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Fantasy Football: Breaking Up with Keenan Allen

Keenan Allen wasn't able to return ADP value in 2014

Keenan Allen wasn’t able to return ADP value in 2014

I admit…the internet isn’t the best place to vent about relationship problems. In fact, it is an easy mark for classlessness, immaturity and a lack of self control. Being a former high school teacher, I’ve seen Twitter invaded with former students whose patented “ugggghhhh” and “It’s over” tweets make me feel like American teenagers are going down the drain.

But if I had to tweet out about my recent relationship breakup it would read: “Sorry Keenan. So much potential. So much to like. #movingon”

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Keenan Allen led all rookies in 2013 and set a team record with 1,046 receiving yards and 71 catches on 105 targets during the regular season, becoming just the fifth rookie since 2000 to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards. That was worthy of ranking as the 20th WR in standard leagues and 19th in PPR leagues.

So after an amazing rookie year in 2013, I was excited about the prospects of “dating” a sophomore. An up-and-comer who seemed to fit comfortably in my WR2 wheelhouse with WR1 upside. I drafted him in my league of college friends as my WR2 behind A.J. Green thinking I’d have the WR position on lock down.

(Simple fantasy football dating advice kids; don’t ever assume you have a position on lock down. You’re an injury away from your team going into panic mode.)

Heck, I was so excited about Allen that I dubbed him my “guy” for 2014. The player who I would champion, laud, and fight for the entire year. I listened to every single Chargers radio broadcast (I live in Atlanta) last year for the sheer fun of doing yard work Sunday afternoons with my main squeeze Keenan. You could say I was the obsessive one in the relationship. My wife knew all about Keenan and how things were going in “fantasy life.”

The only problem was hanging on in the relationship when things weren’t working out as planned. I had Allen penciled in that WR2 spot time and time again hoping for the breakout week. But the Chargers were stubborn in their run game. Even when Ryan Mathews and Danny Woodhead went down, they ran out the dynamic duo of Donald Brown and Branden Oliver and failed to let Rivers launch it down field to my guy. I was furious listening on the radio. But there was a bigger issue going on…

If you were to watch a compilation of Allen’s highlights from 2014, it would fail to show the inordinate number of times he “slipped” throughout the season. That’s correct. Allen’s precision route-running skills is what set him apart in 2013. However, I cannot explain the number of times he “fell down” throughout 2014 as his footwork and trouble breaking away from press coverage was extremely poor. If you have some time, Youtube through 2014 Chargers games and count. As a fantasy owner, I was mystified the numbers of times my guy was finishing the play on the ground with turf in his helmet.

After his breakout rookie year, I also noticed how teams were keying in on Allen as he began to draw coverage from some of the top cornerbacks in the league. He would frequently be bumped at the line of scrimmage to get knocked off his route. For instance, in Week 16 he was held to two catches for three yards by New England’s Darrelle Revis. Yes, that is not a misprint. Overall, Allen ended up with 77 catches for only 783 yards, a 10.2 yards per catch average which was disappointing to say the least. Other than two breakout games in Weeks 11 and 13, he was also held without a touchdown for most of the season. He finished as the 37th ranked WR in my PPR league behind the likes of Mohamed Sanu, Marques Colston, and even his teammate Eddie Royal! And as I failed to make the playoffs (despite being what I considered to be the most knowledgeable guy in my league and the only one who writes for fantasy websites), boy were things getting rocky in the relationship.

After mulling it over all offseason and preparing my initial rankings for 2015, my wife asked the other day, “You still have a thing for that Keenan guy? He let you down all year.” In 2015, Keenan is currently being taken as the 25th WR overall and 56th overall. And although I expect his 2015 numbers to look similar to his rookie year totals…it’s over Keenan.

Kyle Borgognoni is an MLB and NFL correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Kyle, check out his archive and follow him @kyle_borg.

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