The first five picks of your fantasy draft are crucial in building a solid team. These five players will serve as your foundation, and hopefully, put up big numbers each week for your fantasy team. However, if one or more of your top five picks don’t live up to their status, you will be relying a lot on your bench and free-agent pickups, which is almost always not a sustainable strategy. Throughout this article, I will go through my top five fantasy football busts of the 2020-2021 NFL season.

5. John Brown, WR, Buffalo Bills

Starting off my top five fantasy football busts countdown is the speedy John Brown. Although Brown had more than 1000 yards receiving last season, the addition of Stefon Diggs really hurts Brown’s fantasy value. John Brown is a dangerous downfield target, however, Diggs is a more athletic, taller, and talented receiver than Brown, giving Diggs more of the downfield opportunities. Last season, Brown relied on big yard gains, as he averaged under five receptions per game and with the addition of Diggs, Brown will get less big yard gain opportunities. John Brown also isn’t the tallets of receivers, which means fewer red-zone targets for Brown. Even though Brown had a solid 2019-2020 season, I think he will take a step back and should be avoided by fantasy owners.

4. Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Coming in at number four on my countdown is 6’5 receiver, Mike Evans. Evans has put up hall of fame type numbers through his six-seasons in the NFL. Since 2014, Evans has averaged 1210 yards receiving along with 8 TD’s per year. While these are mind-blowing numbers, Evans has had the perfect QB for his playstyle, Jameis Winston. Winston had no problem chucking the ball up to Evans, no matter the coverage, circumstance, or down. This high-risk, high reward style of play tremendously benefited Evans because of the amount of opportunities he got downfield.

With Winston leaving and Tom Brady coming in, Evans may not see the same numbers as previous years. Tom Brady is a conservative quarterback, who doesn’t chuck the ball up every few downs. Brady will be 43 years old by the time the season starts. If Brady can even throw deep bombs downfield is a huge question mark. Something that Mike Evans will always have no matter the team or quarterback is his height. Evans will always be a red-zone target and an amazing receiver, which does give him some value this season, but with an aging and conservative QB in Tampa this season, Evans may not be the WR1 we are all used to seeing.

3. David Johnson, RB, Houston Texans

At number three on my fantasy football bust countdown is Houston Texans RB, David Johnson. Since his injury in 2017, Johnson has never looked the same and hasn’t shown the NFL or fantasy owners that he is the same RB from 2016. Last season David Johnson lost his starting role in Arizona to Kenyan Drake. Once Drake emerged as the Cardinals new RB1, Johnson was dealt to the Texans in the offseason. While Johnson is Houston’s new starting RB, his injury history and Houston’s lack of offense makes Johnson a huge question mark going into the 2020-2021 NFL season. If you are looking for a starting RB for your fantasy team, I would look elsewhere because David Johnson hasn’t shown much fantasy potential for a few seasons now.

2. Le’Veon Bell, RB, New York Jets

My number two fantasy football bust is RB, Le’Veon Bell. To say Bell had a disappointing 2019-2020 season is an understatement. Fantasy owners thought that Bell would have picked up where he left off from the 2017-2018 season, but this was not at all the case. Bell only rushed for 789 yards and took it across the pylon only three times. Not only did Bell have a terrible year on the field, but Jets head coach Adam Gase isn’t the biggest fan of Le’Veon. The amount of snaps that Bell will see this upcoming season is a huge question mark, which just adds to the confusion and uncertainty surrounding Bell. I would definitely not draft Bell with my first five picks this season, and maybe not even draft him at all.

1. Odell Beckham Jr., WR, Cleveland Browns

The award for the biggest fantasy football bust going into the 2020-2021 NFL season goes to… Odell Beckham Jr.! Since his injury in 2017, Beckham Jr. hasn’t been the same explosive and dangerous wideout that he once was. Beckham hasn’t put up more than six TD’s since 2017 and has seemed to lost an edge. Being traded to the Browns in 2019 also didn’t help OBJ’s fantasy value. Beckham Jr. is now on a team with Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, Jarvis Landry, and Austin Hooper. All of these offensive weapons gives Baker Mayfield a plethora of targets to throw to, giving Beckham less opportunities. Beckham is someone you should continue to avoid this upcoming season because ever since his ankle injury, he has only disappointed fantasy owners.

If you want to read about some sleepers this season, click here

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