Injuries have derailed a great number of fantasy stars, so we know plenty about the Calvin Johnson's of the world in this dark and anxious corner of the fantasy universe. It should come as no surprise then that Vernon Davis and Doug Martin find themselves in the dreaded Panic Room.
But how about the under-the-radar panic guys like Julio Jones, Julius Thomas and Marshawn Lynch? We pride ourselves at being ahead of the curve here in the Panic Room and those are three guys who are a week away from getting an all-out, breathing-into-a-paper-bag "Full Jodie" hyperventilation.
Welcome to ... The Panic Room.
Marshawn Lynch
After averaging more than 20 points per game over his first three games, Beast Mode has gone cold in his last three, averaging about 6.5 points per game.
Plus there's all this talk of locker room turmoil in Seattle, including how Lynch is giving the coaching staff the silent treatment.
And according to multiple reports, there are loud rumors that the team won't be bringing back Marshawn for next year.
Does all this discord mean a downward trend for Lynch to close out the season? Marshawn has always marched to the beat of his own drum so predicting the man's state of mind is an exercise in futility, but here's what the numbers say.
The yards per carry are still there (4.2 ypc over his last three) but the touches per game have been down. Lynch started the season with 20 touches per game over his first three versus 15 touches per game over his last three.
Also keep in mind that a LOT of Lynch's fantasy value early on was tied to a shockingly productive pass-catching game.
Prior to this season, the Cal product had four receiving touchdowns COMBINED over his previous five seasons. This year, he collected three receiving scores over his first four GAMES. I get that Seattle is slowly evolving into a more pass-centric team, but it just seems extremely unlikely that Lynch will replicate his success through the air for the remainder of the year.
Panic level:Jeff Goldblum in "Independence Day" ... or really any movie he is in. Nervous maybe, but not panicky. And maybe it doesn't make any sense whatsoever but he'll figure it out and it'll work out.
My advice: Hold and see. Despite the drama and the question marks surrounding his attitude and workload, Lynch should be fine from a season-long perspective, although not without week-by-week pains.
Will he be a monster like he was in the first three weeks of the season? Probably not, but I would comfortably project him to average 12 to 15 fantasy points per game moving forward.
If you're jones-ing for a trade, I wouldn't mind moving Lynch for an upside back and an established star at wide receiver. Lynch for Denard Robinson and Jeremy Maclin would be interesting.
Julio Jones
I'm not sure how Jones has escaped the Panic Room treatment as of yet but holy smokes, what has happened to his production?
Jones opened the season like gang busters, with nine-, 14- and 28-point outings to start. But over his last three, Double J has hit owners with a trifecta of guitar shots, scoring less than seven points for three consecutive weeks.
Now normally, I would say, eh, don't worry about it, he's Julio, he'll be back. But the problem is Atlanta has suffered four season-ending injuries to four offensive linemen. What that means is that the Falcons' deep passing game could be permanently broken moving forward; a big part of what makes both Matt Ryan and Julio so effective.
Can Julio be a high-level fantasy force if he's not able to break a defense over the top? That's a very real question you have ask yourself moving forward.
Panic Level:Tony Soprano watching ducks leave his pool.
You drafted Julio and as he was flying around the field you were happy with Julio! But then something happened. You're not 100 percent sure what, but something happened. And now, not because of anything Julio did, but for other reasons outside of his control, here you are having a panic attack.
My advice: Trade him while you can. His underperformance has gone largely unnoticed by the fantasy community because Jones himself is healthy and he hasn't been a complete anchor to fantasy teams. This means his value is still incredibly high. Another week or two and expect that to change.
Can you swap name value for production? A Julio for Jeremy Maclin straight swap would fly in a lot of leagues and that is a move I would advocate.
If not, moving Jones for a combination that looks like Kelvin Benjamin and Justin Forsett could be a savvy play as well. Look for a high-upside, top-20 wide receiver and a solid RB2 to round out your squad. Anything less, hold on to Julio and hope for the best.
Vernon Davis
Vernon had a fabulous Week 1 but from that point on he's been a 0.00000001 ... or in other words about as close to nothing as you can get in terms of fantasy production.
Obviously, the injuries have piled up and hampered the artistic tight end who's scored just 9.8 points TOTAL over his past six games.
The bye week will certainly help Davis but how much?
I think that accurately describes Vernon's season up to this point. If it's not one thing, it's another and you're left running around muttering "no" to yourself like an insane person.
My advice: Davis' trade value is absolutely trash right now, so the smart play is to ride this out.
And like LaBeouf's character in those terrible, terrible movies, he could somehow come out the other end looking amazing. LaBeouf's character always ended up with hot girls, sweet rides and awesome loving parents, but for Davis managers those fortunes will come in the form of yards, touchdowns and fantasy wins. Not necessarily in that order.
Davis' schedule to close out the year looks amazing. St. Louis, New Orleans, the Giants, Washington and Oakland are all on the docket and all are plus matchups. Davis will see Seattle twice in three weeks to close out the fantasy season (Weeks 13 and 15) but the Seahawks defense for some reason has been the fifth-most generous to tight ends.
Doug Martin
Just a top-25 pick immobilized on your bench, don't worry about it, keep it moving ladies and gentlemen.
Panic Level: The "Full Jodie."
We might actually be beyond the Full Jodie here. Injury or no injury, Martin is pretty much done as an every-down, full-time starter.
Expect a committee situation moving forward there for the Buccos. Bobby Rainey, while not the best option in the world, has proven to be a serviceable back and the big x-factor of course is the return of Charles Sims (Tampa's third-round pick) from a significant ankle injury.
My advice: There is absolutely nothing that can be done to save the fantasy life of the Doug-ernaut or Doug-neto or whatever X-Men related character he's going by now.
In less experienced 10-team leagues, Martin is absolutely a drop. In tougher 10 teamers or in leagues with 12 or more teams, I would offer an incredibly luke-warm objection to keep him on your bench.
If there was a speculative player like Jordan Matthews, Alfred Blue or even Donte Moncrief that you'd like to add and kick the tires on, go for it. Me personally, in our NFL Fantasy LIVE league, I'm holding on to Martin and hoping he gets healthy and has one above-average game soon so I can package him as part of a trade.
Panic Room high alert:
Julius Thomas: Yeah, yeah, I get it, despite back-to-back two-point performances, not many managers are panicking on Orange Julius. But the questions is, should you?
Unlike Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham, Julius is actually similar to other tight ends in that he is HEAVILY touchdown-dependent to be effective.
Gronk is the top fantasy tight end in the game right now, while Graham is eighth in scoring. And in terms of yardage both are in the top five for tight ends.
Thomas on the other hand is the third-highest scoring tight end but currently is 14th in terms of yardage. Thomas is averaging just 46 yards per game and actually has fewer yards than both Jared Cook and Travis Kelce, both of whom have also had their byes.
And how confident are you that Julius will score NINE more touchdowns in the back-half of the season to remain a top-five tight end? It's VERY possible his value is as high as it ever will be.
Calm down Denver fan boys, take a breath and let me explain.
Look, a giant red flag went up for me in Denver's last game when the Broncos dropped 35 points on the Chargers but all three passing scores went to Emmanuel Sanders, two of which came from within the 5-yard line.
The fact that Sanders has earned so much trust that Manning is looking for him in goal-to-go situations has to be frightening to Julius managers. And oh by the way, Wes Welker is lurking somewhere as well, potentially stealing more short-yardage, underneath scoring opportunities.
If you could get Antonio Gates and that manager's second-best running back would you do it? How about a dinged-up Calvin Johnson and a Greg Olsen-type player, would that be enough to ship Julius?
I own Julius in our NFL Fantasy LIVE league and currently trying to move him and Carson Palmer for an elite quarterback but it's been tough sledding.
I imagine most of you will find an equally difficult time moving such a major piece, so as always, if you can't get good market value for him, hold steady and move on.
Koh's Mailbag:
First of all, sweet beard. As a guy who can only grow the thinnest and scraggliest of facial hair, I am jealous. But as to your question, I'm really starting to get behind this Ryan Tannehill hype train. The maligned Miami signal-caller has been pretty good, especially after coming alive the last four weeks where he has averaged over 19 fantasy points per game.
Tanny has made the transformation into a viable fantasy starter like a lot quarterbacks before him -- by running the ball. 49, 48, 48. Those are his rushing totals in three consecutive games.
If that's not deep enough, let me get all Danger Zone-y up in here and advocate Brian Hoyer. The Browns are playing the Bucs and Tampa Bay is the sixth-most generous defense to fantasy quarterbacks, giving up 19.5 points per game to opposing signal-callers.
Do I think Hoyer will light it up? No, I wouldn't go that far but if you can get 275 and a touch with no turnovers, you'll take that.
What would happen if I chopped the lettuce? Would I lose the ability to crunch fantasy stats? Would my teleprompter-reading abilities be shattered? Would I lose two of my seven fans? We might have to explore this in the offseason.
The fantasy oracles bestowed upon me last week tremendous vision. As I was able to predict to the yard, Andrew Luck's stat line of 400 passing yards and three touchdowns.
If you want to see more bold predictions that I get wrong about 97.8 percent of the time be sure to watch the NFL Fantasy Live crew every Sunday morning starting at 11:30 a.m. EST on NFL RedZone channel or online RIGHT HERE.
Have a player you're panicking on? Need relationship advice? Follow me on Twitter @JamesDKoh and use #PanicRoom to let me know!
-- James Koh is an anchor/reporter for NFL Media, and the host of NFL Fantasy LIVE. Follow him on Twitter @JamesDKoh.
