Bears’ rookie receiver, Johnny Knox, has done nothing but succeed on the football field this season. Why then, was it so hard for me 
to keep him on my fantasy roster?
He has been magnetically attracted to the endzone, even as a kick returner, and he runs great routes when lined up as a receiver. However, Knox’s role in the offense has seen some changes over this young season.
At one point, when Knox was one of my favorite pieces on my team, I was starting him confidently, feeling that he could be Jay Cutler’s Eddie Royal of this season. He was going to be a big part of an unproven receiving corps, and he was surely destined to flourish in his position.
Then Knox had become the Bears’ kick returner. He didn’t totally give up the receiving gig, but he was a part of far fewer snaps.
For instance, in Week 3, he was a kick returner, and thus he only had 1 reception in the game. That reception was a 7-yard touchdown that made my Knox start feel like pure genius. However, I realized that I could not depend on that to happen consistently. What if he had a 7-yard reception that was not a touchdown? That statline just wouldn’t cut it on my team, or any fantasy squad for that matter.
Sure enough, the following week I was forced into starting him because of uncertainty to Dwayne Bowe. This act of desperation ended up paying off as Knox had a kick return touchdown, and he rewarded me with a total of 17 fantasy points. Again, I felt that the production was great, but it was an inconsistent approach to racking up fantasy points. Seriously, how many times does a player have a kick return touchdown?
Because I got some quality use out of Knox, and I felt that he was expendable, I decided that I could drop him for the up-and-coming Hakeem Nicks and not feel guilty about it. Nicks seems like he might have a bigger role in his team’s passing game, and that is what I consider the most important attribute when evaluating receivers (especially in a ppr league).
So if you have a spot for Johnny Knox on your roster, you can hold on to him and see how his role plays out over the next few weeks. However, if you feel that there is a free agent out there with a more involved role in his team’s offense, then I would suggest dropping Knox for that player if you have to.
Johnny Knox is having a great season up to this point, but you have to realize that minimum chances will hurt his numbers ultimately, and you should not feel too bad letting him go right now.
As the saying goes, “All good things must come to an end.”
Filed under: Fantasy Sports
