver has had three 100+ receiving yard games. However, relying on him and the Bears offense wholly does not produce consistent results.

On a side note, Matt Nagy should 100% be fired at the end of this season. The Bears have never fired a HC in-season so it sounds like this slow-moving wreck is going to continue for a few more weeks until the inevitable ”“ or they somehow make the playoffs and Nagy gets a contract extension. Seems like something the Bears would do.

Houston Texans

To be honest, I didn’t even know if the Texans would be able to play a full football season – just punting on the season. The DeShaun Watson saga continues to drag on without any end in sight, the front office and coaching staff restart with the firing of Bill O’Brien, and the endless clown show at the running back position, it seems that any semblance of balance would not even be allowed at the Texans practice facility.

The problems, from both a fantasy and a football standpoint, come from the QB position. Tyrod Taylor has turned into the traveling salesman at the QB position, normally signifying better days for the QB that takes over his place. As with the incompetence of the Texans, Davis Mills was ”˜that guy for maybe three-quarters of an NFL game, and then proceeded the nosedive.

The Texans backfield has been a mess, with Phillip Lindsay, David Johnson, Mark Ingram (now with the Saints), and Rex Burkhead. A backfield of yesteryear has been accumulated and David Culley attempts to squeeze any sort of life from his backs as well as his fans.

An absolute minuscule glint in the Texans is Brandin Cooks. Cooks, throughout his career, has been a reliable source of fantasy points and was the clear WR1 on the team – drawing all targets his way. Fortunately, the AFC South is not known for lockdown defense, spurring him into the top-25 in fantasy production amongst WRs. Though the Texans may not see light at the end of the tunnel, Cooks is the only Texans player that can be drafted in next season’s draft, provided they don’t draft/sign a better WR.