If there’s one thing that week 15 of the NFL Season will tell you, it’s that some players can handle a full season, and some can’t. I get it, it’s a long and brutal season so I understand that it’s easy to get worn down. But I think that’s something us fans should know, which players have a history of falling apart during Fantasy Playoff Season and which players have the “Clutch” factor.
Just look at these fantasy matchup breakdowns from week 15. Some players rise to the challenge and do their best to lead their fantasy teams to the championship like Aaron Jones, Josh Allen, Travis Kelce, Lamar Jackson, Davin Cook, and Patrick Mahomes. Others crumble when their teams need them to bring their A-Game like Juju Smith-Schuster, Cooper Kupp, Keanen Allen, Davante Adams, D.K. Metcalf, and Adam Theilen. Who knows, maybe it’s a Wide Receiver issue cause looking at that list, those are the ones who really let their fantasy teams down.
So I’m asking all Fantasy Football operators (ESPN, YAHOO, whatever other random website people use) to incorporate the “Clutch Factor” into the players stats. The stat will be simple, what’s the average number of points scored by a player in Weeks 14-17 from the previous season. This isn’t used to actually determine win/losses like rushing yards or touchdowns. It’s just another metric we can review when building our teams.
This would especially come in handy for teams looking to make trades mid-season. When putting my team together for the stretch run, I want to know I have the horse that can finish the race. And yes, I’m sure I could research this myself, but it seems like a lot of work and I’d rather sit here can complain about it on the internet.
