Tim Brosnan | Tue, Oct 8th 2024, 8:57am EDT

Fantasy Football Panic Meter: Breece Hall, Josh Allen, Deebo Samuel (Week 6)

Welcome to the Panic Meter.

If you’re new here, we feature several underperforming players each week and assign them a grade corresponding to the appropriate level of panic for the respective player/performance.

Below is a scale with grades between 0 and 4 and a broad strategy correlating to that specific grade.

Without further ado, let’s get into this week’s breakdown.

Fantasy Football Panic Meter

PANIC METER GRADE	STRATEGY/PLAN OF ACTION
0	This past week was not ideal, but it can be chalked up as an anomaly. Panic is not necessary.
1	Panic is creeping up. It’s not time to sound the alarm yet, but it is something to be aware of. Said player should still be considered a starter but is now under surveillance.
2	Officially panicked, taking things week by week, considering a Plan B, exploring trade options or possibly benching for a more reliable option.
3	Fire sale. Actively seeking a trade while the player in question still has value. They are no longer a trustworthy starter. In some cases, a borderline drop candidate.
4	Sever all ties. Smash the drop button so hard that the man ends up in the shadow realm.

Breece Hall (RB – NYJ) | Panic Meter: 1

Breece Hall has finished with single-digit PPR points in each of his last two games. During this span, he has 27 rushing yards on 19 carries (1.4 yards per carry). It’d be easy to panic on Hall based on how the Jets offense has looked these past two games. Nobody would blame you. For now, let’s chalk it up to tough sledding against two very stout defensive fronts in the Broncos and Vikings.

Hall continues to dominate snaps and targets out of the Jets backfield. Unless he continues to struggle from a yards-per-carry (YPC) standpoint, there is no reason to panic. If anything, now might be a good buy-low window.

Josh Allen (QB – BUF) | Panic Meter: 1

After a 14-point stinker in Week 5, panic on Josh Allen is rising. He flat-out looked bad passing the ball, going 9-of-30 (30%). Allen has now scored below 15 fantasy points in three of his five games this season. On the other hand, he scored over 30 points in the other two. It’s hard to say for sure if this was simply an off-game for Allen, or if not having an elite weapon means he will have a lower floor/be much less consistent moving forward.

It’s far too soon to put him in the boom-or-bust fantasy start sit category. Patience over panic for now. Allen remains a must-start but this trend is worth monitoring.

Deebo Samuel (WR – SF) | Panic Meter: 1

Deebo Samuel hit rock bottom in Week 5, scoring just 3.0 PPR points. Don’t panic because he was held to a season-low 20 total yards. Instead, panic because he saw just four touches. That’s two consecutive games with five or fewer touches for Samuel. Considering he registered 10+ touches in each game before his calf injury, one could argue he’s trending down. However, panic should be minimal.

Samuel is healthy, he just happens to be on an offense with too many mouths to feed. Weeks like this come with the territory. He remains in play as a low-end WR1 until this becomes more of a trend.

Travis Etienne (RB – JAX) | Panic Meter: 1.5

Travis Etienne turned in another subpar performance in Week 5, finishing with just 12.0 PPR points. To be fair, he was shaken up and held out late in the game, but his numbers aren’t why you should panic. You should panic because if he misses any time, he might not get his job back.

Tank Bigsby made a case for a bigger role in Week 5, gaining 129 yards and two touchdowns on his 14 touches. Bigsby has been explosive all season, out-gaining Etienne in total yardage in three games. On the season, Bigsby has just 20 fewer total yards than Etienne on half the touches. Don’t expect Etienne to stop catching passes, but keep the panic button handy folks. This could become a committee real soon.

Bijan Robinson (RB – ATL) | Panic Meter: 2

It is hard to say where managers should stand on Bijan Robinson. Is it panic or is it more disappointment? Five weeks in and Robinson hasn’t delivered on his first-round average draft position (ADP). He isn’t hanging you out to dry (double-digit PPR points in every game) but he also isn’t the reason you’re winning (11.6 PPR points per game in the last three weeks). On one hand, his floor is high. On the other, his ceiling is nowhere to be found.

It’s concerning that every Falcons game this season has been competitive and the game script has been in Robinson’s favor. In Week 5, Kirk Cousins threw for over 500 yards and Robinson managed just 10.2 PPR points. The point is, when your RB1 is playing like a solid Flex there’s room to panic. At the same time, not enough to admit defeat. Robinson is in panic purgatory.

Cut List | Panic Meter: 4

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