Two busts who will bust out

IN FANTASY football, there is nothing worse than being let down by a player you took with an early pick in your draft. The lack of production hurts, but what’s even worse is how you’ve gone back to the well week after week, believing this will be the game in which he finally breaks out.

Though your hurt feelings are justified, sometimes you have to swallow your pride and go back to the well one more time. If you’re on the playoff bubble, you’ve got nothing to lose. It is time to give LeSean McCoy and Jordan Howard one more try.

Putting your faith in McCoy has been treacherous all season. You know the talent is there, but being stuck in Buffalo does nothing to help his game. But this week’s matchup against Miami should have fantasy owners salivating.

Through 12 games, the Dolphins have allowed the fourth-most rushing yards, with averages of 139.8 yards per game and 4.8 per carry. They have been soft up the middle and have allowed four rushing TDs over the past five games.

The Dolphins also rank 22nd against running back pass plays, coughing up an average of 54.3 yards per game to them. McCoy, with his 5.7 targets per game and 200 receiving yards, loves to catch passes in the flat and run in space against poor-tackling teams like Miami.

Trusting Howard takes a slightly bigger leap of faith. His lack of use is directly related to his skill-set being a bad fit in Matt Nagy’s offense. But Nagy isn’t stupid, and he knows that in order to win games, he needs to mix things up.

He made that mistake in Week 6 when he failed to run it up the gut against Miami and lost. Sunday against the Giants, he gets a shot at redemption, as Big Blue’s weakest area is their run defense up the middle.

Howard and McCoy might sit atop the list of fantasy busts come yearend, but this game operates one week at a time. Matchups need to be studied and adjustments need to be made. That goes for your thinking and lineup construction as well.