10 Fantasy Football Bust Candidates in 2017
Jordan Howard, RB, Chicago Bears
Jordan Howard's ADP puts him just a smidgeon behind Ajayi. He's the RB9 by ADP and is off the board in 12-team PPR leagues at pick 2.04 on average.
Last year's RB10 (RB14 in points per game) saw a sturdy 252 carries and an additional 50 targets. That workload alone is enticing.
However, Howard's Chicago Bears have a win total of 5.5 games, with some juice on the under (-140). Losing games and trailing leads to negative game scripts for rushers.
Howard, though, did produce as a receiver. He added 0.84 Reception NEP per catch on 29 snares. That ranked eighth-highest among the 226 backs with at least 25 catches since 2011. The Bears did draft Tarik Cohen in the fourth round this year and signed Benny Cunningham, too.
Howard didn't fare too well against stacked boxes, and it's tough to envision defenses respecting Mike Glennon or Mitchell Trubisky rather than worrying about Howard, who had the second-most rushes of 10-plus yards in the league last year, first and foremost.
The schedule isn't daunting, and the line can be good, but Howard as your RB1 could lead to some frustrating weeks if the Bears get down early and often. He'll have to buck the trend to repeat as a top-12 fantasy rusher.
