Fantasy Football Stars Most Likely to Disappoint in 2015

It happens every year—fantasy football stars bomb. Or, at the very least, they don't live up to expectations. 

Sometimes it's because of injury. Other times because of age, or perhaps a new offensive reality. Then there is the inexplicable.

Whatever the case may be, there will be more disappointment in 2015. The trick is figuring out which stars will give fantasy owners fits.

Let's take a look at some of the bigger names who will be disappointing next season, for the reasons mentioned above. 

DeMarco Murray, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

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What a fantastic 2014 season DeMarco Murray had.

The reigning rushing champion bucked his injury history to become the most reliable running back in all the fantasy land. Then he had to go and ruin it.

It's not as if he'll be terrible in 2015, but his decision to leave the best offensive line in football wasn't a boon for his fantasy stock.

Add to that the fact he signed on with a Philadelphia Eagles team that already had pass-catcher extraordinaire Darren Sproles and fellow free-agent signee Ryan Mathews in the fold, and we have a recipe for big-time fantasy disappointment.

At least he's in a good offense.

The Rookie WR Class

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Last year's rookie receiver class was simply amazing.

Led by surging Odell Beckham Jr., first-year wideouts had the best collective rookie season in NFL history. Beckham himself was a game-changer for fantasy owners, all but single-handedly winning fantasy championships with his torrid second half.

Guys like Jordan Matthews, Mike Evans, Kelvin Benjamin, Sammy Watkins, Jarvis Landry and Brandin Cooks all had fine fantasy seasons, too. Rookie receivers became mainstays on fantasy teams. Five rookies were in the top 30 in fantasy scoring at receiver last season, while several others had some big individual games.

So you should have no qualms about drafting rookies this year, right? Not so fast, says history.

True, this has been a positive statistical trend among receiver classes over the past several years. The 2014 class wasn't an outlier, it just happened to be special.

From a fantasy perspective, however, there hasn't been much predictability or quality at the top among rookies. Before last season, there were just five rookies in the top 30 in fantasy scoring in all of 2011 through 2013.

This year, Amari Cooper seems to be a safe bet, even with Derek Carr as his quarterback in Oakland. Behind him, however, there is plenty of uncertainty due to murky depth charts or simply less talent than a year ago.

That isn't to say there aren't talented players in this year's crop, but last year's success is probably going to drive up prices everywhere. Let others overpay for that unpredictability.

Jimmy Graham, TE, Seattle Seahawks

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It's easy to think Jimmy Graham will simply pick up where he left off—at least when he was healthy—with his new team, but that is a dangerous assumption in the fantasy football realm.

Graham is certainly one of the best tight ends in the league, once the only real challenger to Rob Gronkowski when the latter is healthy. But going from New Orleans to Seattle is going to put a big damper on his fantasy value if offensive trends hold.

The Seahawks aren't the Saints, at least not on offense. Seattle uses the ground game to great effect, and that fantastic defense tends to keep the team ahead. Hence the Seahawks threw the fewest passes in the league last season.

New Orleans attempted the second-most.

Graham will still get his—they didn't acquire him for no reason—and the Seahawks offense is pretty good even without the volume. But a dramatic drop-off in passing attempts means far fewer targets for the big tight end. 

Todd Gurley, RB, St. Louis Rams

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

The St. Louis Rams spent a top-10 pick on a running back despite a depressed market at the position, one who has been compared to Adrian Peterson.

So you should pounce on him early in fantasy drafts, right?

Not really. Not this year, anyway.

Todd Gurley is still recovering from a torn ACL, after all. As great as it is that he was sprinting before the draft, odds are the Rams will take it slow with their prized draft pick.

That much is evident in rookie minicamp, where Gurley has been working on his mental game, per Nick Wagoner over at ESPN.com. NFL.com's Ian Rapoport noted soon after Gurley was drafted that he could start camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, though that wouldn't necessarily mean he would miss the start of the regular season.

Gurley will be a star if he can stay healthy, but it's better to let someone take on that risk than be bitterly disappointed this season.

Jeremy Maclin, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

Michael Perez/Associated Press

On the one hand, Jeremy Maclin is going to have no problem garnering targets with his new club, not that he had much of a problem last year. On the other, those targets are coming in an Andy Reid offense quarterbacked by Alex Smith.

That is a far cry from bigger-armed Nick Foles and Chip Kelly's offense in Philadelphia. 

By now you must know that Kansas City wide receivers scored exactly zero touchdowns last season. That's a big reason why Maclin was given $11 million per year.

But a lack of talent wasn't the only reason for the malaise at the position last season—Smith's penchant for checkdowns in a horizontally inclined offense didn't put receivers in positions to score very often.

LeSean McCoy, RB, Buffalo Bills

Gary Wiepert/Associated Press

From a volume perspective, LeSean McCoy couldn't have ended up in a better place than Buffalo with Rex Ryan as his head coach.

The Bills are poised to run the ball a ton this season—as the Jets did in previous years under Ryan—and McCoy is clearly the top dog in that backfield. It won't matter if Fred Jackson garners touches because the Bills are liable to run the ball 40 times a game.

Volume is important, but it isn't everything. A good scheme and better blocking are pretty valuable, too.

That's where McCoy's situation changed for the negative. The Bills offensive line has been one of the worst run-blocking units in the league over the past couple of seasons, and Buffalo didn't address it whatsoever this offseason from a personnel standpoint.

Then there is the fact that Matt Cassel and EJ Manuel will be vying for the starting job at quarterback—not exactly a pretty picture for the passing game. 

Brandon Marshall, WR, New York Jets

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

For years Brandon Marshall has been a top fantasy option at receiver, regardless of his quarterback. That all changed this offseason.

The Bears decided to move on from their productive receiver, once again separating him from his original quarterback, Jay Cutler. He has his faults, but Cutler also has a cannon of an arm and a penchant for throwing the ball to Marshall.

Now the big wideout will be catching passes from Geno Smith, a considerable downgrade from Cutler, even taking the latter's flaws into account. Worse, he is going to a team that passed the ball 111 fewer times than his old squad last season.

Granted, that was with head coach Rex Ryan and his "ground and pound" approach—we should see a more balanced approach according to his replacement, Todd Bowles, as detailed Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News:

"

We're going to run it and throw it. We’re going to be very balanced, It’s not going to be a certain style of offense. As we get all our pieces in place, we’ll drift toward that as we go. But we’re going to run the ball and we’re going to throw the ball equally. We’re going to be a well-balanced offense.

"

While that might be a bit of good news for Marshall and his fantasy owners, he is still getting a downgrade at quarterback and is liable to see fewer targets.

Then there is the fact Marshall has been nagged by injuries, and he might be exiting his prime at 31 years of age.

Le'Veon Bell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

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Le'Veon Bell went on a tear to close the 2014 season. Any team that might have paired him with Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was probably too tough to beat in the fantasy playoffs.

Bell's ascent to the top of the fantasy heap at running back has put him at the top of fantasy drafts this season—the Pittsburgh standout has routinely been a top pick in fantasy drafts this season, according to aggregate data over at Footballguys.com.

That is despite his three-game suspension to start the season, stemming from his citation for marijuana possession a year ago, per CBS Pittsburgh's Colin Dunlap. But is ignoring a three-game layoff a wise decision?

If Bell performs the way he did in the second half of last season—when he outscored everyone else by nearly two points per game—it will surely be worth the risk. But that is the rub—there is zero guarantee Bell will even come close to that level of scoring.

Sure, there are zero guarantees with anyone you take at the top of your fantasy draft, but the difference there is we know exactly what we are getting from Bell for the first three weeks of the season. Then there is the fact Bell might not retain his workload if DeAngelo Williams can stay healthy.

Had Bell's fantasy draft stock fallen in the wake of his suspension, he would be a worthwhile pick. But taking him at the top of your draft is simply too risky—if he isn't the best fantasy back in the league when he does come back, you will have taken on those three suspension weeks for no good reason.

All fantasy statistics courtesy of FFToday.com.