Fantasy Football: Chase Brown leads a group of young, highly-touted RBs (and one WR) that it's time to panic over

· Yahoo Sports

Five weeks into the NFL season, it's time to take a hard look at some big-name fantasy football players who aren't living up to expectations. Let's get into my Week 6 Panic Meter and see who's giving us real reasons to worry.

I have some panic about Chase Brown, and it's not necessarily because of his workload. It's because I'm watching these games and wondering how much longer Cincinnati can continue giving him the same opportunities if he isn't going to make more happen with them.

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Through five games, Brown has 71 carries for 246 yards, averaging just 3.5 yards per attempt. That's a significant drop from the 4.4 yards per carry he averaged last season. He's still getting opportunities, but the production on the ground hasn't been good enough.

If you watched the game this past Sunday, Samaje Perine looked noticeably better between the tackles. He finished with 68 rushing yards and caught a touchdown pass while Brown managed just 39 rushing yards. That's concerning when you consider how much of Brown's fantasy value depends on maintaining a substantial role in this offense.

Now, I'm not suggesting Perine is about to take over the backfield. Brown has 24 receptions through five games, and I still expect him to command the larger receiving role.

But what happens if Perine continues to earn meaningful opportunities?

If we're keeping it real, Brown hasn't been particularly good as a runner. If Perine starts taking away rushing attempts, short-yardage opportunities and some of the receiving work that helps keep Brown's fantasy production afloat, we're looking at a much different situation than we anticipated. Honestly, is it that far-fetched of a story? I don't think so. 

The passing game has been his safety net. I don't want to see that safety net getting smaller.

I'm not selling Brown at a discount because his overall involvement remains encouraging. But the efficiency concerns are legitimate, and Perine has done enough to make this a conversation worth having.

Cam Skattebo is another player who I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable with what we're seeing. Let's start with the production. He's averaging 3.6 yards per carry, has just one rushing touchdown and has already fumbled four times through five games. Only one of those fumbles has been lost, but four fumbles this early in the season is not something we can completely dismiss.

Especially when the rushing production isn't exactly making up for it.

Now, the positive is that Skattebo still accounts for the majority of New York's rushing attempts. He's carried the ball 81 times, representing approximately 55% of the Giants' team rushing attempts. The opportunities are there, and he's still clearly the leader of this backfield.

But here's where my concern really starts.

Coming out of Arizona State, we knew Skattebo could catch the football. And during his rookie season, we saw just how valuable he could be as a receiving option in fantasy. He wasn't simply a running back who could catch a screen. He was somebody who could legitimately contribute through the passing game.

That hasn't translated the same way this season.

With Jameis Winston running this offense, we're not seeing the same commitment to getting Skattebo involved underneath. He has just 10 receptions through five games. For a player struggling to generate efficiency on the ground, those missing receiving opportunities are significant.

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And let's not ignore the overall environment. The Giants have just one rushing touchdown as a team. Skattebo owns it, but that's not exactly encouraging when you're trying to project weekly fantasy upside.

I still believe in Skattebo's ability, and I don't think his role is in immediate danger. But between the fumbles, the inefficient rushing attack and the lack of receiving production, there are enough issues here to warrant concern.

I'm moving Ashton Jeanty into Total Panic, and it's primarily because of what I'm seeing when I watch him play. He doesn't look healthy.

This isn't the Jeanty we watched dominate at Boise State. It's not even the Jeanty we saw during his rookie season. Right now, he looks like a running back who's banged up, struggling to create explosive plays and having a difficult time making defenders miss.

The frustrating part is that the opportunity hasn't disappeared.

Jeanty has 88 carries for 291 yards and 22 receptions for another 215 yards. He's still getting the lion's share of the backfield work, but he's averaging just 3.3 yards per carry and hasn't scored a rushing touchdown.

Even the receiving game, which has helped salvage his fantasy production, hasn't been particularly clean. We've seen dropped passes and missed opportunities from a player who should be one of the most dependable offensive weapons on this roster. And now, we have legitimate injury concerns.

At some point, we have to wonder whether continuing to play through these injuries is helping anybody. Could the Raiders eventually decide to give Jeanty some time off to get healthy? I'm not suggesting that's their plan, but watching him struggle to look like himself week after week makes it a legitimate question.

I'm not panicking about his talent. I'm panicking about his health and whether we're going to see the version of Jeanty we drafted anytime soon.

I think Jeremiyah Love is going to be a really good NFL running back.

I also think it's ok to talk about what we're actually getting from him in fantasy right now. Because the expectations and the production aren't remotely aligned.

Love was supposed to arrive in Arizona and immediately become one of the most dynamic offensive playmakers in football. We've seen flashes of that ability, especially during his Week 3 performance against San Francisco. But flashes don't win fantasy matchups.

Through five games, Love has 245 rushing yards, 36 receiving yards and two total touchdowns. He's averaging just 3.7 yards per carry, and over his past two games, he's managed only 85 rushing yards. Meanwhile, Arizona is 1-4, has just traded Marvin Harrison Jr. and looks like an organization searching for answers.

Tyler Allgeier continues to command meaningful opportunities. He has 35 carries and 12 receptions compared to Love's 67 carries and 11 receptions. For a player we expected to dominate this backfield, that's not exactly what fantasy managers signed up for.

And remember, Love recently described this as the longest year of his life. We're only five games into his rookie season. Whether it's the physical adjustment to the NFL, the offensive environment or simply the frustration of losing, none of it is particularly encouraging.

Here's what makes this difficult. We've seen how explosive Love can be. You don't want to bench a player with that kind of ability because one play could completely change his fantasy day.

But how confident are you actually putting him in your lineup? Right now, Love feels much closer to a lower-end RB2 than the difference-making fantasy running back many of us expected. I'm not giving up on the player. I'm giving up on the idea that his preseason expectations are realistic in this current environment.

I don't know how else to describe what's happening in Denver other than saying this offense looks broken. And Jaylen Waddle is one of the biggest fantasy casualties.

Outside of one explosive performance, Waddle has been incredibly disappointing. He has 18 receptions for 204 yards and one touchdown through five games. The problem? Eight catches and 138 of those yards came in one game against Jacksonville. Take that game away and Waddle has 10 receptions for 66 yards across four games. Four games!

That's nowhere close to the production we expected from someone with his talent. But I don't think this is entirely a Waddle problem. Bo Nix hasn't played well. Davis Webb struggled as the offensive play-caller through the first four weeks. Sean Payton took those responsibilities back in Week 5, and the results weren't much better. Waddle finished with two catches for 19 yards against the Chargers.

What makes this even more frustrating is that Denver has an offensive line capable of supporting a productive offense. Yet this passing attack continues to struggle with consistency, efficiency and creating meaningful opportunities for its playmakers. Nix is completing fewer than 60% of his passes and averaging just 5.8 yards per attempt. That's simply not a recipe for supporting reliable weekly fantasy receivers.

And while Waddle deserves his share of the criticism, I have a difficult time placing the majority of the blame on him. We've seen what he can do when the offense gets him involved. That Jacksonville performance wasn't an accident. The problem is that we haven't seen anything close to that production consistently.

At this point, I'm in Total Panic on Waddle as an every-week fantasy starter. Frankly, I'm concerned about just about every significant fantasy option in this Denver offense, including Nix. Maybe Payton eventually gets things figured out. Maybe the offense finds its rhythm. But I'm done assuming the turnaround is coming simply because the talent is there.

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