It doesn’t help fantasy football managers that Saquon Barkley is owning his bad season. All they know is the Eagles haven’t been the same this year. And Saquon Barkley is one of the concerning fantasy football bad beats, along with the Chiefs' Xavier Worthy.
Barkley has only finished as an RB1 three times this year. And his highest finish is No. 8. He hasn’t topped 100 yards rushing, has scored only four total touchdowns, and has been held to single-digit receiving yards four times. Included in the mix was Sunday’s one catch for minus-2 yards. That’s downright ugly.
RB Saquon Barkley struggling to find fantasy points
Barkley said last year’s workload hasn’t hurt him this year, according to NJ.com.
“I don’t agree with that,” he said. “We’re just not getting the job done. I’m not getting the job done. I own the running game. That’s my responsibility. I was brought here to make plays in the run game, and I’m not making plays in the run game. I’m taking too many negative runs. And I own that.
“It’s not because I rushed for 2,000 yards last year. I hate that narrative. I rushed for 2,000 yards last year, but no one wanted me to rush for 2,000 yards. It wasn’t like they just handed us 2,000 yards rushing. We just had a different mindset and a different attitude, and that starts with me.”
But the bottom line is, Barkley hasn’t found his groove. The question is whether he will come to life as the season progresses. Or is it a trend that will last the entire year?
Offensive tackle Joran Mailata said he thinks the Eagles found some things against the Vikings on Sunday.
“I think putting this on film is going to open the running game,” Mailata said. “Again, we’re not happy with our execution, especially with the run game. But in terms of opening the passing game, that worked. It kind of reminded me of the Super Bowl. They shut down our running game, but our passing game opened, and we also had the mix of plays because they didn’t know what we were doing from under center.”
The verdict: Barkley won’t be what he was last year, but this is a good time to trade for him because he will bounce back and have a few game-winning weeks.
Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy trying to find his place
Even before the Chiefs got healthy, Worthy had trouble cutting loose. He posted finishes of Nos. 18, 51, 24, and 41 over the last four games. And he was suppsoed to be that guy for the Chiefs this year. Or at least a strong 1B with Rashee Rice.
Worthy got put on a pedestal after his performance against the Ravens earlier this season. It was his first game back after the season-opening injury, and he caught five balls for 83 yards while rushing for 38 yards. The Chiefs seemed to love it, according to ESPN.
“He's just so explosive,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “When you get the ball in his hands, man, it just makes defenses have to adjust. And when they adjust, because he gets so much attention on him, other guys can make plays happen. Just having him out there, not only for his physical abilities but just the morale of the [locker room], I thought it was huge.”
Worthy seemed to expect bigger and better things to come.
“We're just going to keep growing, and that's just the chemistry that we've built,” Worthy said of his connection with Mahomes. “When I talked to Coach [Andy Reid], he was like, ‘How do you feel?' I said, ‘I'm going out there and I'm doing everything.' I'm not trying to be limited. I had never missed a game before in my life.”
Since then, nothing like that. But Worthy has an attitude of getting into a groove despite injury woes.
“When I got hurt in the beginning of the first game, it hurt me, and I felt I let the guys down,” Worthy said. “That's just the player I am. When I got back out there, I just vowed to myself that I'm going to make plays.”
The verdict: Rice’s return will change Worthy’s volume. That will make Worthy a boom or bust guy from week to week.
RB Ashton Jeanty hasn’t found consistency
With only two RB1 finishes this season, Jeanty has been a disappointment. He had one giant week. But week to week, he hasn’t been able to cut loose.
One of the biggest problems has been finding the end zone. And with the state of the Raiders’ offense, that probably won’t change for the rest of the season. A coaching change might help Jeanty get untracked, but it seems like the Raiders will stick with Carroll at least through the end of the season.
