NFL Fantasy Football 2011: Keep or Trade These 4 Struggling Stars

With four weeks of the NFL season under our belts, here are four stars that have been disappointing so far based on their draft position. Three of the four were first round picks in most drafts, and Hillis was most likely a second or third round selection. 

Without further ado, here’s the Not So Fantastic Four and my recommendation to either keep or trade them.

Chris Johnson: Keep Him

In his first three games, Johnson ran for a combined 98 yards. But in Week 4, he broke out for 101 yards. With Matt Hasselbeck keeping defenses honest and CJ getting some games under his belt after missing the preseason, he’s poised to break out. 

Also, consider his schedule. After a tough matchup with the Steelers in Week 5 and a bye in Week 6, he has a pretty soft schedule for the remainder of the season, especially in the fantasy playoffs.  In Weeks 14-16, he faces the Saints, Colts and Jaguars. He should certainly put up some huge numbers there. Keep him.

Rashard Mendenhall: Trade Him

Even if Mendehall's hamstring injury isn’t too serious, this guy has been one of the biggest busts so far this year, averaging only three yards per carry. It certainly doesn’t help that Isaac Redman (4.9 YPC) has outplayed him this season. Mendy’s stock will only go down further as the season progresses and Redman sees more playing time. With Big Ben being hurt, teams will focus even more on the run, and Pittsburgh's struggling offensive line will continue to disappoint. Trade him while you can.

Roddy White: Trade Him

White only has one TD in his first four games. What’s even more concerning is that Julio Jones has 342 receiving yards, which leads the team, while White has only 302. Before the season started, many people thought Jones would help White’s fantasy value. The opposite has been true so far.  Also, Matt Ryan has been struggling a bit as well. 

The good news is that White still holds a lot of trade value. So if you can unload him for one or two good players, do so. His season won’t get much better. 

Peyton Hillis: Keep Him

There are a few reasons to keep him. One is that you most likely won’t get equal value for him at this point anyway, and there’s still some big potential there. If anything, try to grab Hardesty if you haven’t done so already in case Hillis goes down.

Supposedly, Cleveland is trying to rest Hillis a bit for later in the season so that he doesn’t burn out like he did last year. Hillis and Hardesty have both been averaging 3.7 YPC, but Hillis has touched the ball almost double the amount of times. 

McCoy is also much improved, so defenses won’t be able to focus solely on Cleveland’s run. Hold on to Hillis and hope he has more performances like last year.