Michael Vick and the 10 Biggest Boom or Bust Players in Fantasy Football

Vincent Jackson of the San Diego Chargers and Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles lead the list of boom-or-bust fantasy players. Such players might give you 25 fantasy points (FPs) one week and little or nothing the next. They make your job as manager interesting, to say the least.

In constructing the list, I did not consider players who have been all bust but no boom this season. Examples in this category would be DeSean Jackson and Chris Johnson. I tried not to include players whose production varied because of an injury.

The opposite of a boom or bust player would be someone like LeSean McCoy. In seven of his eight games played, his FPs were between 14 and 23. He does not get you a big boom, but he will rarely give you a bust week either.

In constructing the list, I looked for quarterbacks that had a 25 FPs or more spread between their most productive and least productive week so far this season. For other players, I looked for a spread of at least 20 FPs. My Yahoo! league rewards long pass receptions, but heavily penalizes interceptions. So the FPs that I show might be different than those achieved in your league.

Some of the players that passed this screen might surprise you. During the first part of the season, you can recover from a bust week from a player. But during the playoffs, a bust week from a key player could suddenly end your season.

So take a look at the list. Would you have used a different screening method? Do you have any good candidates for the list that I have missed? Post a comment and let me know.

Wide Receiver Vincent Jackson

Vincent Jackson of the San Diego Chargers might be the best example of a boom or bust player.

He produced 33 FPs against the New England Patriots and 30 against the Green Bay Packers. But against the Minnesota Vikings he produced only two FPs and against the New York Jets only one FP.

When he and Phillip Rivers get things going they can be unstoppable. But when they can't get things started, that's another story.

Quarterback Joe Flacco

Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens has quite a variability in his week to week fantasy production.

Like most offensive players, he had a great day against the St. Louis Rams, racking up 33 FPs.

But in the game against the New York Jets, he was at minus six FPs, partially because he threw a pick six, an interception for a touchdown.

Wide Receiver Torrey Smith

I have Torrey Smith of the Baltimore Ravens on my team. I wish I could say that I had him in the lineup when he had three touchdowns and over 150 pass reception yards against the St. Louis Rams, but I can not.

Other than that game he has been pretty quiet. He has just one touchdown and 250 yards in the Ravens' seven other games, which is not much to talk about.

So he is going to create a big dilemma for me in week 14, the first week of our playoffs. The Ravens will be up against the Indianapolis Colts. He could have another big game like he did against the Rams. Do I start him or sit him? I have a little time to figure that out.

Quarterback Michael Vick

Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles can generate just a few FPs one week but many the next.

He produced three FPs against the New York Giants but then 32 the very next week against the San Francisco 49ers. This week against the Chicago Bears he produced only five FPs.

Fumbles and interceptions can make his production vary substantially from week to week.

Wide Receiver Plaxico Burress

Some weeks you don't even notice that Plaxico Burress of the New York Jets is on the field.  Against the Miami Dolphins he produced only one FP.

But against the San Diego Chargers he produced 23 FPs.  Sometimes his height gives him a good mismatch that they Jets can utilize effectively.

Tight End Rob Gronkowski

Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots makes his fantasy owners earn their keep.

He can have big production days like he did against the Buffalo Bills (24 FPs), San Diego Chargers (19 FPs) and New York Giants (19FPs). But he can also be invisible in some games like he was against the Oakland Raiders (one FP) and New York Jets (5 FPs).

His situation is made more interesting by the fact that the New England Patriots have another good tight end, Aaron Hernandez. So the trick is to try to figure out who will get the most passing action any week, who will be kept home to block and so forth.

But there is one thing certain here. If you own Gronkowski, there are two must-start dates coming up. In Week 12 the Patriots play the Philadelphia Eagles, whose linebackers don't have a clue how to stop a tight end. In week 13 the Patriots play the Indianapolis Colts, who are still trying to win the Luck Bowl.

Quarterback Eli Manning

Despite his team's good record, Eli Manning of the New York Giants has had up and down weeks in fantasy leagues.

He produced 33 FPs against the Philadelphia Eagles, but only five FPs in games against the Buffalo Bills and the Washington Redskins.

With the Giants' rough schedule in the second half of the season, the forecast might be for more busts than booms for Manning.

Running Back Arian Foster

Arian Foster of the Houston Texans is an interesting case. I excluded the first several games of the season due to his injury.

But lately, when he has returned to the lineup, he has been a boom or bust. He scored 35 FPs against the Tennessee Titans but only 10 against the Baltimore Ravens and 13 against the Oakland Raiders.

His situation is complicated by the presence of Ben Tate, who can carry a large portion of the rushing load for the Texans.

Quarterback Drew Brees

Even a great quarterback like Drew Brees can throw in a clunker game once in a while.

He racked up 36 FPs against the Green Bay Packers and 41 FPs against the Indianapolis Colts.

But against the St. Louis Rams, of all teams, he managed only three FPs, which is very hard to believe. However, if I owned Brees, there would never be a doubt about his lineup status. He would start every game.

Wide Receiver Steve Smith

Despite getting a little long in the tooth, Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers can still put up big numbers on occasion. For example, he produced 34 FPs in the game against the Arizona Cardinals.

But against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he only managed to produce two FPs.

You'd expect some variability since his quarterback, Cam Newton, is a rookie. The bottom line is that you need to think carefully about playing Smith during a playoff game in your league.

You can follow Professor Bush on twitter @Prof_Bush.