Fantasy Football 2017: 5 Quarterbacks busts to beware

The “Don’t eat the cheese” features a series of fantasy football advice for who you should avoid in your upcoming draft. What five quarterbacks should you steer away from in 2017?

Do you lose your fantasy football league every year? Do you wish you wouldn’t have listened to the fantasy experts? Look no further than the Don’t Eat the Cheese fantasy football series that will provide valuable information on who not to draft for your upcoming fantasy football league. In the first of many posts to come, I dissect the quarterback position. Don’t let that quarterback ruin your fantasy year, or simply just don’t eat the cheese.

In the NFL, if your favorite team doesn’t have a franchise quarterback, you can’t win the Super Bowl. That isn’t necessarily the case in terms of winning your fantasy football league as quarterbacks play second-fiddle to running backs and wide receivers in most fantasy leagues. A year ago, Kirk Cousins and Blake Bortles were among the top 10 fantasy quarterbacks. Not necessarily two quarterbacks you were anticipating to be on that list.

The top five scoring quarterbacks from a year ago were as follows; Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, Andrew Luck, and Kirk Cousins. You will notice one name missing, in particular, Tom Brady. He will certainly be there in 2017 barring injury. This article, however, is based on quarterbacks you want to avoid. Picking a quarterback too early and missing out on one of those premier running backs or wide receivers could haunt your fantasy season.

5. Blake Bortles

I’m not sure Bortles survives the season as the starter. Under the new regime with Tom Coughlin and Doug Marrone, Bortles has to prove he is the guy long-term. Well, the Jaguars might find out real quick that he isn’t a franchise quarterback. After a horrid 2016, Bortles could find himself on the bench by Week 4 without rapid improvement.

Doug Marrone had the following to say about Bortles poor practice showing:

"“I think anytime someone doesn’t perform to what you want to do, you’re concerned about it,” Marrone said via ESPN. “He’s not the only one that’s out there. There’s some good things. “We’re going to look at it. We’re going to look at those plays. If there’s any struggle or things we don’t like, then obviously we’re going to be smart enough to throw that crap out.”"

By throwing crap out he means not throwing nearly as often. Since he entered the league in 2014, Bortles has the most interceptions in the NFL with 63. After the draft selection of Leonard Fournette, it appears Jacksonville may want to limit his attempts. Bortles came in third in attempts last season (39.1 per game). That number likely won’t be nearly as high with Doug Marrone.

Bortles came in ninth among fantasy quarterbacks in 2016. Most of those points came in the fourth quarter in garbage time. Those opportunities may come again but he might get benched as it’s clear he’s on the hot seat.

Marrone comes in as an offensive line guru who’s predicated on building the run game. For those hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, don’t count on a big year from Bortles.