Every offseason there are players who are poised to have breakout years. Often times these players meet those high expectations, but a lot of them don’t. Players underperform and disappoint fans. Last year we saw examples of this from Josh Rosen, Blake Bortles, Alex Collins, etc. We’re going to take a look at the biggest NFL duds in the 2019 season.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
For every one of you who may have drafted JuJu in your fantasy football draft this year, I sympathize with you because he was my first-round pick. With Antonio Brown leaving the Steelers this past offseason, many expected Smith-Schuster to step up in a big way as the new WR1 in Pittsburgh. Now, I’m not saying that he’s been terrible, but he hasn’t lived up to the expectations of fans.
With those expectations being as high as Antonio Brown’s production, of course Steelers fans would be disappointed. Not many people can be as productive as Antonio Brown was during his time with the Steelers. Smith-Schuster has 58 receptions for over 900 yards and seven TDs this season. Last year, he was more productive in the yards and receptions columns as a WR2. Given his talent, I think he can live up to the hype, but I don’t believe it’ll happen this year.
Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Last year, Joe Mixon was arguably a top-five running back in all of football and was able to rush for 1,168 yards over 237 rushes (4.9 YPC) and eight TDs. He also contributed heavily in the passing game, as he caught 43 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers put him among the best in the NFL. However, over halfway through this season, Mixon has yet to gain 500 yards rushing, averaging only 3.3 YPC and hasn’t reached the endzone on the ground. He’s only added 21 receptions for 147 yards and 3 TDs in the passing game. These numbers are extremely disappointing compared to those from last year. With people expecting Mixon to have a season that was as good if not better, he’s disappointed many to say the least, making him one of the biggest NFL duds this season.
Mitchell Trubisky, QB, Chicago Bears
In the 2017 NFL Draft, the Bears traded up one spot to pick Mitchell Trubisky with the second overall pick. I questioned the pick but figured the guy who helped bring Drew Brees to New Orleans (Bears GM Ryan Pace) knew a thing or two about quarterbacks. Well, as of right now, I’ve been right to question the pick and wrong to assume that much of a Bears’ GM being involved with a quarterback. They just don’t match.
Over the offseason, Matt Nagy raved about Trubisky’s new understanding of the Bears’ offense and his progress as a passer. The expectations were so high for Trubisky that he was one of the most popular MVP bets before the season. However, the highly anticipated season opener left people wondering if Trubisky can every really be as good as some people thought. He (and the entire offense) laid a dinosaur-sized egg on the field.
Trubisky has thrown for under 1,500 yards with eight TDs and three interceptions with a QBR of 85.2. And, these stats are inflated due to garbage time TDs and yards against the Saints in the fourth quarter of a game that was out of reach. Watching him gives me butterflies in my stomach because of his lack of confidence and inability to complete routine passes that he made last year. His lack of production in a system that he’s supposedly better in now than before concerns me. Mitchell Trubisky is number on my biggest NFL duds list so far in this 2019 season. Can he turn it around? Maybe. Will he? We’ll just have to wait and see.
While many players this season have underperformed, these three players have done so the most in relation to their overall expectations going into the 2019 NFL season.