Roundtable Week 9: Second-Half Slump Candidates

Photo: Brian Spurlock, USA Today Sports

Welcome to Week 8 of the 2023 Footballguys Roundtable. Our intrepid panel of fantasy pundits discusses and debates four topics every week. We split the conversation into separate features.

This week's roundtable features these four topics:

• Second-Half Slump Candidates (See below)
• Every Week, Bye Week, Fluke Week
• Vikings and Titans Passing Games
• Either/Or: The WR Edition

Let's roll.

Second-Half Slump Candidates

Matt Waldman: Name two players you believe are about to fizzle in the second half of the fantasy season or at least see a notable decline in production (by at least a tier in a 12-team PPR format, think RB1 to RB2 or WR3 to WR3, etc.)

Gary Davenport: The fact that Moss has been a top-five running back over the first eight weeks of the season might be the biggest surprise at running back this year. But if last week was any indication, Jonathan Taylor is 100 percent. Shane Steichen isn't going to give Taylor one second-half carry every week—I think. I mean, what was that?

Jordan Addison has certainly impressed as a rookie, and the idea of him and a healthy Justin Jefferson playing together should terrify the rest of the NFC North for 2024—provided the Vikings have a decent quarterback next year. But right now, the quarterback situation in the Twin Cities is a mess, and so-so WR2 numbers are likely the best-case scenario with Josh Dobbs or Jaren Hall running the offense.

Chad Parsons: Tua Tagovailoa has the toughest strength of schedule slate over the next month for quarterbacks. The same applies to their wide receivers. The offensive line has started to become an issue, and Tagovailoa is an injury risk, which generally gets washed down the river since he has been healthy for a couple of months. Washington in Week 13 is the lone strong matchup left for Tagovailoa.

Davante Adams has to deal with an unsettled quarterback situation with Jimmy Garoppolo being benched, Brian Hoyer flopping in his spot start, and now Aidan O'Connell gets his shot on the floundering Raiders. Adams also has the second most difficult strength-of-schedule slate over the next month for wide receivers, including stingy matchups against the Giants, Jets, and Chiefs.