MISSING
Doug Martin
Age: 25 Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Position: Running Back
Doug "The Muscle Hamster" Martin was once one of the most promising running backs in the NFL. After a promising season in 2012 where Martin went off for 1,454 rushing yards and 11 TD's, Martin has been a huge disappointment. Injuries cut his 2013 season short, so there was a good reason for his ugly season last year. This year though? Martin was able to compete in ten games for Tampa Bay, but he wasn't really impressive at all. According to Pro Football Focus, Martin only graded out with a positive grade in one game this season. He took 324 snaps, got 114 rushing attempts and only managed to get 386 rushing yards for an average of 3.4 yards per carry. Those are awful numbers for a guy who was once considered a future #1 overall pick in fantasy football. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Bucs part ways with Martin after this season as he clearly doesn't have what it takes to be a long-term starting NFL running back.
MISSING
Jadeveon Clowney
Age: 21 Team: Houston Texans Position: LB/DL
The #1 overall pick in last year's NFL Draft was supposed to come into the league, line-up alongside the best defensive player in the NFL in J.J. Watt and terrorize other NFL team's for years to come. Instead, Clowney missed most of the season with injuries and was never around long enough to make any sort of significant impact. He only took 146 snaps and in the game where he took the most snaps (against the Bengals in week 12), he graded out with a negative grade. It's far too early to call Clowney a bust, but you can safely say that his rookie season was a bust because the guy contributed absolutely nothing.
MISSING
Dwayne Bowe
Age: 30 Team: Kansas City Chiefs Position: WR
There was a time when I comfortably thought that Dwayne Bowe could potentially turn into one of the top 3 wide receivers in the league. That time has officially passed. It's now been 3 seasons since Bowe passed the 1,000 yard mark in a season (a mark he's reached only three times in his eight-year career). As a matter of fact, the last two seasons of Bowe's career have been the worst one since his injury-plagued third season. That just doesn't cut the mustard for a guy who's getting paid as one of the NFL's top WR's. You know what else doesn't cut the mustard for a top NFL WR? Catching absolutely zero touchdown's this season. It might be a little "assholish" to blame all that on Bowe, but the guy is getting paid like he's one of the best players at his position. Perhaps he should start playing like it? It wouldn't shock me to see Kansas City cut Bowe in the off-season as the 30-year old's production on-the-field isn't going to improve as he gets older.
MISSING
Eric Decker
Age: 27 Team: New York Jets Position: WR
Raise your hand if you expected Eric Decker's production to take a huge dip this season! Of course, a dip in production should be expected for a wide receiver who goes from having Peyton Manning to Geno Smith as his quarterback, but that's besides the point. What people don't understand is, Decker really isn't that good of a wide receiver, especially for his price tag. Decker had the benefit of playing with Manning for two seasons and he saw his numbers sky-rocket. The only problem with that is, when Decker doesn't have Manning throwing him the ball.....he's an average wide receiver. Jets fans are going to find that out real quick, if they haven't already.
MISSING
Vernon Davis
Age: 30 Team: San Francisco 49ers Position: TE
My, how the mighty have fallen. The once-reliable Vernon Davis has fallen off this year in a traumatic way. Davis posted up the worst numbers in his nine-year NFL career across the board this season and it wasn't even close. In thirteen games so far this year, Davis has graded out negatively in seven of them with a HORRIFIC grade in week 6 against the Rams. Davis was once considered a top-tier TE to play in fantasy football. After a season where he only caught 25 balls for 236 yards and 2 TD's....I'll be surprised if he even gets drafted in fantasy football next year. As a matter of fact, I'll be surprised if this guy is still a 49er next year. He only has one season left remaining on his contract, but he will have a $7 million cap hit against SF next season and that's extremely too high for a guy who's production isn't matching up to his salary. Look forward to seeing this guy in another uniform next year.
MISSING
Luke Joeckel
Age: 23 Team: Jacksonville Jaguars Position: LT
It appears for the time being, that the Jaguars really whiffed with their #2 overall pick in last year's draft. Left tackle Luke Joeckel has been horrifically bad in his first two NFL seasons. His first season was cut short by an injury, but year two was supposed to be where Joeckel (who was widely considered the best talent in the 2013 NFL draft) took off. Unfortunately for Jags fans, that didn't happen. Joeckel played in almost every single game this year and only graded out positive in two of those games. He's struggling in both pass and rush blocking and gave up six sacks this year. Joeckel really needs to have an outstanding season next year to make sure he's not the latest "NFL Draft Bust" in a long line of busts (for the record, Kansas City Chiefs' LT Eric Fisher could also be listed here as well....but he's been a little better than Joeckel so far).
MISSING
Matt Kalil
Age: 25 Team: Minnesota Vikings Position: OT
One of the biggest disappointments this season has easily been the dip in production of Matt Kalil. There was a time when Kalil (the fourth overall pick in the 2012 draft) was considered an elite left tackle prospect. After a rookie season where he played all sixteen games and graded out negatively in only two of them (an outstanding feat for a rookie offensive lineman), we saw a little slip in his game last season during his second year in the league. We all thought that was attributed to Kalil just having an extremely impressive rookie year where he set the bar too high. Unfortunately, that rookie year is looking like an anomaly now. In fifteen games this year, Kalil has yet to grade out positive in one game so far. As a matter of fact, he's graded out negatively in 9 games so far and has given up 12 sacks overall. That is just extremely awful for a guy who was once considered to have the talent to be an elite level LT. It wouldn't shock me to see the Vikings part ways with Kalil this off-season as his regression in the league has to be alarming. They especially can't afford to have him around while they are trying to mold Teddy Bridgewater into an NFL franchise QB. Anyway you slice it, Matt Kalil's drop in production has been one of the most shocking things in the NFL this season.
MISSING
Tyson Jackson
Age: 28 Team: Atlanta Falcons Position: DL
Tyson Jackson was a good (not great) football player for the Kansas City Chiefs. In 2013, he had a decent year for Kansas City, but Chiefs executives weren't sold on Jackson's long-term prospects and let Jackson walk in free agency after the Atlanta Falcons offered an outrageous contract to him (5 years for $25 million). It seems like the Chiefs knew what they were doing because Jackson has been awful this season. He's only managed one sack, twelve tackles, and has only graded out positive in two games so far this year. Unfortunately for Falcons fans, he's not going to get any better. He was never that great to begin with, and when you reward an average employee with a good employee's contract....the results are never good.
MISSING
Bradley Fletcher
Age: 28 Team: Philadelphia Eagles Position: CB
OK. This one was a joke. If you've turned your TV on to a Philadelphia Eagles football game this season, there's a good chance you've seen Fletcher getting torched by a wide receiver. He's not missing, but his coverage skills are. If you've seen those, please mail them to ChipKelly@WeWantMarcusMariota.com.
MISSING
Kenny Vaccaro
Age: 23 Team: New Orleans Saints Position: Safety
One of the big reasons for the Saints' disappointing season in 2014 had to have been the drop-off in play of Kenny Vaccaro. After Vaccaro's outstanding rookie season (Vaccaro started out poor in 2013, but quickly turned things around as he had a positive PFF grade in six of the eight final Saints' games), we saw a significant drop off in play this year. Vaccaro only had two good games this season and looked absolutely atrocious in games against the Falcons, Cowboys, and 49ers. The good news is, Vaccaro is still young and this last season may have just been a sophomore slump and he could get things turned around next year. The bad news is, a drop in production like Vaccaro just suffered is alarming and the Saints should definitely be concerned that Vaccaro has already peaked as an NFL player.
MISSING
Robert Griffin III
Age: 24 Team: Washington Redskins Position: QB
There was a time when NFL experts thought Robert Griffin III was a better overall quarterback prospect than Andrew Luck (I was not a member of that group....). Fast forward to now and those people are very quiet regarding that argument (well, all of them except for ESPN's Skip Bayless who remains the biggest idiot in sports media). While it's absolutely crazy and stupid to compare RG III to Luck now, it happened at one time. RG III isn't worried about being better than Andrew Luck anymore. RG III is worried about being good enough to just start for an NFL team. Judging from the year he just had in Washington, I would say the "RG III Project" has failed big-time and it's time to blow-up the prototype and start over again. Sorry RG III fans, but the kid is a bust.
If you have information on any of the above missing person's, please call:
24-hour tip-line:
555-855-3948
Roger Goodell's house:
555-394-3858
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