As fantasy managers, we often face difficult decisions. To sit, or not to sit? In an age where data is coming at us more frequently than ever, it’s easy for information to become over-saturated or lost in translation. This article series will be here each week to help you filter through the jungle of statistics so you can make more educated lineup decisions. Welcome to the “Panic Meter.”
Each week, we’ll feature several underperforming players with an assigned grade corresponding to the appropriate level of panic for the respective player/performance. Below is a scale with grades between 0 and 4 and a strategy that correlates to the specific grade.
| PANIC METER GRADE | STRATEGY/PLAN OF ACTION |
| 0 | This past week was not ideal, but it can be chalked up as an anomaly. Don’t even think about benching them. |
| 1 | Panic is setting in. The leash becomes shorter but said player is still in consideration as a starter. Make sure a Plan-B is in place. |
| 2 | Officially panicked, exploring trade options, and possibly benching for a more proven/reliable option. |
| 3 | Fire sale. Get rid of them for whatever you can before it’s too late. They can no longer be trusted as a starter. A borderline drop-candidate. |
| 4 | Sever all ties. Smash the drop button so hard that man ends up in the shadow realm. |
Dameon Pierce (RB – HOU) | Panic Meter: 0
Pierce delivered his worst game of the season in week 11, taking his 12 touches for just 17 yards and 3.7 PPR points. Despite the Texans’ offense struggling mightily in recent weeks, this dud is likely nothing more than a blip on the radar. Prior to this week, Pierce had gone seven consecutive games with at least 18 touches and 12+ PPR points. He accounted for 100+ all-purpose yards six times during that span. The Texans’ offense has not been good all season, and Pierce has still managed to be successful regardless. Don’t let one especially bad game scare you into thinking he isn’t a must-start.
Josh Allen (QB – BUF) | Panic Meter: 1
It’s official: Allen is in a slump. He began the season averaging 28.8 PPG in Weeks 1-6. In the four games since, he is averaging 18.6 PPG and has turned the ball over seven times. After his worst game of the season (204 all-purpose yards, 12.6 points) there is a slight cause for concern. However, that doesn’t mean going overboard. Allen may not be delivering QB1 overall numbers recently, but he is still very much playing like a QB1. Aside from week 11, Allen has at least 17.6 points in every game this season. If you are the Allen manager in your league, hold strong. The worst thing you can do at the moment is sell him for anything less than peak value. Don’t let this recent skid dissuade you from Allen as the epitome of a fantasy QB1. If you are not the Allen manager in your league, use this small amount of panic to your advantage because this is likely the largest his trade window is going to get.
Miles Sanders (RB – PHI) | Panic Meter: 1
For the second consecutive week, Sanders has delivered less than 6.0 PPR points and finished outside the top 30 RBs. It’s fair to say the Eagles have looked significantly less elite in the past two weeks. However, Sanders is still commanding a large majority of the backfield snaps/touches. Despite a recent downward trend, there’s no real need to panic at the moment. Sanders is just two weeks removed from three straight games with at least 70 yards, 1 TD and 13.5 PPR points. Until we see a larger sample size of disappointing production, Sanders remains a high-end RB2.
Tyler Boyd (WR – CIN) | Panic Meter: 2
For the third consecutive week, Boyd had failed to top 45 receiving yards. He now has back-to-back games with less than 10 PPR points. The worst part about this stretch is that Ja’Marr Chase has been sidelined during it. Next week, Chase is expected to return to the fold and Boyd’s downward spiral will only get worse. His value was somewhere around a WR2 with upside. It will now move to the WR3/sketchy-flex range as the third/fourth option in the Bengals’ pass attack. He should remain rostered, but the fact he failed to capitalize on his best opportunity to produce makes it hard to have much confidence in him as a starter moving forward.
Adam Thielen (WR – MIN) | Panic Meter: 2
After a 4.5-point performance in Week 11 (his lowest score of the season so far) panic has set in for Thielen. Then again, can it really be called panic if expectations weren’t high to begin with? Prior to this week, Thielen had seen at least seven targets in eight consecutive games. So technically some panic can be associated if you saw him as a low-end WR2. Nonetheless, Thielen has topped 70 receiving yards just once this season. Week 11 marked Thielen’s third consecutive single-digit PPR performance. He pretty much is what he is at this point, which is a WR3 with WR2 upside, one that is trending downward.
Diontae Johnson (WR – PIT) | Panic Meter: 3
It has been eight weeks since Johnson managed more than 11 PPR points. He has 9.5 points or less in five of his last seven games. He has just one game this year with more than 63 yards receiving. The list goes on. Johnson has been awful. He is hardly in flex consideration at the moment. He is a borderline drop candidate at this point. The only silver lining is that he has just two games this season under 8.0 PPR points. At the very least he is serviceable. Thanks to a healthy sample-size of past fantasy production from him, he narrowly avoids the cut list.
Cut List | Panic Meter: 4
Chuba Hubbard, Chase Claypool, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Isaiah McKenzie
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