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Dynasty Owner Busts of 2019

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Author: Steven Van Tassell

We gave out the Player of the Year awards first and now, we follow up with the Busts of 2019. Hopefully you weren’t relying on these players to help you capture your Dynasty Owner League Championship because none of them lived up to their expectations in 2019. Unfortunately, there were many “worthy” candidates this season and not all of them made the list.

Like the Player of the Year awards, our Dynasty Owner Busts of the Year awards are for the 14 game Dynasty Owner regular season. We have the Dynasty Owner Bust of the Year, Injury Bust of the Year, Rookie Bust of the Year and Position Busts of the Year (plus runners-up) at every position (QB, RB, WR, TE, K).

All stats are based on the Standard Dynasty Owner scoring system as outlined in the updated Dynasty Owner Constitution. Standard Dynasty Owner scoring gives you .1 points for every yard rushing or receiving, .1 point for every 2 yards passing, 1 point per reception, 6 points for a rushing, receiving or passing touchdown and 2 points for a successful 2-point conversion (rushing, receiving, or passing). Interceptions or fumbles lost cost you 3 points, while a fumble that is recovered by the player’s team is a loss of only 1 point. Bonus points are available for 100-199 yards rushing (2 points), 200 yards rushing or receiving (6 points), 300-399 yards passing (1 point) and 400 yards passing (4 points). There is also a 3 point bonus for clutch scoring, which is a score that results in a lead change in the final two minutes of the 4th quarter or overtime. Kickoff and punt return touchdowns are worth 6 points for the player and kickoff and punt returns are worth .25 points for every 10 yards. Standard Dynasty Owner scoring for kickers gives you 1 point for every extra point, while a missed extra point will cost you 1 point. It’s 2 points for a field goal of between 0 and 39 yards, 4 points for a field goal between 40 and 49 yards and 5 points for a field goal of 50 yards or longer. A missed field goal of between 0 and 39 yards will cost you 3 points, while a miss of 40 yards or more is a loss of 2 points.

Dynasty Owner Bust of the Year

Our first Dynasty Owner Bust of the Year is: Baker Mayfield

The dishonor of Bust of the Year goes to Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield. By no means did Mayfield have the highest cost per point or statistically the worse year in Dynasty Owner, but when you factor in ADP and salary, he’s the choice. Mayfield had an Average Draft Position (ADP) of 9 meaning he was likely drafted by most Dynasty Owners with their first round pick and as the centerpiece of their team. Like the Browns, Baker started slow, with an average of 13.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game in his first six games before the Browns’ bye week. He improved in the seven games after the bye, averaging 20.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game. Better, but still not the production expected from a first round pick. Even though his $8.17 million annual salary is low for a QB, Dynasty Owners who drafted Mayfield were likely looking for more production than he delivered during the 2019 season.

  • Regular Season Points: 224.4
  • Regular Season Salary: $8,170,745
  • Regular Season Cost per Point: $36,412

Injury Bust of the Year

Our Dynasty Owner Injury Bust of the Year is: A.J. Green

A.J. Green is the easy “winner” here as he went the entire Dynasty Owner regular season on the Bengals roster and never played in a game. Not a single one. Green was drafted in 74% of leagues with an ADP of 138 so his Dynasty Owners were probably thinking about keeping him on their Bench and maybe having him Active based on their weekly match-up. Nobody who drafted Green and his $15 million annual salary thought that he wouldn’t play the entire year. The Bengals didn’t even put him on Injured Reserve until Week 17 of the NFL regular season. Therefore, all of his Dynasty Owners had to carry his $15 million salary all year without the ability to use the Injured Reserve spot and save some salary. What a disaster!

  • Regular Season Points: 0.0
  • Regular Season Salary: $15,000,000
  • Regular Season Cost per Point: Not Applicable

Rookie Bust of the Year

Our Dynasty Owner Rookie Bust of the Year is: J.J. Arcega-Whiteside

Our pick for Rookie Bust of the Year is Philadelphia Eagles J.J. Arcega-Whiteside who managed to only score 27.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points during the Dynasty Owner regular season. Arcega-Whiteside was not injured during the season and “played” in all 14 Dynasty Owner regular season games. He scored no Dynasty Owner fantasy points in eight games and had a total of just 3.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points through the first ten games of the season. As the #57 overall pick in the NFL draft, the Eagles were counting on more production from Arcega-Whiteside than he delivered. In Dynasty Owner, he and his $1.236 annual salary was drafted in 100% of leagues with an ADP of 124 – slightly later than fellow second round NFL draft pick, rookie WR D.K. Metcalf who was ADP 111 and finished the Dynasty Owner regular season with 152.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points.

  • Regular Season Points: 27.0
  • Regular Season Salary: $1,235,682
  • Regular Season Cost per Point: $45,766

Position Busts of the Year

Here are the “winners” and runners-up for Bust of the Year at every position (QB, RB, WR, TE, K):

Bust QB of the Year: Baker Mayfield (CLE) – 224.4 points

In addition to everything cited in the Bust of the Year section for Mayfield, we should note that he scored only just over half (52%) as many Dynasty Owner fantasy points as Player of the Year Lamar Jackson. Mayfield’s annual salary is nearly three and a half times more than Jackson’s salary.

Runner-up Bust QB of the Year: Cam Newton (CAR) – 20.5 points

Cam Newton put up just 20.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in his first two games after being drafted in 91% of Dynasty Owner leagues with an ADP of 76, was then benched for a foot injury and never played another game. Unfortunately for his Dynasty Owners, he wasn’t put on Injured Reserve until Week 10, so they had to carry Newton’s $20.76 million salary for most of the Dynasty Owner regular season. He still has one year left on that contract as well. At least his Owners were able to use another QB in Newton’s place once he got benched.

  • Regular Season Points: 20.5
  • Regular Season Salary: $20,760,000
  • Regular Season Cost per Point: $1,012,683

Bust RB of the Year: David Johnson (ARI) – 138.2 points

Through the first six games of the 2019 season, Johnson was nowhere near being called a bust as he scored 121.3 Dynasty Owner fantasy points, an average of 20.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game. At that point, Johnson was definitely worth the $13 million in salary his Dynasty Owners were spending on him, as well as validating his ADP of 52. Then came the game against the New York Giants in Week 7 when he was questionable coming in with an ankle injury. He played one series, rushed for 2 yards and then sat in favor of Chase Edmonds for the rest of the game. After that game, Johnson scored only 16.9 more Dynasty Owner fantasy points for the rest of the Dynasty Owner regular season, leading him to be the Bust RB of the Year.

  • Regular Season Points: 138.2
  • Regular Season Salary: $13,000,000
  • Regular Season Cost per Point: $94,067

Runner-up Bust RB of the Year: Dion Lewis (TEN) – 45.8 points

By virtue of having a cost per point of over $100,000 as a running back, Dion Lewis makes the list as the runner-up RB. Dynasty Owners in 72% of leagues drafted Lewis and his $4.95 million salary, probably as a handcuff in case of a Derrick Henry injury or thinking that he would have a role in the Tennessee offense catching passes on third down. Neither happened as Henry stayed healthy for the entire Dynasty Owner regular season and Lewis averaged less than two receptions per game for the Titans. His ADP of 144 meant he was probably destined for a Bench spot on your Dynasty Owner team, but he didn’t even warrant that as he never scored more than 7.3 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in a single Dynasty Owner regular season game.

  • Regular Season Points: 45.8
  • Regular Season Salary: $4,950,000
  • Regular Season Cost per Point: $108,079

Bust WR of the Year: Brandin Cooks (LAR) – 88.0 points

Cooks started off the 2019 season pretty well, scoring 55.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in his first four games (an average of 13.9 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game). After that, he scored only 32.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points the rest of the season. Admittedly, he did miss two games due to injury, but he still appeared in the other seven games and averaged only 4.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game. Cooks was drafted in 96% of Dynasty Owner leagues and picked fairly high with an ADP of 87. What makes everything worse for Cooks’ Dynasty Owners is that they paid him $16.2 million for this “production” and still have him on their rosters for another four years at the same salary.

  • Regular Season Points: 88.0
  • Regular Season Salary: $16,200,000
  • Regular Season Cost per Point: $184,091

Runner-up Bust WR of the Year: JuJu Smith-Schuster (PIT) – 105.4 points

How many of you were debating on your draft night between Michael Thomas and JuJu Smith-Schuster? Probably quite a few as they came into the 2019 season looking like the top two value WRs in Dynasty Owner. A lot of you took Smith-Schuster over Thomas based on his slightly lower ADP (8 for Smith-Schuster versus 12 for Thomas). The small difference in ADP ended up being a huge difference on the “field” as Thomas scored 198.1 more regular season Dynasty Owner fantasy points than Smith-Schuster. The saving grace for Smith-Schuster Dynasty Owners is that he only cost just over $1 million in salary this year and you can keep him (if you want) for another year at that salary and hope he turns it around in 2020.

  • Regular Season Points: 105.4
  • Regular Season Salary: $1,048,945
  • Regular Season Cost per Point: $9,952

Bust TE of the Year: Vance McDonald (PIT) – 74.7 points

This was a close competition and probably the closest position choice of all of them, but Vance McDonald “wins” over O.J. Howard here because of his almost $3.8 million higher salary for 2019 and the next two seasons. McDonald was drafted in every Dynasty Owner league with an ADP of 130 despite his high salary ($6.55 million). He didn’t produce for that salary and ADP as he only scored double-digit Dynasty Owner fantasy points twice (Week 2 and Week 9) and failed to score at least 5.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in six regular season games.

  • Regular Season Points: 74.7
  • Regular Season Salary: $6,550,000
  • Regular Season Cost per Point: $87,684

Runner-up Bust TE of the Year: O.J. Howard (TB) – 66.7 points

O.J. Howard is the runner-up to Vance McDonald even though he had a higher ADP (45 for Howard versus 130 for McDonald) and scored 8.0 fewer Dynasty Owner fantasy points during the Dynasty Owner regular season. Howard and his $2.77 million annual salary (for three years) was drafted in every Dynasty Owner league. In return, his Dynasty Owners had to wait until Week 10 for Howard to score more than 10.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in a single game.

  • Regular Season Points: 66.7
  • Regular Season Salary: $2,773,655
  • Regular Season Cost per Point: $41,584

Bust K of the Year: Adam Vinatieri (IND) – 41.0 points

Even though he ended the year on Injured Reserve, Vinatieri did play in all but one Dynasty Owner regular season game. In those 12 games, he scored only 41.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points, or an average of 3.4 per game. The 46-year old future Hall of Famer missed 8 FGs and 6 PATs in those games and scored negative Dynasty Owner fantasy points three times. He cost $3.875 million in salary for 2019 and was drafted in 85% of Dynasty Owner leagues at an ADP of 185. He might return to kick again in 2020, but his contract expired so all Dynasty Owners who had him on their rosters this year aren’t obligated to keep him.

  • Regular Season Points: 41.0
  • Regular Season Salary: $3,875,000
  • Regular Season Cost per Point: $94,512

Runner-up Bust K of the Year: Ka’imi Fairbairn (HOU) – 70.0 points

Fairbairn was drafted in 98% of Dynasty Owner leagues at an ADP of 179 and carried a salary of over $3 million for 2019. He averaged only 5.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game with a high of 10.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points just twice. The good news for his Dynasty Owners is that he was on a one-year deal, so they don’t have to keep him for 2020.

  • Regular Season Points: 70.0
  • Regular Season Salary: $3,095,000
  • Regular Season Cost per Point: $44,214

Hopefully you didn’t draft too many of the players these players! Our next article will look at some players who got new contracts in 2019 that take effect for the 2020 Dynasty Owner season. Thanks for reading and being a fellow Dynasty Owner!

Steven Van Tassell is a freelance writer for Dynasty Owner.

Follow us on Twitter: @SteveVT33 and @Dynasty_Owner

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