Ahhh … it’s three weeks into the fantasy football season (and regular football season too, I guess) and its already time to panic.

Well, sort of.

I have usually been one to exercise patience when it comes to managing a fantasy team. It’s really all about who you think is going to have the most points at the end of the year, not just for the next couple of weeks. The last thing you ever want to do is give up on a player right before they get it together and start putting up the numbers you originally expected.

With that in mind, three games really isn’t a huge sample size. But it’s actually been enough for me to already hop off the bandwagon for a few big name players.

Chris Johnson, RB, Titans

– After signing his contract right before the season to ensure he wasn’t going to miss any games, Johnson was a no. 2 overall pick on average in ESPN leagues. He finished in the top-5 for running backs last year, and I think it’s safe to say most people had huge expectations for him heading into this one.

But I am hopping way, way off the bandwagon with him. He doesn’t even have 100-yards rushing for the entire season. Ben Tate (who made his NFL debut this year) is averaging just over 100-yards per game-over that span. Likewise, Johnson has just 17 total points so far this year, a number that was eclipsed last week alone by 27 different players.

I owned him on my team, the Frankfurters, in our “Spectator Fantasies” league, and am happy to say I just dealt him to Mr. Rosenberry Crunch (see above) and his team, Tracy Chapman Fast Cars.

Enjoy, Mr. Crunch! I sure am glad I was able to deal him when I did, because I only think his value will get worse. He just doesn’t look right. The Titans offensive line has been rough, and Johnson’s longest rush is for only nine yards. That razzle dazzle just doesn’t seem to be there anymore.

Would trade straight-up for:

Fred Jackson, Ahmad Bradshaw, Peyton Hillis

Dwayne Bowe, WR, Chiefs

– So Bowe hasn’t really had a terrible start to the year, but similar to Johnson, I think his value is only going to decline as the season goes on. With the Chiefs losing their star running back, Jamaal Charles, in week two, opposing teams will now have the opportunity to zero in on their
passing game.

Bowe already made his quarterback, Matt Cassel, look much better than he actually is. I think that’s going to be a lot harder to do now with Charles out and nobody else on the offense to worry about.

For the record, I actually said Bowe had brick-hands around this time last year, and then he went on to finish second among all receivers in fantasy points. He did look pretty terrible at that time though. But this doesn’t have as much to do with Bowe this time, as it does his teammates.

I am also happy to report I was able to deal him off the Frankfurters earlier in the year, this time it was to Currents Editor, and owner of the Bert Macklins, Eric Christenson.

Take that, Macklins! He might not have brick-hands anymore (is there a procedure that fixes this?), but his teammates are just awful at this point, and that does not bode well for Bowe.

Would straight-up trade for:

Jeremy Maclin (maybe the Macklins can go for him, eh?), Brandon Marshall, Steve Smith (Car.)