What if Jordan Reed could have stayed healthy? It’s a question we will never know the answer to with the tight end retiring this week. He never managed to play a full season’s worth of games, but there was no denying his talent. Reed is undoubtably one of those “what if” fantasy football all-stars.
You know these players. They are the ones that could have been league winners had they actually been on the field. In some cases, injuries derailed their career. In other instances, disciplinary issues stood in their way. And a handful of these “what if” fantasy football all-stars simply never got a chance to shine. Let’s take a look at who makes our starting lineup.
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The “what if” fantasy football all-stars
Quarterback
Colin Kaepernick
Colin Kaepernick wasn’t great in 2014, his last full season as the San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback. Of course, the entire franchise was devolving into a huge mess at this point in time. Things got worse in 2015 with Jim Tomsula replacing Jim Harbaugh as head coach. Kaepernick was injured midway through the season and found his way to injured reserve.
Blaine Gabbert was named the 49ers’ starting quarterback by new coach Chip Kelly heading into the 2016 season. It was a puzzling decision to say the least. Kaepernick took over as starter in week 6 and was pretty good even if the rest of the team was awful. However, we know how the story plays out from here.
We will always wonder what if Kaepernick had managed to find a job in the NFL in 2017. A lot of bad quarterbacks got significant playing time that year. Here is a list of signal callers who started at least seven games:
- Tom Savage / Houston Texans
- Brett Hundley / Green Packers
- Trevor Siemian / Denver Broncos
- DeShone Kizer / Cleveland Browns
- Jacoby Brissett / Indianapolis Colts
- Josh McCown / New York Jets
Woof. And that list doesn’t even include the Miami Dolphins pulling Jay Cutler out of retirement shortly before the season began or the C.J. Beathard/Brian Hoyer dream team the 49ers ran out before trading for Jimmy Garoppolo. It’s safe to say Kaepernick would have likely been a top-12 quarterback in 2017 had he been healthy. And who knows what happens after that?
Also Interesting: The best fantasy football seasons you don’t remember: Jeff Garcia 2000
Running backs
Duke Johnson
DeAngelo Williams/Jonathan Stewart
There is a small but vocal minority of fantasy football managers who believe Duke Johnson deserves a chance to be a starting running back. They point to some warped YPC stats and his SPARQ scores as reasons why he would succeed. Before the start of every season, we hear the same people talking about how if Johnson was a starter, he’d be a top-10 running back. We can only wonder if that would be the case or not.
DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart were among the most frustrating running backs to own between 2008 and 2014. If they had been one player, you’re looking at an NFL Hall of Famer. Instead, you got two players who weren’t good enough to start but couldn’t be ignored. If Williams or Stewart had a good game, chances are you either had them on the bench or the team you were playing was starting them. What if the Carolina Panthers only kept one of these guys and not both?
Related: The best fantasy football seasons you don’t remember: DeAngelo Williams 2008
Wide Receiver
Josh Gordon
Martavis Bryant
Two immensely talented and troubled wide receivers are the ultimate “what if” fantasy football all-stars. When they were on the field, both Josh Gordon and Martavis Bryant were incredible. Of course, neither player managed to do that and left fantasy football managers constantly pondering, “what if?”. Hell, some guy in your league still probably drafts them in hopes they comeback.
Tight End
Jordan Reed
Had Jordan Reed stayed healthy, he is easily one of the five best tight ends of the 2010s. Unfortunately, the former Florida Gator was constantly injured throughout his seven-year career. He missed 37 games in total and played at less than 100 percent in who knows how many contests.
Flex
Ryan Mathews
Much like Reed, injuries derailed Ryan Mathews career. The 12th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft only managed more than 200 carries twice during his seven-year career. However, he topped 1,000 rushing yards in both those seasons and looked great in the process.
Mathews was also part of the weird experiment in Philadelphia where Chip Kelly signed him and DeMarco Murray during the same offseason. It’s impossible to know what Mathews would have accomplished had he been healthy or in a better situation, but you can’t help but wonder what if?
