This week, I am going to change up the articles with a discussion of faltering players who were rookies last year. Everyone talks about the dreaded “sophomore slump”, a term that has not applied for players such as Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan. While this drop-off does not seem present for the most obvious players, there are others who seem to be suspect to this poor play the following year, especially when this is least expected.
Steve Slaton – Here is one of the more obvious slumpers as Slaton has not been able to buck the trend with a paltry 127 rushing yards & 97 receiving yards (9 rec) through 3 games. The Texans have been erratic in all games and have been trailing in all three, which means the passing game is high octane, but the running game is disregarded seemingly. Some good news is Chris Brown had a critical fumble near the goal line and this could help with Slaton being used more often as the goal line back in Houston.
Matt Forte – Forte is another guy who has had large expectations, but has come up rather small and not meriting a top three pick thus far this season. Similar to Slaton, Forte’s stats in the RB 2/3 category as well with only 150 rushing yards & 73 receiving yards (11 rec) thus far. Forte is getting better, but ever so slowly and is reminding owners of Ryan Grant last year with a lot of quantity and no quality efforts. Detroit is up next and Forte needs to have a breakout performance simply to rejuvenate confidence in the running game for future games.
Aaron Rodgers – Now Rodgers is not struggling as badly as the two players above. But Rodgers is suspect to what I called the delayed sophomore slump with only 4 TD’s in 3 games as this in essence is his 2nd year in the NFL as well. Rodgers broke out against the Rams and keep that in mind as the litmus test should be coming up against Minnesota. The Bears and Bengals have shown that they are legit defenses, but if Rodgers cannot produce much against the Vikings and their below-average pass defense, there is great reason to be concerned. The offensive line thus far has given him no time as well, which does not help the cause at all, as Rodgers may not have merited the draft pick over guys like Philip Rivers and Tony Romo in fantasy drafts.
Pierre Thomas – I write this right after Thomas had a monster game against the Bills going for 124 yds & 2 TD’s in a half. Thomas is a 3rd year player, but really had his biggest year last year and in what is essentially his second year as well, I believe that the expectations of a massive year also need to be tempered. Thomas is injury prone and has not carried the burden of a full time RB yet. Until that is proven, I think owners can tend to be too high on him even in the Saints offense. Similar to the Rodgers & Forte, the Jets D should prove to be daunting and Thomas’ performance should give a good barometer to how good he actually is moving forward in the season.
Eddie Royal – Royal has been a huge disappointment this year in a Broncos offense that seems to be run first and pass little thus far. Royal has 6 receptions for 42 yards this entire year and those are anemic totals for owners who drafted him in the 6th to 8th rounds. Royal needs receptions more than any other stat and against defenses where he should produce, he has done very little. Royal is nearly waiveable in shallower leagues where WR’s are constantly coming onto the wire. Cut him loose while you can.
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