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Top Flops

Busts happen, even to good fantasy owners. Sometimes the offensive line can't block or a key teammate gets hurt. Sometimes a star player just tanks. Whatever the reason, busts can kill a fantasy team. Here are the eight biggest flops of this season, excluding those whose disappointingnumbers are due solely to injuries

1 CADILLACWILLIAMS RB Buccaneers

LOOKING BACK
Williams's struggles, which have spawned countless strained locutions (e.g.,"the Cadillac is stalled"), have been the result of a perfect storm ofwoes. Considered a late-first- or early-second-round pick, Williams has beenplagued by back spasms and a faulty offensive line, as well as his team'sdefensive malaise. (The Bucs fell behind in their first three games, helping tolimit Williams to eight, 15 and 19 carries.) The gruesome bottom line: 414yards and one touchdown in seven games.

LOOKINGAHEAD
Williams is a good buy-low candidate. With his back spasms easing up, he'srunning harder than he was early in the season. He has a few favorable matchupsahead, including the Saints (Week 9), Panthers (Week 10) and Browns (Week16).

2 EDGERRIN JAMESRB Cardinals

LOOKING BACK
Few players have killed more fantasy dreams than James. Projected as a mid- tohigh-first-round pick, Edgerr-inch has baby-crawled his way to 516 yards on 185carries, averaging a barely perceptible 2.8 yards per attempt, and has scoredjust three touchdowns. The main culprit was an offensive line that was sodysfunctional that coach Dennis Green made three changes before last Sunday'sgame against the Packers, moving Reggie Wells from left guard to right tackleand Chris Liwienski from right to left guard, and starting rookie Deuce Lutuiat right guard. With the reshuffled deck, James, who signed a four-year, $30million contract in the off-season, produced 84 yards and one TD on 24carries.

LOOKINGAHEAD
Owners of James should cut their losses and get what they can. Leon Washingtonfor James? That's a no-brainer if you can pull it off. Even acquiring a No. 2receiver in return would be getting more value than he's giving now.

3 LAMONT JORDAN RBRaiders

LOOKING BACK
This is what $27.5 million buys an NFL owner these days: a running back who hascarried for 335 yards and one touchdown in seven games and might not even havea job after this season. To be fair, Oakland's running woes cannot becompletely blamed on Err Jordan, who's in the second year of his fat five-yeardeal. He's playing behind one of the league's worst offensive lines (four offive starters are in new positions) on a team that's always trailing.

LOOKINGAHEAD
If Jordan owners can get a bag of chips for him, they should pull the trigger.Not only is he battling a sore back, which kept him out of a win over theCardinals two weeks ago, but he's also losing his grip on the starting job. Thecoaching staff has said it wants to get more carries for backup Justin Fargas,who's averaging 4.7 yards per carry to Jordan's 3.7. The move would allow theteam to get a better read on Fargas, who's in the last year of his contract andcould presumably be re-signed for much less than it would cost to bring Jordanback.

4 JOEY GALLOWAY WRBuccaneers

LOOKING BACK
A top 20 receiver entering the season, Galloway has 378 yards and twotouchdowns this year--and 161 of those yards came in Week 2 against theFalcons. More worrisome for Galloway owners is that in the last two weeks, withrookie Bruce Gradkowski at quarterback, Galloway has four catches for 32yards.

LOOKINGAHEAD
The prognosis is not good. Galloway's strength is burning people deep, andGradkowski, who's starting for the injured Chris Simms, struggles when throwingthe ball downfield. (In the Bucs' victory against the Eagles two weeks ago,Gradkowski twice missed an open Galloway on long balls.) The result? More playshave been called to get the ball out of Gradkowski's hand quickly, whichdoesn't suit Galloway's style. Move him if you can.

5 CHAD JOHNSON WRBengals

LOOKING BACK
Handcuffed by double coverage and subpar pass protection (which has made QBCarson Palmer a bust in his own right), Johnson has 451 receiving yards and twotouchdowns in seven games.

LOOKINGAHEAD
Before Sunday's game against the Falcons, Ocho Cinco told reporters, "I'mback," then caught six balls for 78 yards and a TD. His word is as good asany. He's all upside. Acquire him if you can.

6 DREW BLEDSOE QBCowboys

LOOKING BACK
He looked appealing in the preseason with that passel of talented receivers,but the statuelike Bledsoe was an easy target for defenders, who sacked him 16times and forced him into eight interceptions in six games. His lack ofmobility also pressed tight end Jason Witten into pass-blocking duty, hurtingWitten's numbers.

LOOKINGAHEAD
Bledsoe is now toting a clipboard behind Tony Romo, which makes him anegligible fantasy commodity--a situation that isn't going to change.

7 DERRICK MASON WRRavens

LOOKING BACK
The preseason thinking on Mason went like this: If he can have a 1,000-yardseason in 2005 with Kyle Boller taking the majority of snaps at quarterback,imagine what he'll do with good buddy Steve McNair, with whom he already had arapport, under center. You know how it turned out: McNair struggled to adjustto the offense; the Ravens' attack sputtered; coordinator Jim Fassel was fired;and Mason, who has been the team's most outspoken critic, has 377 yards and notouchdowns in seven games.

LOOKINGAHEAD
Mason did catch six passes for 67 yards on Sunday, coach Brian Billick's firstgame calling the plays. With such a small sample from which to draw aconclusion and considering the fact that the Ravens prefer to go to their tightends in the red zone (that position has accounted for seven of Baltimore's ninereceiving touchdowns), Mason is looking like a stretch for a fantasy rosterspot.

8 CHRIS CHAMBERSWR Dolphins

LOOKING BACK
Quarterback Daunte Culpepper was thought to be the missing ingredient inChambers's recipe for NFL stardom. But Culpepper got hurt, then benched, andChambers has failed to surpass 60 receiving yards in a game.

LOOKINGAHEAD
While new quarterback Joey Harrington has put up decent numbers through theair, Chambers has not been the beneficiary. Things aren't going to get better,so it's time to cut bait on this fish.

PLAYER RANKINGS

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