NFL Power Rankings, Fantasy Busts & Worst Trades Ever

Hello, it's Fantasy with Fabbs. I'm Conor Orr, and that is the man of the hour, Michael Fabiano. And we're both okay, despite having watched Carson Wentz play Monday Night Football. My God, was that not the worst thing that you have ever seen in your life, Fabbs? Well, I did see Joe Fagnano also. So, I mean, like, I mean, like you could tell Troy Aikman was just not having it. The quarterback position has been, you know, sent back at least 10 years after that performance. But the problem, Connor, if we're talking about the real issues in fantasy football is when you have quarterback play that bad, you can't trust hardly anyone in that offense. I mean, Justin Jefferson is one of the best wide receivers in the league. And it looks like it's Justin Jefferson 2025 all over again. It's not his fault. His quarterbacks are bad. I almost feel like we're at the point where you've got to just stream quarterbacks like defenses. At first, I was like, you've got to get Josh Allen in the second round. He's going to lead the league in touchdowns, and I think he's second through this point in the season. But it just doesn't seem to matter. One week, you've got Kirk Cousins popping off with four touchies, and then another week, it's just someone else that you could have picked up off the waiver wire. I'm sick of it, but there's really no way around it. There's no consistent stalwart quarterbacks anymore. They get knocked out halfway through the season. It's been bad. I will say this, that a little teaser for Stardom and Sit-em. Aaron Rodgers will be one of the best streaming options this week at quarterback. We're back. That's how ugly it's gotten, folks. God help us all. Let's start because we did our MMQB roundtable, which you can find at SI.com. And I urge you to go check that out where we all gave our mid-season Super Bowl picks. But I'm not content with just doing one, Fabbs. I want to give you five Super Bowls that I would like to see at this point. Number five is Ramsville. Now, we're in a bit of a weird spot here. We don't know when Puka Nacua is coming back. We don't know if this is IR and we'll see you next season. We don't know if this is IR, and we'll see it closer to the playoffs. There's a turf toe element to multiple knee sprains. It's going to get complicated. But if the Rams can make a move at the deadline, Myles Garrett looks so good in this defense as advertised. I mean, what can they make, though? I mean, like, what can they do? You know, with no Davante Adams and with Puka Nacua now out, they're going to be utilizing their tight ends a whole bunch. They're going to be utilizing their running backs a lot. It's crazy to think this, Connor, you know, but I don't know if the Rams have a shot to get to the Super Bowl with the offense they have going right now. I don't know if they have a shot to get to the playoffs, Babs, which is insane to think about, given what our mindset was with this team heading into the season. Number four, you're going to laugh, I'm going to laugh. I had a good chuckle when I said this. Giants-Patriots 3, Babs. Like, why not? Like, the Patriots are technically in the playoff mix right now, and the Giants are leading the NFC East. And remember, that season that the Giants made it the second time, They just backed into the playoffs the year that they beat the Patriots in Indianapolis. This team was 9-7. I think they were 500 at Christmastime. What if John Harbaugh just goes on a miraculous run to the Super Bowl? We could dream a little bit. Give me Giants-Patriots 3. Why not? You know I love you, right, bro? Thank you, bro. Come on, Connor. Don't tell me you wouldn't like that. Don't tell me you wouldn't like this yet. No, I don't want the Giants to go to the Super Bowl. I'm a Cowboys fan. There. No, I don't want that. Yeah, now. Now, let's go to the next one. I think this one's more fun. Packers-Bengals. And the reason why I like Packers-Bengals so much, Babs, is that I spent all offseason studying run game. Run game and defense. That's what led me to believe that this is what the NFL was going to be like in 2026. And then you just have Jordan Love and Joe Burrow ripping it up on a week-to-week basis with no run game to speak of, on pace for 5,000 passing yards. Give me the two of them in the big game. That would be fun. Jordan loves playing at an all-time level. Joe Burrow may be playing the best football he's ever played. The Bengals actually have a decent defense now. This may be the best Bengals team since they went to the Super Bowl. Sign me up for this one. And by the way, it would be a phenomenal, phenomenal uniform matchup. And you know me, I am all about the unis, man. I would love that. That's a great point. Number two is probably in the depths of my heart. The matchup that I would like to see the most, and that's Jaguars versus Bears. You have Liam Coen and Ben Johnson. These guys don't like each other. They got chippy with one another in the offseason. Ben Johnson goes and trades for Jeffrey Simmons, and Liam Cohen goes and trades for Jordan Davis. There's an arms race building between these two brilliant young play callers, and they're salty as hell. Give me that matchup in the Super Bowl. That would be another fun one. I do like this one, too. You know, Lawrence against Williams. You know, the Bears haven't been there in a while. The Jaguars have never been there. My buddy Seth Rollins would be over the moon. Yeah. Yeah, I kind of, MJD, my buddy Maurice Jones-Drew, Fred Taylor. So, you know, I have friends who've played for these teams who are huge fans of these teams. This is another Bears scenario, but I want to see them go toe-to-toe with Josh Allen. Caleb Williams, Josh Allen would feel very much Rocky Creed to me. That has some vibes to it. It's funny because, uh, I'm actually watching Rocky III, uh, in the background because you know, I'm, I'm, I'm who I am. I love Rocky. Yeah. I mean, Clubber Lang. Yeah. Yeah. You know, just insert a bad guy here, but I would like this one too. Listen, I'm a fan of Josh Allen. Not only has he helped me win fantasy championships, but he's just a good dude who, you know, just had his first child and it's just, it would be a great story. He needs to be in the Super Bowl before his end, the end of his career. I would love to see Josh Allen end up playing in the big game against Chicago. That would be a lot of fun. Amen. This is not a lot of fun segment two. Well, we're going to have fun, but the teams that I'm going to have fun with this. Yeah, we're going to have a great time. Worst NFL trades of all time. I love lists like this. I love debating stuff like this. I'm very interested in your number one. That's called a tease. But at number five, Randy Moss from the Raiders to the Patriots. God, I remember this like it was yesterday. Yeah, I mean, back in 2007. And this had huge fantasy implications because Moss didn't do anything with the Raiders. I mean, like the Raiders trade Moss away for a fourth after they traded the seventh overall pick in the 2005 draft to get him. That pick turned into Troy Williamson. That was bad for the Vikings. So Moss goes on to New England. He catches 98 passes. He has 23 touchdowns. That's an NFL record. He only had 102 catches in two years with the Raiders. He had 98 in one year with New England. So not only was that a great trade for the Patriots, it was a great trade for fantasy managers. Number four, this one broke my heart. I remember 49ers trading up for Trey Lance in 2021. I remember watching Trey Lance's debut in the preseason thinking, this guy is going to light the NFL on fire. What do I know? He was also a fantasy sleeper too, right? You'd think the Niners are a smart front office. They trade three first round picks and a third to move up to get this guy. And he's a disaster. He made four starts in two years and then he got traded to the Cowboys so that the Niners still got a fourth round pick for him because Jerry Jones is a dope. The good news though, is that the Niners drafted Brock Purdy, Mr. Irrelevant in 2022. So the fact that they did this. Just disastrous move with Lance didn't really hurt them because Purdy ended up being, I mean, the next great 49ers quarterback. Always got to backstop that draft pick with another one, just in case the Kirk Cousins are. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that one. Number three, Russell Wilson from Seattle to Denver. I remember texting the Broncos coaching staff that day and some of the people in that building and the vibe was immaculate. Little did we know about three weeks later, all hell had broken loose. I mean... You see that trade. The Broncos deal three players, including Drew Lock, two firsts, two seconds, a fifth for Wilson. He makes $245 million and goes 11-19, and they didn't make the playoffs, right? Then Seattle goes on to draft Charles Cross and Devin Witherspoon with the picks from that trade, and then Wilson got cut with a record $85 million in dead cap money, and the Seahawks win the Super Bowl. Kudos to Seattle. They made the move that every fantasy manager wants to move in a dynasty league. They trade away a guy before the floor falls in on him. It sure did with Russell Wilson. Absolutely perfect from John Schneider there. Number two, see, I'm of the mind this is the worst trade ever, but Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns. Fabs, tell me why this is number two on your list. Well, we're going to get to number one, and you'll know why. It may be a little biased, but Watson, okay, he was very good in Houston. Remember, he won a passing title in Houston, okay? So the Browns trade three first-round picks, a third-round pick, two fourths. For Watson, and one of those picks became Will Anderson, and then Watson gets $230 million guaranteed, and then what happens? Massage issues. Then he's suspended for 11 games. He tears his Achilles tendon twice, right? He averaged 23 fantasy points in his last year in Houston, which was 2020. He's never averaged more than 14.7 points per game in Cleveland. And Shador Sanders looked pretty good last week. I know they're talking about Watson keeping that job. And oh, by the way, guess who they're playing this week? Hello, the Texans. But that is not even one of the worst trades in the NFL, Connor. That's one of the worst trades in the history of sports. I totally agree in the fully guaranteed nature of the contract, which made him unmovable, I think was such an important chess piece to that and why the Browns really had a hard time swallowing it. But at number one, your boy, Herschel, Herschel Walker going from Dallas to Minnesota. This one was bad, dude. I had the Herschel Walker jersey. He was one of my favorite players. I even used to watch him when he was playing for the New Jersey Generals of the USFL. That's right. I go back that far. The Vikings send five players and eight draft picks, including their next three first-round picks, and they get Herschel Walker, right? One of those picks became Emmitt Smith. The Cowboys build the dynasty. Is the, oh, oh. Just let me bask in the glow of it. It's been 31 years, Connor. It was so much fun back in the day. The Cowboys won three Super Bowls. Walker never rushed for more than 825 yards as a Viking. So Jimmy Johnson pulled the old... That was one of the greatest trades for me. It was the best trade ever in NFL history. And it was great for a lot of reasons. And none more than I'm a Cowboys fan. And I enjoyed those three championships. But I have suffered ever since. But Herschel Walker, yeah, I was sad to see him go. But boy, was that a great, great trade. And I'm power ranking the best new head coaches in the NFL in 2026. You can see my complete list of coach hire regrades. Which is on SI.com right now. But at number five, I have Clint Kubiak. And I know that they started 3-0. I know that they went on a little bit of a skid. But this is the first time this offense has some semblance of an identity. I still think as soon as they get Ash and Jenny out of there, this running game is going to start taking off. Even though Washington had a bad game on Sunday. I know we need to reserve judgment for Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza when he eventually takes over. But this is the first time in a while that the Raiders don't look just completely disjointed and they're not getting blown out of games. You know, I agree with you. You know, Kirk Cousins has quietly been one of the best quarterbacks in fantasy football. You know, from a fantasy standpoint, I love what Cousins has done and what Bowers is doing. You know, Trey Tucker has been good here or there, but that backfield has become a disaster. And that was really. One of the things that I thought would improve was Ashton Gentry's value under Kubiak. And that has not happened as Kubiak's going to a backfield committee, which is, you know, like saying a four letter word in fantasy. Uh, number four is Joe Brady with the Bills. And I'm always a little bit nervous when you go from the no ping pong in the, in the locker room guy to the ping pong in the locker room guy, you go from the not fun uncle to the fun uncle, but Joe Brady has taken the cap and the governor off of this Bills offense. They're doing things in the explosive run game that we just simply haven't seen, uh, in the NFL. And that's including coaches like Kyle Shanahan and Mike McDaniel, when he was at the Dolphins, and Sean McVay, he is installing something that is sustainable and winnable in Buffalo. They just got to get this defense coming around. And that's an issue, right, the defense. Even though they played very well against Minnesota, but, I mean, geez Louise, Carson Wentz looked awful. But at the end of the day, Connor, you know how he's going to be judged? Can he do more than what Sean McDermott did, which is get to the Super Bowl? And you and I both are rooting for Josh Allen to get there. They've still got a long way to go, but right now, They are in position to potentially be a number one seed in the AFC. Number three, out of protest, I made this team number 17 in the power rankings because over the last three or four weeks, I don't think that there's an NFL team playing harder. Now, does that automatically result in wins? No. But Jeff Hafley and the 1-7 Dolphins, you got to look with a microscope, Fab. But their rookies are playing off the charts well. This is one of the youngest rosters in the NFL. The game that they did win. They went bananas and started spraying the guy with champagne. I think that the vibes are sneaky good down in your home state of Florida. Yeah, I kind of agree with you. And when they get a quarterback in there, you know, like, listen, Malik Willis is fine, but he's not going to lead you to a championship and probably not to a postseason berth. But when they get that quarterback in there, you've got Caleb Douglas, right? I mean, they've got Chris Bell. Malik Washington is a good young player. Obviously, they'll get A-Chan back next year. Ali Gordon's turned into a pretty good player. So, yeah, I think. Uh, things are, are, are pointing in the right direction for Miami. Number two is Todd Munkin of the Cleveland Browns. And I'll just say this Babs, like every babysitting job is different. Uh, I don't know if you've ever babysat in your time, but sometimes you go to a house and kids are hanging off the chandeliers and throwing crackers all over the table. And you know, this is going to be a long night. That's what Todd Munkin signed up for. Probably has two of the most unlikable quarterbacks in the NFL. And neither of them are top 25 players at the position. And yet the Browns are in first place for two weeks and they're in every game. I give him a lot of credit. I did not think he had that kind of game as a head coach. See, I was talking about this in the preseason where like the Browns sneakily could have a pretty decent fantasy offense, right? So Harold Fannin Jr., I know there's been ups and downs, but he's a very good player. I mean, Casey Concepcion went off last week. Denzel Boston's been really good. Quinshon Judkins has not been what we hoped he would be. You know, the matchup's good this week against Houston. We'll see. But they have some real fantasy upside. And with Monken in charge of the offense, I mean, that's nothing but a good thing. Number one, I don't think there's any doubt about it. My hometown Giants, John Harbaugh. I mean, this is a team that is rotating J.J. McCarthy and Jameis Winston at the quarterback position. And they sit alone in first place in the NFC East. Arvel Reese is in line, possibly for Defensive Rookie of the Year. The arrow is pointing way up, and that's not something that I would have expected with this team. You, you, you know, you're a big time guy. You probably have Jerry Jones's phone number. Why don't you text him and say, Hey, JJ, see what's going on with the Giants. This is what happens when you hire a good head coach and not a puppet. Don't want to get into it. Listen, go ahead. Go ahead. He costs twenty million dollars. Oh, who cares? And Jerry Jones, Jerry's got that in his shoe. He's got that in his shoe for crying out loud. Brian Schottenheimer, Chan Gailey. Don't get me started. Dave Campo. All right, I'm done. Dave Campo. I don't want to call that. Bro, I have suffered through it all. Wade Phillips. Like, I have suffered through it all, dude. The only head coach the Cowboys have had who's been worth anything since Jimmy Johnson, and sorry, Barry Switzer, that was JJ's team, it's Parcells. And even Parcells couldn't win with Jerry Jones. It is one of the worst coaching ownership arrangements in professional sports. Before we get out of here, I love this list. And I love that you said that you could make it at least 25 players long. Who are your five most frustrating fantasy players of the year? Let's start with my boy, Lab McConkie. This is- Dude, I mean, this guy is just, you know, and I don't want to make fun of a guy who gets hurt all the time, but he gets hurt all the time. I remember talking about this on the Sunday morning show with Aaron Koscielny. Charlie. . Somebody was asking about Ladd McConkey, and I said, . . listen, I mean, it's a good matchup this . week, but keep in mind that he is the player in the NFL most likely to get hurt two snaps into the game. And what happens? He's hurt. He doesn't play. You know, he's been held to fewer than seven points in four of six games. He's averaging 8.6 points per game on the year. He was the 16th wide receiver drafted on average, and the Chargers are dreadful. And now you got Baltimore on Monday night. I feel bad for my boy Joe Buck having to call that game after what he had to call last night. Yeah, I think that's a hard pass. Don't even worry about DVR in it. Number four, Jalen Waddle, also out with a concussion now. This is a tough one. I didn't like him going to Denver. I didn't love the move. He's the wide receiver 18 based on ADP. He's failed to score more than 8.8 fantasy points in all, but three of his first nine games, he's averaged just nine points per game. I contend that Sean Payton doesn't like his wife because he said, honey, draft Jalen Waddle. Pat Bryant's back as well. So after the bye week, I mean, even if Waddle comes back, now that wide receiver room got more crowded, not good for Jalen Waddle. Number three is a player, Drake London, that interests me because I did some kind of digging on this for another project, and he is top 12 in the NFL in targets and top 10 in average yards per target, but it's just not translating from a fantasy perspective. So part of it was because the first two weeks of the season, he had Cooper Rush throwing the ball, and I mean, I may as well have me throwing the ball to him. But over the course of the year, He's had three big games in his first nine, and he's been held to fewer than 13 points five times. He's been held to single digits three times. He's averaging just 13 points per game. That's his lowest total since 2023. He averaged almost 17 points per game in 2024 and in 2025. So, So the thing is that Drake London is like, I can't take him out of my lineup. He's Drake London. But then you get the stat line like you got last week. It was like mid, you know, like the kids would say, it's all right, but it's not what I drafted. And he was the eighth wide receiver drafted overall. So, yeah, he's been frustrating. And that Atlanta offense outside of Bijan's been pretty frustrating. Number two, Chase Brown. My theory on this, Fabs, is that Chase Brown owners just hold on because Joe Burrow, T. Higgins, and Jamar Chase are just bludgeoning people. At some point, they're going to have to take defenders out of the box. That's what I keep telling people, Connor. You know, I'm like, guys, be patient, be patient. But it's week 10. He had 12 touches last week against Atlanta. Their defense allowed the fourth most fantasy points per game. The running backs going into that game. Brown's been held at 10 and a half or fewer fantasy points in three of his last four games. And he's got Pittsburgh this week. So and it's the same thing like running backs. The running back position is a disaster. Hell, every position seems to be a disaster right now in the NFL and in fantasy football. So you can't not play them. But he was a first-round pick, Conor. He was the RB6 based on ADP, and he has been nothing but a headache. Same with number one, Saquon Barkley. Honestly, Fabs, I hope that by the time people are listening to this, he is in a different uniform. I mean, just get him out of Philadelphia. The offensive line's gone. The show's over. Pack it up. We'll move on. Yeah, I mean, they had talked about not trading him, but Barkley was on my bust list the last two years. And last year, he wasn't a total bust, but he had a way less successful season than the previous one where he rushed for over 2,000 yards. Barkley this year. Has failed to score more than 12.4 fantasy points in all but one game. He's averaging 8.4 points per game. That's the lowest average he's produced in his career aside from 2020. And that was when he played just two games with the Giants. He's dealing with injuries. The Eagles are giving up on the season. He'll get healthy, hopefully, after the bye week because they're off this week. But still, Saquon Barkley, even when he's played and he's been healthy, has been dreadful. And it's the same situation, right? Same old situation. Great song by Motley Crue back in the 80s, by the way. I am a metal head, but you can't not play him because he's Saquon Barkley, but he's not giving you much. And a lot of people who drafted him in the first or second round are probably not in the playoff push right now in their fantasy leagues. I think Saquon is sitting in that locker room and waiting for the big pause of Big Dom to tap him on the shoulder and say, son, I got you a ride to the airport. You are going to greener pastures. At least that's what I hope. I think everybody hopes that. Just like Jordan Davis. Did you see him hitting Philly media, intercepting him at the airport and interviewing the poor guy as he's going through baggage claim? Truly a market that is covered unlike any other. Fabs, we've done it all. We've said it all. And we've prepped people for another week of football here on the Power Ranking Show. It's great to be with you.